Philosophic dogmas concerning the brevity and uncertainty of life were
ancient even in the time of Herodotus. They have left their mark upon
our language in the form of more than one proverb, but in none is this
so patent as “the skeleton at the feast.” In chapter lxxviii of Euterpe,
we have an admirable citation. In speaking of the Egyptians, he says:
“At their convivial banquets, among the wealthy classes, when they have
finished supper, a man carries round in a coffin the image of a dead body
carved in wood, made as life-like as possible in color and workmanship,
and in size generally about one or two cubits in length; and showing this
to each of the company, he says: ‘Look upon this, then drink and enjoy
yourself; for when dead you will be like this.’ This is the practice
they have at their drinking parties.” According to Plutarch, (Isis and
Osiris, chapter 17.) the Greeks adopted this Egyptian custom, and there
is, of course, little doubt that the Romans took it from the Greeks.
The aim of this custom was, according to Scaliger, to bring the diners
to enjoy the sweets of life while they were able to feel enjoyment, and
thus to abandon themselves to pleasure before death deprived them of
everything. The verses which follow bring this out beautifully. In the
Copa of Virgil we find the following:
“Wine there! Wine and dice! Tomorrow’s fears shall fools alone benumb!
By the ear Death pulls me. ‘Live!’ he whispers softly, ‘Live! I come.’”
The practical philosophy of the indefatigable roues sums itself up in
this sentence uttered by Trimalchio. The verb “vivere” has taken a
meaning very much broader and less special, than that which it had at
the time when it signified only the material fact of existence. The
voluptuaries of old Rome were by no means convinced that life without
license was life. The women of easy virtue, living within the circle
of their friendships, after the fashion best suited to their desires,
understood that verb only after their own interpretation, and the
philologists soon reconciled themselves to the change. In this sense it
was that Varro employed “vivere,” when he said: “Young women, make haste
to live, you whom adolescence permits to enjoy, to eat, to love, and to
occupy the chariot of Venus (Veneris tenere bigas).”
But a still better example of the extension in the meaning of this word
is to be found in an inscription on the tomb of a lady of pleasure. This
inscription was composed by a voluptuary of the school of Petronius.
ALIAE. RESTITVTAE. ANIMAE. DVLCISSIMAE.
BELLATOR. AVG. LIB. CONIVGI. CARISSIMAE.
AMICI. DVM. VIVIMVS. VIVAMUS.
In this inscription, it is almost impossible to translate the last three
words. “While we live, let us live,” is inadequate, to say the least.
So far did this doctrine go that latterly it was deemed necessary to have
a special goddess as a patron. That goddess, if we may rely upon the
authority of Festus, took her name “Vitula” from the word “Vita” or from
the joyous life over which she was to preside.