Chapter XXIX: Book IX: Argument

The subject of the ninth book is known from several notices in the
old grammarians.[1726] It is said to have contained strictures
on the orthography of the ancient writers; some emendations of
the verses of Accius and Ennius (with especial reference to
the former, who is said to have always used double vowels to
express a long syllable), and a mention of the double genius,
who, according to the notion of Euclides the Socratic, attends
upon each individual of the human race. The exact connection of
this latter topic with the foregoing, is not at present evident
to us. It appears that this book had anciently the title of
"_Fornix_" as the work of Pomponius on a cognate subject was
called "_Marsyas_." Van Heusde supposes that it took its name
from the Fabian arch on the Via Sacra, and that its subject
resembled the ninth of Horace's first book of Satires. The poet,
in his walk along the Via Sacra, meets with a troublesome fellow
near the arch of Fabius, who pesters him with a speech which he
is about to deliver, as defendant in a cause, and which he wishes
Lucilius to look over and correct; and that this furnishes the
poet with the groundwork for a discussion on several points in
grammar, orthography, and rhetoric. With this view Gerlach so far
agrees, as to suppose the subject of both Horace's and Lucilius's
Satires to have been similar; especially since many similar
phrases and sentiments occur in both; but he considers a detailed
disquisition on single letters and syllables inconsistent with
a desultory conversation, or with a cursory criticism of an
oration, and considers it better to confess one's ignorance
honestly than indulge in vain-glorious conjecture. Particularly,
since many other Fragments of this book have come down to us,
wholly irreconcilable with this view of the subject; some
referring to avarice, others to the Salii; which, though they
might certainly be incidentally mentioned, imply too diversified
a subject to be definitely circumscribed within so limited an
outline, as Van Heusde conjectures.

1 ... only let the nap of the woof stand erect within....[1727]

2 First is A. I will begin with this; and the words spelled with
it. In the first place, A is either a long or short syllable;
consequently we will make it one, and, as we say, write it
in one and the same fashion, "Pācem, Plăcide, Jānum, Aridum,
Acetum," just as the Greeks do. Ἄρες Ἄρες.[1728]

3 ... not very different from this, and badly put together, if
with a burr like a dog, I say AR ... this is its name.[1729]

4 ... and there is no reason why you should make it a question or
a difficulty whether you should write ACCURRERE with a D or a
T.[1730]

5 But it is of great consequence whether ABBITERE have a D or
B--[1731]

6 "Now come PUEREI." Put E and I at the end, to make "pueri" the
plural; if you put I only, as PupillI, PuerI, LuceilI, this
will become the singular number. "_Hoc illi factum est unI._"
Being singular, you will put I only. "_Hoc IllEI fecere._" Add
E to mark the plural. Add also E to MendacEI and FurEI, when
you make it the dative case." MEIle hominum, dub MEIlia." Here
too we must have both vowels, MEIles, MEIlitiam. Pila, "a ball
to play with," Pilum, "a pestle to pound with," will have I
simply. But to PEIla, "javelins," you must add E, to give the
fuller sound.[1732]

7 Our S, and what after a semi-Greek fashion we call Sigma,
admits of no mistake.

8 ... in the word PeLLiciendo.[1733]

9 For just as we see Intro (within) to be a very different word
from Intus (inside), so _apud se_ is very different from, and
has not the same force as, _ad se_. "A man invites us to come
in and join him (intro ad se). He keeps himself at home, inside
his own house (intus apud se)."

10 "The water boils," may be expressed by _Fervit_ (of the third
conjugation), or _Fervet_ (of the second conjugation). Or
again, _Fervit_ may be the _present_ tense, _Fervet_ the
_future_; both of the third conjugation.

11 So Fervĕre (with the E short, of the third conjugation).

12 You do not perceive the force of this; or how this differs from
the other. In the first place, this which we call "Poema" is
a small portion. So also an epistle, or any distich which is
of no great length, may be a "Poema." A "Poësis" is a _whole_
work, as the whole Iliad; it is one Thesis. So also the Annals
of Ennius, that is also a single work, and of much greater
magnitude than what I just now styled Poëma. Wherefore I
assert, that no one who finds fault with Homer, finds fault
with him _all through_; nor does he criticise, as I said
before, the _whole_ Poesis; but simply a single verse, word,
proposition, or passage.

13 ... that he is a misshapen old man, gouty in his joints and
feet--that he is lame, wretched, emaciated, and ruptured--

14 I seize his beak, and smash his lips, Zopyrus-fashion, and
knock out all his front teeth.[1734]

15 For he who makes bricks never has any thing more than common
clay with chaff, and stubble mixed with mud.[1735]

16 If she is nothing on the score of beauty, and if in former days
she was a harlot and common prostitute, you must have coin and
money.

17 ... What if I see some oysters? Shall I be able to detect the
very river, and mud, and slime they came from?[1736]

18 He is a corn-chandler, and brings with him his bushel-measure
and his leveling-stick.[1737]

19 Study to learn: lest the fact itself and the reasoning confute
you--

20 with one thousand sesterces you can gain a hundred---

21 he had scratched himself, like a boar with his sides rubbed
against a tree--

22 ... hence the ancilia, and high-peaked caps, and sacrificial
bowls[1738]

23 as the priest begins the solemn dance, and then the main body
takes it up after him.[1739]

24 ... herself cuts all the thongs from the hide--

25 ... how he differs from him whom Apollo has rescued. So be it.

26 her motion was as though she were winnowing corn.[1740]

FOOTNOTES:

[1726] Isidorus Hispalensis, Q. Terentianus Scaurus, and Velius Longus.

[1727] _Panus_ is explained in two ways, as "tramæ involucrum," and as "tumor inguinis." Gerlach inclines to the latter interpretation. Schmidt supposes Lucilius to employ the metaphor of weaving to express the following sentiment: "as the outer surface of the woof is of little consequence if the inner part be good, so, provided a man's internal qualities, the virtues of his heart and head, are all that we can desire, it matters little what the outer integument is that shrouds this fair inside:" and that to this Horace alludes, ii., Sat. i., 63, "Lucilius ausus Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem Detrahere et _pellem_ nitidus quâ quisque per ora Cederet _introrsum turpis_." (Lucilii Satyrarum quæ de lib. ix. supersunt disposita, c. L. F. Schmidt, p. 40.) But Gerlach thinks that _panus_ could not be used to express _pellis_.

[1728] This, we learn from Terentianus, is a criticism on Accius, who used to mark long syllables by _doubling_ the vowels, which Lucilius considers a fault, there being no more necessity in Latin to mark the quantity by the orthography than in Greek, where, though the length of the vowel be changed, as in ἄρες ἄρες, the spelling remains unaltered. Cf. Hom., Il., v., 31. Mart., ix., Ep. xii., 15.

[1729] Corpet supposes some rustic person is alluded to, who used the old-fashioned form. Cf. Plaut., Truc., II., xii., 17. Gerlach supposes it is the poet himself. Cf. Pers., Sat. i., 109, "Sonat hic de nare caninâ litera."

[1730] Gerlach thinks there may be an allusion to Plautus, who often uses this word. Cf. Capt., III., iv., 72. Rud., III., iv., 72.

[1731] _Abbitere_ for _abbire_ is Schmidt's reading, who also reads _siet_ for _sive_, omitting _habet_ at the end of the line.

[1732] The rule contained in this Fragment seems superfluous, especially after the opinion Lucilius has given in the second. _I_ is equally long or short with _A_, nor does it appear why the _genitive_ should not be as _essentially_ long as the _dative_ singular. If the insertion of the E were simply to mark the difference of number, there might be some apparent reason.

[1733] "This Fragment is simply an illustration of the rule that the preposition _per_ in composition remains unchanged, unless it stand before the letter L, when by assimilation it is changed into the initial letter of the word: so per lacio becomes pellacio; per labor, pellabor; per luceo, pelluceo."

[1734] Alluding to the story of Zopyrus, told by Herodotus, lib. iii., 154, and by Justin, lib. iii., 10, _seq._, who mutilated himself to gain Babylon for Darius. Cf. lib. xxii., Fr. 3.

[1735] _Acerosum_, according to Nonius, is applied to coarse bread, not sufficiently cleared from chaff and husk. Cf. lib. xv., Fr. 18. _Aceratum_, to clay mixed with stubble and straw, fit for the brickmaker's use, the paleatum of Columella. V., vi., med. Cf. Exod., v., 16.

[1736] Juvenal borrows and enlarges upon this idea, in describing the Epicurism of Montanus. Sat. iv., 139, "Nulli majus fait usus edendi tempestati meâ. Circæ nata forent an Lucrinum ad saxum, Rutupinove edita fundo. _Ostrea, callebat primo deprendere morsa_, et _semel aspecti_ litus dicebat echini."

[1737] _Rutellum_, the diminutive of Rutrum. "a mattock," was the stick with which the corn-dealer struck off the heaped-up corn, so as to make it level with the top of his measure. It was also called Hostorium, from the old verb Hostire, "to strike." Compare the old English "strike," used for a measure.

[1738] _Capis_ (à capiendo, Varro, v., 121, "quod ausatæ ut prehendi possent") was a cup with a handle, generally made of earthenware, and ordinarily used in sacrifices. Vid. Liv., lib. x., 7. So also Capedo and Capula. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 481. The _apex_ is the conical cap worn by the Salii.

[1739] _Præsul_ was the name applied to the Princeps Saliorum, because he led the sacred dance, as προορχηστὴρ, ἔξαρχος. Called also Præsultor and Præsultator. _Amtruo_ (from _am_, ἀμφὶ, circum, and _trua_, "an implement used for stirring things round while they were being cooked") is the technical phrase for the dancing of the Salii. The Præsul danced at the head of the procession, _amtruabat_; the rest followed, imitating his movements; _redamtruabant_. This procession took place in the Comitium on the Kalends of March.

[1740] Cf. vii., Fr. 10.