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A HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE:
FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE DEATH OF MARCUS AURELIUS
BY
CHARLES THOMAS CRUTTWELL, M.A.
TO THE VENERABLE J. A. HESSEY, D.O.L ARCHDEACON OF MIDDLESEX,
THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED
BY HIS FORMER PUPIL, THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
The present work is designed mainly for Students at our Universities and
Public Schools, and for such as are preparing for the Indian Civil Service
or other advanced Examinations. The author hopes, however, that it may
also be acceptable to some of those who, without being professed scholars,
are yet interested in the grand literature of Rome, or who wish to refresh
their memory on a subject that perhaps engrossed their early attention,
but which the many calls of advancing life have made it difficult to
pursue.
All who intend to undertake a thorough study of the subject will turn to
Teuffel's admirable History, without which many chapters in the present
work could not have attained completeness; but the rigid severity of that
exhaustive treatise makes it fitter for a book of reference for scholars
than for general reading even among students. The author, therefore,
trusts he may be pardoned for approaching the History of Roman Literature
from a more purely literary point of view, though at the same time without
sacrificing those minute and accurate details without which criticism
loses half its value. The continual references to Teuffel's work,
excellently translated by Dr. W. Wagner, will bear sufficient testimony to
the estimation in which the author holds it, and the obligations which he
here desires to acknowledge.
He also begs to express his thanks to Mr. John Wordsworth, of B. N. C.,
Oxford, for many kind suggestions, as well as for courteous permission to
make use of his _Fragments and Specimens of Early Latin_; to Mr. H. A.
Redpath, of Queen's College, Oxford, for much valuable assistance in
correction of the proofs, preparation of the index, and collation of
references, and to his brother, Mr. W. H. G. Cruttwell, for verifying
citations from the post-Augustan poets.
To enumerate all the sources to which the present Manual is indebted would
occupy too much space here, but a few of the more important may be
mentioned. Among German writers, Bernhardy and Ritter--among French,
Boissier, Champagny, Diderot, and Nisard--have been chiefly used. Among
English scholars, the works of Dunlop, Conington, Ellis, and Munro, have
been consulted, and also the _History of Roman Literature_, reprinted from
the _Encyclopaedia Metropolitana_, a work to which frequent reference is
made, and which, in fact, suggested the preparation of the present volume.
It is hoped that the Chronological Tables, as well as the list of Editions
recommended for use, and the Series of Test Questions appended, will
materially assist the Student.
OXFORD,
_November_, 1877.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
Roman and Greek Literature have their periods of study--Influence of each
--Exactness of Latin language--Greek origin of Latin literature--Its three
great periods: (1) The Ante-Classical Period; (2) The Golden Age; (3) The
Decline.
BOOK I
FROM LIVIUS ANDRONICUS TO SULLA (240-80 B.C.).
CHAPTER I.
_On the Earliest Remains of the Latin Language._
Early inhabitants of Italy--Italic dialects--Latin--Latin alphabet--Later
innovations--Pronunciation--Spelling--Early Monuments--Song of Fratres
Arvales--Salian Hymn--Law of Romulus--Laws of Twelve Tables--Treaty
between Rome and Carthage--_Columna Rastrata_--Epitaphs of the Scipios--
_Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus_--Break-up of the language.
APPENDIX.--Examples of late corrupted dialects
CHAPTER II.
_On the Beginnings of Roman Literature._
The Latin character--Romans a practical people--Their religion unromantic
--Primitive culture of Latium--Germs of drama and epos--No early
historians--Early speeches--Ballad literature--No early Roman epos--Poets
despised--_Fescenninae_--_Saturae_--_Mime_ or _Planipes_--_Atellanae_-
Saturnian metre--Early interest in politics and law as giving the germs of
oratory and jurisprudence.
CHAPTER III.
_The Introduction of Greek Literature--Livius and Naevius_ (240-204 B.C.).
Introduction of Greek literature to Rome--Its first translators--Livius
Andronicus--His translation of the _Odyssey_, Tragedies, &c.--Cn.
Naevius--Inventor of _Praetextae_--Style--A politician--Writer of the
first national epic poem--His exile and death--Cicero's opinion of him--
His epitaph.
CHAPTER IV.
_Roman Comedy--Plautus to Turpilius_ (254-103 B.C.).
The Roman theatre--Plan of construction--Comedy--Related to Athenian
Middle and New Comedy--Plautus--His plays--Their plots and style--
_Palliatae_ and _Togatae_--His metres--Caecilius--Admires Terence--
Terence--His intimate friends--His style--Use of _contamination_--Lesser
comedians.
CHAPTER V.
_Roman Tragedy: Ennius--Accius_ (233-94 B.C.).
Contrast between Greek and Roman tragedy--Oratorical form of Latin
tragedy--Ennius--The father of Roman poetry--His _humamitas_--Relations
with Scipio--A follower of Pythagoras--His tragedies--Pacuvius--Painter
and tragedian--Cicero's criticism of his _Niptra_--His epitaph--L. Accius
--The last tragic writer--A reformer of spelling.
APPENDIX.--On some fragments of Sueius or Suevius.
CHAPTER VI.
_Epic Poetry: Ennius--Furius_ (200-100 B.C.).
Naevius and Ennius--Olympic deities and heroes of Roman story--Hexameter
of Ennius--Its treatment--Matius--Hostius--Furius.
CHAPTER VII.
_The Early History of Satire: Ennius to Lucilius_ (200-103 B.C.).
Roman satire a native growth--Origin of word "_Saturae_"--It is
didactic--Not necessarily poetical in form--Ennius--Pacuvius--Lucilius--
The objects of his attack--His popularity--His humility--His style and
language.
CHAPTER VIII.
_The Minor Departments of Poetry--The Atellanae (Pomponius and
Novius, circ. 90 B.C.) and the Epigram (Ennius--Callus, 100 B. C.)._
_Atellanae_--Oscan in origin--Novius--Pomponius--Mummius--Epigrammatists--
Catulus--Porcius Licinius--Pompilius--Valerius Aedituus.
CHAPTER IX.
_Prose Literature--History. Fabius Pictor--Macer_ (210-80 B.C.).
Early records--_Annales, Libri Lintei, Commentarii_, &c.--Narrow view of
history--Fabius--Cincius Alimentus--Cato--Creator of Latin prose--His
orations--His _Origines_--His treatise on agriculture--His miscellaneous
writings--_Catonis dicta_--Calpurnius Piso--Sempronius Asellio--Claudius
Quadrigarius Valerius Antias--Licinius Macer.
APPENDIX.--On the _Annales Pontificum_.
CHAPTER X.
_The History of Oratory before Cicero._
Comparison of English, Greek, and Roman oratory--AppiusCornelius
Cethegus--Cato--Laelius--The younger Scipio--Galba--Carbo--The Gracchi--
Self-praise of ancient orators--Aemilius Scaurus--Rutilius--Catulus--A
violent death often the fate of a Roman orator--M. Antonius--Crassus--The
Roman law-courts--Bribery and corruption prevalent in them--Feelings and
prejudices appealed to--Cotta and Sulpicius--Carbo the younger--
Hortensius--His friendship for Cicero--Asiatic and Attic styles.
CHAPTER XI.
_Other kinds of Prose Literature: Grammar, Rhetoric, and Philosophy_
(147-63 B.C.).
Legal writers--P. Mucius Scaevola--Q. Mucius Scaevola--Rhetoric--
Plotius Gallus--Cornificius--Grammatical science--Aelius Stilo--
Philosophy--Amafinius--Rabirius--Relation of philosophy to
religion.
BOOK II.
THE GOLDEN AGE.
FROM THE CONSULSHIP OF CICERO TO THE DEATH OF AUGUSTUS (63 B.C.-l4 A.D.).
PART I.
_THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD_.
CHAPTER I.
_Varro._
The two Divisions of this culminating period--Classical authors--Varro
--His life, his character, his encyclopaedic mind--His _Menippean
Satires_--_Logistorici_-_Antiquities Divine and Human_--_Imagines_--_De
Lingua Latina_--_De Re Rustica_.
APPENDIX.--Note I. The Menippean Satires of Varro,
" II. The _Logistorici_,
" III. Fragments of Atacinus,
" IV. The Jurists, Critics, and Grammarians of less note.
CHAPTER II.
_Oratory and Philosophy--Cicero_ (106-43 B.C.).
Cicero--His life--_Pro Roscio_--_In Verrem_--_Pro Cluentio_--_Pro lege
Manilia_--_Pro Rabirio_--Cicero and Clodius--His exile--_Pro Milone_--His
_Philippics_--Criticism of his oratory--Analysis of _Pro Milone_--His
Philosophy, moral and political--On the existence of God and the human
soul--List of his philosophical works--His rhetorical works--His letters--
His contemporaries and successors.
APPENDIX.--Poetry of M. and Q. Cicero.
CHAPTER III.
_Historical and Biographical Composition--Caesar--Nepos--Sallust._
Roman view of history--Caesar's _Commentaries_--Trustworthiness of his
statements--His style--A. Hirtius--Other writers of commentaries--Caesar's
oratorical and scientific position--Cornelius Nepos--C. Sallustius
Crispus--Tubero.
APPENDIX.--On the _Acta Diurna_ and _Acta Senatus_.
CHAPTER IV.
_The History of Poetry to the Close of the Republic--Rise of
Alexandrinism--Lucretius---Catullus._
The Drama--J. Caesar Strabo--The _Mimae_--D. Laberius--Publilius
Syrus--Matius--Pantomimi--Actors--The poetry of Cicero and Caesar--
Alexandria and its writers--Aratus--Callimachus--Apollonius Rhodius--
Euphorion--Lucretius--His philosophical opinions and style--Bibaculus--
Varro Atacinus--Calvus--Catullus--Lesbia.
APPENDIX.--Note I. On the Use of Alliteration in Latin Poetry,
" II. Some additional details on the History of the _Mimus_,
" III. Fragments of Valerius Soranus.
PART II.
_THE AUGUSTAN EPOCH_ (42 B.C.-l4 A.D.).
CHAPTER I.
_General Characteristics._
Common features of the Augustan authors--Augustus's relation to them
--Maecenas--The Apotheosis of the emperor--Rhetoricians not orators--
Historians--Jurists--Poets--Messala--Varius--Anser--Macer.
CHAPTER II.
_Virgil_ (70-19 B.C.)
Virgil--His earliest verses--His life and character--The minor poems
--The _Eclogues_--The _Georgics_--Virgil's love of Nature--His aptitude
for epic poetry--The scope of the _Aeneid_--The _Aeneid_ a religious poem
--Its relation to preceding poetry.
APPENDIX.--Note I. Imitations of Virgil in Propertius, Ovid, and
Manilius,
" II. On the shortening of final o in Latin poetry,
" III. On parallelism in Virgil's poetry,
" IV. On the Legends connected with Virgil.
CHAPTER III.
_Horace_ (65-8 B.C.).
Horace--His life--The dates of his works--Two aspects: a lyric poet and a
man of the world--His _Odes_ and _Epodes_--His patriotic odes--Excellences
of the odes--The _Satires_ and _Epistles_--Horace as a moralist--The _Ars
Poetica_--Horace's literary criticism--Lesser poets.
CHAPTER IV.
_The Elegiac Poets--Gratius--Manilius._
Roman elegy--Cornelius Callus--Domitius Marsus--Tibullus--Propertius--
Ovid--His life--_The Art of Love_--His exile--Doubtful and spurious poems
--Lesser erotic and epic poets--Gratius--Manilius.
CHAPTER V.
_Prose Writers of the Augustan Age._
Oratory Neglected--Declamation takes its place--Porcius Latro--Annaeus
Seneca--History--Livy--Opportune appearance of his work--Criticism of his
method--Pompeius Trogus--Vitruvius--Grammarians--Fenestella--Verrius
Flaccus--Hyginus--Law and philosophy.
APPENDIX.--Note I. A _Suasoria_ translated from Seneca,
" II. Some Observations on the Theory of Rhetoric, from
Quintilian, Book III.
BOOK III.
THE DECLINE.
FROM THE ACCESSION OF TIBERIUS TO THE DEATH OF M. AURELIUS, A.D. 14-180.
CHAPTER I.
_The Age of Tiberius_ (14-37 A.D.).
Sudden collapse of letters--Cause of this--Tiberius--Changed position
of literature--Vellius Paterculus--Valerius Maximus--Celsus--Remmius
Palaemon--Germanicus--Phaedrus--Pomponius Secundus the tragedian.
CHAPTER II.
_The Reigns of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero_ (37-68 A.D.).
1. _Poets._
The Neronian period an epoch--Peculiar characteristics of its writers
--Literary pretensions of Caligula--of Claudius--of Nero--Poem on
Calpurnius Piso--Relation of philosophy to life--Cornutus--Persius--Lucan
--Criticism of the _Pharsalia_--Eclogues of Calpurnius--The poem on Etna--
Tragedies of Seneca--The _apokolokuntosis_.
CHAPTER III.
_The Reigns of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero._
2. _Prose Writers--Seneca._
His importance--Life and writings--Influence of his exile--Relations with
Nero--His death--Is he a Stoic?--Gradual convergence of the different
schools of thought--Seneca a _teacher_ more than anything else--His
conception of philosophy--Supposed connection with Christianity--Estimate
of his character and style.
CHAPTER IV.
_The Reigns of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero._
3. _Other Prose Writers_.
Domitius Corbulo--Quintus Curtius--Columella--Pomponius Mela--
Valerius Protius--Petronius Arbiter--Account of his extant fragments.
APPENDIX.--Note I. The _Testamentum Porcelli_,
" II. On the MS. of Petronius.
CHAPTER V.
_The Reigns of the Flavian Emperors_ (69-96 A.D.).
1. _Prose Writers_.
A new literary epoch--Marked by common characteristics--Decay of national
genius--Pliny the elder--Account of his death translated from the younger
Pliny--His studious habits--The _Natural History_--Its character and
value--Quintilian--Account of his book _de Institutione Oratoria_--
Frontinus--A valuable and accurate writer--Grammatical studies.
APPENDIX.--Quintilian's Criticism on the Roman Authors.
CHAPTER VI.
_The Reigns of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian_ (69-96 A.D.).
2. _Poets_.
Reduced scope of poetry--Poetry the most dependent on external conditions
of any form of written literature--Valerius Flaccus--Silius--His death as
described by Pliny--His poem--The elder Statius--Statius--An extempore
poet--His public recitations--The _Silvae_--The _Thebaid_ and _Achilleid_
--His similes--Arruntius Stella--Martial--His death as recounted by Pliny
--The epigram--Other poets.
APPENDIX.--On the Similes of Virgil, Lucan, and Statius.
CHAPTER VII.
_The Reigns of Nerva and Trajan_ (96-117 A.D.).
Pliny the younger--His oratory--His correspondence--Letter to Trajan
--Velius Longus--Hyginus--Balbus--Flaccus--Juvenal--His life--A finished
declaimer--His character--His political views--Style--Tacitus--Dialogue on
eloquence--_Agricola_--_Germania_--_Histories_--Annals_
--Intended work on Augustus's reign--Style.
CHAPTER VIII.
_The Reigns of Hadrian and the Antonines_ (117-180 A.D.).
Era of African Latinity--Differs from the Silver Age--Hadrian's poetry
--Suetonius--His life--List of writings--Lives of the Caesars--His account
of Nero's death--Florus--Salvius Julianus and Sextus Pomponius--Fronto--
His relations with Aurelius--List of his works--Gellius--Gaius--Poems of
the period--_Pervigilium Veneris_--Apuleius--_De Magia_--_Metamorphoses_
or Golden Ass--Cupid and Psyche--His philosophical works.
CHAPTER IX.
_State of Philosophical and Religious Thought during the Period of the
Antonines--Conclusion_.
Greek eloquence revives in the Sophists--Itinerant rhetors--Cynic
preachers of virtue--The better class of popular philosophers--Dio
Chrysostom--Union of philosophy and rhetoric--Greek now the language of
general literature--Reconciliation of philosophy with religion--The
Platonist school--Apuleius--Doctrine of daemons--Decline of thought--
General review of the main features of Roman literatureConclusion.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
LIST OF EDITIONS RECOMMENDED
QUESTIONS OR SUBJECTS FOR ESSAYS, &c.
INTRODUCTION.
In the latter part of the seventeenth century, and during nearly the whole
of the eighteenth, the literature of Rome exercised an imperial sway over
European taste. Pope thought fit to assume an apologetic tone when he
clothed Homer in an English dress, and reminded the world that, as
compared with Virgil, the Greek poet had at least the merit of coming
first. His own mind was of an emphatically Latin order. The great poets of
his day mostly based their art on the canons recognised by Horace. And
when poetry was thus affected, it was natural that philosophy, history,
and criticism should yield to the same influence. A rhetorical form, a
satirical spirit, and an appeal to common sense as supreme judge, stamp
most of the writers of western Europe as so far pupils of Horace, Cicero,
and Tacitus. At present the tide has turned. We are living in a period of
strong reaction. The nineteenth century not only differs from the
eighteenth, but in all fundamental questions is opposed to it. Its
products have been strikingly original. In art, poetry, science, the
spread of culture, and the investigation of the basis of truth, it yields
to no other epoch of equal length in the history of modern times. If we go
to either of the nations of antiquity to seek for an animating impulse, it
will not be Rome but Greece that will immediately suggest itself to us.
Greek ideas of aesthetic beauty, and Greek freedom of abstract thought,
are being disseminated in the world with unexampled rapidity. Rome, and
her soberer, less original, and less stimulating literature, find no place
for influence. The readiness with which the leading nations drink from the
well of Greek genius points to a special adaptation between the two.
Epochs of upheaval, when thought is rife, progress rapid, and tradition,
political or religious, boldly examined, turn, as if by necessity, to
ancient Greece for inspiration. The Church of the second and third
centuries, when Christian thought claimed and won its place among the
intellectual revolutions of the world, did not disdain the analogies of
Greek philosophy. The Renaissance owed its rise, and the Reformation much
of its fertility, to the study of Greek. And the sea of intellectual
activity which now surges round us moves ceaselessly about questions which
society has not asked itself since Greece started them more than twenty
centuries age. On the other hand, periods of order, when government is
strong and progress restrained, recognise their prototypes in the
civilisation of Rome, and their exponents in her literature. Such was the
time of the Church's greatest power: such was also that of the fully
developed monarchy in France, and of aristocratic ascendancy in England.
Thus the two literatures wield alternate influence; the one on the side of
liberty, the other on the side of government; the one as urging restless
movement towards the ideal, the other as counselling steady acceptance of
the real.
From a more restricted point of view, the utility of Latin literature may
be sought in the practical standard of its thought, and in the almost
faultless correctness of its composition. On the former there is no need
to enlarge, for it has always been amply recognised. The latter excellence
fits it above all for an educational use. There is probably no language
which in this respect comes near to it. The Romans have been called with
justice a nation of grammarians. The greatest commanders and statesmen did
not disdain to analyse the syntax and fix the spelling of their language.
From the outset of Roman literature a knowledge of scientific grammar
prevailed. Hence the act of composition and the knowledge of its theory
went hand in hand. The result is that among Roman classical authors scarce
a sentence can be detected which offends against logical accuracy, or
defies critical analysis. In this Latin stands alone. The powerful
intellect of an Aeschylus or Thucydides did not prevent them from
transgressing laws which in their day were undiscovered, and which their
own writing helped to form. Nor in modern times could we find a single
language in which the idioms of the best writers could be reduced to
conformity with strict rule. French, which at first sight appears to offer
such an instance, is seen on a closer view to be fuller of illogical
idioms than any other language; its symmetrical exactness arises from
clear combination and restriction of single forms to a single use.
English, at least in its older form, abounds in special idioms, and German
is still less likely to be adduced. As long, therefore, as a penetrating
insight into syntactical structure is considered desirable, so long will
Latin offer the best field for obtaining it. In gaining accuracy, however,
classical Latin suffered a grievous loss. It became a cultivated as
distinct from a natural language. It was at first separated from the
dialect of the people, and afterwards carefully preserved from all
contamination by it. Only a restricted number of words were admitted into
its select vocabulary. We learn from Servius that Virgil was censured for
admitting _avunculus_ into epic verse; and Quintilian says that the
prestige of ancient use alone permits the appearance in literature of
words like _balare_, _hinnire_, and all imitative sounds. [1] Spontaneity,
therefore, became impossible, and soon invention also ceased; and the
imperial writers limit their choice to such words as had the authority of
classical usage. In a certain sense, therefore, Latin was studied as a
dead language, while it was still a living one. Classical composition,
even in the time of Juvenal, must have been a labour analogous to, though,
of course, much less than, that of the Italian scholars of the sixteenth
century. It was inevitable that when the repositaries of the literary
idiom were dispersed, it should at once fall into irrecoverable disuse;
and though never properly a dead language, should have remained as it
began, an artificially cultivated one. [2] An important claim on our
attention put forward by Roman literature is founded upon its actual
historical position. Imitative it certainly is. [3] But it is not the only
one that is imitative. All modern literature is so too, in so far as it
makes a conscious effort after an external standard. Rome may seem to be
more of a copyist than any of her successors; but then they have among
other models Rome herself to follow. The way in which Roman taste,
thought, and expression have found their way into the modern world, makes
them peculiarly worthy of study; and the deliberate method of undertaking
literary composition practised by the great writers and clearly traceable
in their productions, affords the best possible study of the laws and
conditions under which literary excellence is attainable. Rules for
composition would be hard to draw from Greek examples, and would need a
Greek critic to formulate them. But the conscious workmanship of the
Romans shows us technical method as separable from the complex aesthetic
result, and therefore is an excellent guide in the art.
The traditional account of the origin of literature at Rome, accepted by
the Romans themselves, is that it was entirely due to contact with Greece.
Many scholars, however, have advanced the opinion that, at an earlier
epoch, Etruria exercised an important influence, and that much of that
artistic, philosophical, and literary impulse, which we commonly ascribe
to Greece, was in its elements, at least, really due to her. Mommsen's
researches have re-established on a firmer basis the superior claims of
Greece. He shows that Etruscan civilisation was itself modelled in its
best features on the Hellenic, that it was essentially weak and
unprogressive and, except in religion (where it held great sway) and in
the sphere of public amusements, unable permanently to impress itself upon
Rome. [4] Thus the literary epoch dates from the conquest of Magna
Graecia. After the fall of Tarentum the Romans were suddenly familiarised
with the chief products of the Hellenic mind; and the first Punic war
which followed, unlike all previous wars, was favourable to the effects of
this introduction. For it was waged far from Roman soil, and so relieved
the people from those daily alarms which are fatal to the calm demanded by
study. Moreover it opened Sicily to their arms, where, more than in any
part of Europe except Greece itself, the treasures of Greek genius were
enshrined. A systematic treatment of Latin literature cannot therefore
begin before Livius Andronicus. The preceding ages, barren as they were of
literary effort, afford little to notice except the progress of the
language. To this subject a short essay has been devoted, as well as to
the elements of literary development which existed in Rome before the
regular literature. There are many signs in tradition and early history of
relations between Greece and Rome; as the decemviral legislation, the
various consultations of the Delphic Oracle, the legends of Pythagoras and
Numa, of Lake Regillus, and, indeed, the whole story of the Tarquins; the
importation of a Greek alphabet, and of several names familiar to Greek
legend--_Ulysses, Poenus, Catamitus_, &c.--all antecedent to the Pyrrhic
war. But these are neither numerous enough nor certain enough to afford a
sound basis for generalisation. They have therefore been merely touched on
in the introductory essays, which simply aim at a compendious registration
of the main points; all fuller information belonging rather to the
antiquarian department of history and to philology than to a sketch of the
written literature. The divisions of the subject will be those naturally
suggested by the history of the language, and recently adopted by Teuffel,
_i.e._--
1. The sixth and seventh centuries of the city (240-80 B.C.), from Livius
to Sulla.
2. The Golden Age, from Cicero to Ovid (80 B.C.-A.D. 14).
3. The period of the Decline, from the accession of Tiberius to the death
of Marcus Aurelius (14-180 A.D.).
These Periods are distinguished by certain strongly marked
characteristics. The First, which comprises the history of the legitimate
drama, of the early epos and satire, and the beginning of prose
composition, is marked by immaturity of art and language, by a vigorous
but ill-disciplined imitation of Greek poetical models, and in prose by a
dry sententiousness of style, gradually giving way to a clear and fluent
strength, which was characteristic of the speeches of Gracchus and
Antonius. This was the epoch when literature was popular; or at least more
nearly so than at any subsequent period. It saw the rise and fall of
dramatic art: in other respects it merely introduced the forms which were
carried to perfection in the Ciceronian and Augustan ages. The language
did not greatly improve in smoothness, or adaptation to express finished
thought. The ancients, indeed, saw a difference between Ennius, Pacuvius,
and Accius, but it may be questioned whether the advance would be
perceptible by us. Still the _labor limae_ unsparingly employed by
Terence, the rules of good writing laid down by Lucilius, and the labours
of the great grammarians and orators at the close of the period, prepared
the language for that rapid development which it at once assumed in the
masterly hands of Cicero.
The Second Period represents the highest excellence in prose and poetry.
The prose era came first, and is signalised by the names of Cicero,
Sallust, and Caesar. The celebrated writers were now mostly men of action
and high position in the state. The principles of the language had become
fixed; its grammatical construction was thoroughly understood, and its
peculiar genius wisely adapted to those forms of composition in which it
was naturally capable of excelling. The perfection of poetry was not
attained until the time of Augustus. Two poets of the highest renown had
indeed flourished in the republican period; but though endowed with lofty
genius they are greatly inferior to their successors in sustained art,
_e.g._ the constructions of prose still dominate unduly in the domain of
verse, and the intricacies of rhythm are not fully mastered. On the other
hand, prose has, in the Augustan age, lost somewhat of its breadth and
vigour. Even the beautiful style of Livy shows traces of that intrusion of
the poetic element which made such destructive inroads into the manner of
the later prose writers. In this period the writers as a rule are not
public men, but belong to what we should call the literary class. They
wrote not for the public but for the select circle of educated men whose
ranks were gradually narrowing their limits to the great injury of
literature. If we ask which of the two sections of this period marks the
most strictly national development, the answer must be--the Ciceronian;
for while the advancement of any literature is more accurately tested by
its prose writers than by its poets, this is specially the case with the
Romans, whose genius was essentially prosaic. Attention now began to be
bestowed on physical science, and the applied sciences also received
systematic treatment. The rhetorical element, which had hitherto been
overpowered by the oratorical, comes prominently forward; but it does not
as yet predominate to a prejudicial extent.
The Third Period, though of long duration, has its chief characteristics
clearly defined from the beginning. The foremost of these is unreality,
arising from the extinction of freedom and consequent loss of interest in
public life. At the same time, the Romans, being made for political
activity, did not readily content themselves with the less exciting
successes of literary life. The applause of the lecture-room was a poor
substitute for the thunders of the assembly. Hence arose a declamatory
tone, which strove by frigid and almost hysterical exaggeration to make up
for the healthy stimulus afforded by daily contact with affairs. The vein
of artificial rhetoric, antithesis, and epigram, which prevails from Lucan
to Fronto, owes its origin to this forced contentment with an uncongenial
sphere. With the decay of freedom, taste sank, and that so rapidly that
Seneca and Lucan transgress nearly as much against its canons as writers
two generations later. The flowers which had bloomed so delicately in the
wreath of the Augustan poets, short-lived as fragrant, scatter their
sweetness no more in the rank weed-grown garden of their successors.
The character of this and of each epoch will be dwelt on more at length as
it comes before us for special consideration, as well as the social or
religious phenomena which influenced the modes of thought or expression.
The great mingling of nationalities in Rome during the Empire necessarily
produced a corresponding divergence in style, if not in ideas.
Nevertheless, although we can trace the national traits of a Lucan or a
Martial underneath their Roman culture, the fusion of separate elements in
the vast capital was so complete, or her influence so overpowering, that
the general resemblance far outweighs the differences, and it is easy to
discern the common features which signalise unmistakeably the writers of
the Silver Age.
BOOK I.
CHAPTER I.
ON THE EARLIEST REMAINS OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE.
The question, Who were the earliest inhabitants of Italy? is one that
cannot certainly be answered. That some lower race, analogous to those
displaced in other parts of Europe [1] by the Celts and Teutons, existed
in Italy at a remote period is indeed highly probable; but it has not been
clearly demonstrated. At the dawn of the historic period, we find the
Messapian and Iapygian races inhabiting the extreme south and south-west
of Italy; and assuming, as we must, that their migrations had proceeded by
land across the Apennines, we shall draw the inference that they had been
gradually pushed by stronger immigrants into the furthest corner of the
Peninsula. Thus we conclude with Mommsen that they are to be regarded as
the historical aborigines of Italy. They form no part, however, of the
Italian race. Weak and easily acted upon, they soon ceased to have any
influence on the immigrant tribes, and within a few centuries they had all
but disappeared as a separate nation. The Italian races, properly so
called, who possessed the country at the time of the origin of Rome, are
referable to two main groups, the Latin and the Umbrian. Of these, the
Latin was numerically by far the smaller, and was at first confined within
a narrow and somewhat isolated range of territory. The Umbrian stock,
including the Samnite or Oscan, the Volscian and the Marsian, had a more
extended area. At one time it possessed the district afterwards known as
Etruria, as well as the Sabellian and Umbrian territories. Of the numerous
dialects spoken by this race, two only are in some degree known to us
(chiefly from inscriptions) the Umbrian and the Oscan. These show a close
affinity with one another, and a decided, though more distant,
relationship with the Latin. All three belong to a well-marked division of
the Indo-European speech, to which the name of _Italic_ is given. Its
nearest congener is the Hellenic, the next most distant being the Celtic.
The Hellenic and Italic may thus be called sister languages, the Celtic
standing in the position of cousin to both, though, on the whole, more
akin to the Italic. [2]
The Etruscan language is still a riddle to philologists, and until it is
satisfactorily investigated the ethnological position of the people that
spoke it must be a matter of dispute. The few words and forms which have
been deciphered lend support to the otherwise more probable theory that
they were an Indo-Germanic race only remotely allied to the Italians, in
respect of whom they maintained to quite a late period many distinctive
traits. [3] But though the Romans were long familiar with the literature
and customs of Etruria, and adopted many Etruscan words into their
language, neither of these causes influenced the literary development of
the Romans in any appreciable degree. Italian philology and ethnology have
been much complicated by reference to the Etruscan element. It is best to
regard it, like the Iapygian, as altogether outside the pale of genuine
Italic ethnography.
The main points of correspondence between the Italic dialects as a whole,
by which they are distinguished from the Greek, are as follow:--Firstly,
they all retain the spirants S, J (pronounced Y), and V, _e.g. sub,
vespera, janitrices_, beside _upo, espera, einateres_. Again, the Italian
_u_ is nearer the original sound than the Greek. The Greeks sounded _u_
like _ii_, and expressed the Latin _u_ for the most part by _ou_. On the
other hand the Italians lost the aspirated letters _th, ph, ch_, which
remain in Greek, and frequently omitted the simple aspirate. They lost
also the dual both in nouns and verbs, and all but a few fragmentary forms
of the middle verb. In inflexion they retain the sign of the ablative
(_d_), and, at least in Latin, the dat. plur. in _bus_. They express the
passive by the letter _r_, a weakened form of the reflexive, the principle
of which is reproduced in more than one of the Romance languages.
On the other hand, Latin differs from the other Italian dialects in
numerous points. In pronouns and elsewhere Latin _q_ becomes _p_ in
Umbrian and Oscan _(pis = quis)._ Again, Oscan had two vowels more than
Latin and was much more conservative of diphthongal sounds; it also used
double consonants, which old Latin did not. The Oscan and Umbrian
alphabets were taken from the Etruscan, the Latin from the Greek; hence
the former lacked O Q X, and used [Symbol] or [Symbol] (_san_ or soft _z_)
for _z_ (_zeta = ds_). They possessed the spirant F which they expressed
by [Symbol] and used the symbol [Symbol] to denote V or W. They preserved
the old genitive in _as_ or _ar_ (Lat. _ai, ae_) and the locative, both
which were rarely found in Latin; also the Indo-European future in _so_
(_didest, herest_) and the infin. in _um_ (_e.g. ezum = esse_).
The old Latin alphabet was taken from the Dorian alphabet of Cumae, a
colony from Chaleis, and consisted of twenty-one letters, A B C D E F Z H
I K L M N O P Q R S T V X, to which the original added three more, O or
[Symbol] (_th_), [Symbol] (_ph_), and [Symbol] (_ch_). These were retained
in Latin as numerals though not as letters, [Symbol] in the form of C=100,
[Symbol] or M as 1000, and [Symbol] or L as 50.
Of these letters Z fell out of use at an early period, its power being
expressed by S (_Saguntum = Zákunthos_) or SS (_massa = máza_). Its
rejection was followed by the introduction, of G. Plutarch ascribes this
change to Sp. Carvilius about 231 B.C., but it is found on inscriptions
nearly fifty years earlier. [4] In many words C was written for G down to
a late period, _e.g._ CN. was the recognised abbreviation for _Gnaeus_.
In Cicero's time Z was taken into use again as well as the Greek Y, and
the Greek combinations TH, PH, CH, chiefly for purposes of
transliteration. The Emperor Claudius introduced three fresh symbols, two
of which appear more or less frequently on monuments of his time. They are
[Symbol] or [Symbol], the inverted digamma, intended to represent the
consonantal V: [Symbol], or anti-sigma, to represent the Greek _psi_, and
[Symbol] to represent the Greek _upsilon_ with the sound of the French _u_
or German _ü_. The second is not found in inscriptions.
Other innovations were the doubling of vowels to denote length, a device
employed by the Oscans and introduced at Rome by the poet Accius, though
Quintilian [5] implies that it was known before his time, and the doubling
of consonants which was adopted from, the Greek by Ennius. In Greek,
however, such doubling generally, though not always, has a philological
justification. [6]
The pronounciation of Latin has recently been the subject of much
discussion. It seems clear that the vowels did not differ greatly, if at
all, from the same as pronounced by the modern Italians. The distinction
between E and I, however, was less clearly marked, at least in the popular
speech. Inscriptions and manuscripts afford abundant instances of their
confusion. _Menerva leber magester_ are mentioned by Quintilian, [7] and
the employment of _ei_ for the _i_ of the dat. pl. of nouns of the second
declension and of _nobis vobis_, and of _e_ and _i_ indifferently for the
acc. pl. of nouns of the third declension, attest the similarity of sound.
That the spirant J was in all cases pronounced as Y there is scarcely room
for doubt. The pronunciation of V is still undetermined, though there is a
great preponderance of evidence in favour of the W sound having been the
original one. After the first century A.D. this semi-vowel began to
develop into the labiodental consonant _v_, the intermediate stage being a
labial _v_, such as one may often hear in South Germany at the present
day, and which to ordinary ears would seem undistinguishable from _w_.
There is little to remark about the other letters, except that S, N, and M
became very weak when final and were often entirely lost. S was
rehabilitated in the literary dialect in the time of Cicero, who speaks of
the omission to reckon it as _subrusticum_; but final M is always elided
before a vowel. An illustration of the way in which final M and N were
weakened may be found in the nasalised pronunciation of them in modern
French (_main, faim_). The gutturals C and G have by some been supposed to
have had from the first a soft sibilant sound before E and I; but from the
silence of all the grammarians on the subject, from the transcriptions of
C in Greek by _kappa_, not _sigma_ or _tau_, and from the inscriptions and
MSS. of the best ages not confusing CI with TI, we conclude that at any
rate until 200 A.D. C and G were sounded hard before all vowels. The
change operated quickly enough afterwards, and to a great extent through
the influence of the Umbrian which had used _d_ or _ç_ before E and I for
some time.
In spelling much irregularity prevailed, as must always be the case where
there is no sound etymological theory on which to base it. In the earliest
inscriptions we find many inconsistencies. The case-signs _m_, _d_, are
sometimes retained, sometimes lost. In the second Scipionic epitaph we
have _oino (unum)_ side by side with _Luciom_. In the _Columna Rostrata_
(260 B.C.) we have _c_ for _g_, single instead of double consonants, _et_
for _it_ in _ornavet_, and _o_ for _u_ in terminations, all marks of
ancient spelling, contrasted with _maximos, maxumos; navebos, navebous;
praeda_, and other inconsistent or modern forms. Perhaps a later
restoration may account for these. In the decree of Aemilius, _posedisent_
and _possidere_ are found. In the _Lex Agraria_ we have _pequnia_ and
_pecunia_, in _S. C. de Bacchanalibus, senatuos_ and _nominus_ (gen.
sing.), _consoluerunt_ and _cosoleretur_, &c., showing that even in legal
documents orthography was not fixed. It is the same in the MSS. of ancient
authors. The oldest MSS. of Plautus, Lucretius, and Virgil, are consistent
in a considerable number of forms with themselves and with each other, but
vary in a still larger number. In antiquity, as at present, there was a
conflict between sound and etymology. A word was pronounced in one way;
science suggested that it ought to be written in another. This accounts
for such variations as _inperium, imperium; atque, adque; exspecto,
expecto;_ and the like (cases like _haud, haut; saxum, saxsum;_ are
different). The best writers could not decide between these conflicting
forms. A still greater fluctuation existed in English spelling in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, [8] but it has since been overcome.
Great writers sometimes introduced spellings of their own. Caesar wrote
_Pompeiii_ (gen. sing.) for _Pompeii_, after the Oscan manner. He also
brought the superlative _simus_ into use. Augustus, following in his
steps, paid great attention to orthography. His inscriptions are a
valuable source of evidence for ascertaining the correctest spelling of
the time. During and after the time of Claudius affected archaisms crept
in, and the value both of inscriptions and MSS. is impaired, on the one
hand, by the pedantic endeavour to bring spelling into accord with archaic
use or etymology, and, on the other, by the increasing frequency of
debased and provincial forms, which find place even in authoritative
documents. In spite of the obscurity of the subject several principles of
orthography have been definitely established, especially with regard to
the older Latin, which will guide future editors. And the labours of
Ritschl, Corssen, and many others, cannot fail to bring to light the most
important laws of variability which have affected the spelling of Latin
words, so far as the variation has not depended on mere caprice. [9]
With these preliminary remarks we may turn to the chief monuments of the
old language, the difficulties and uncertainties of which have been
greatly diminished by recent research. They are partly inscriptions (for
the oldest period exclusively so), and partly public documents, preserved
in the pages of antiquarians. Much may be learnt from the study of coins,
which, though less ancient than some of the written literature, are often
more archaic in their forms. The earliest of the existing remains is the
song of the Arval Brothers, an old rustic priesthood (_qui sacra publica
faciunt propterea ut fruges ferant arva_), [10] dating from the times of
the kings. This fragment was discovered at Rome in 1778, on a tablet
containing the acts of the sacred college, and was supposed to be as
ancient as Romulus. The priesthood was a highly honourable office, its
members were chosen for life, and emperors are mentioned among them. The
yearly festival took place in May, when the fruits were ripe, and
consisted in a kind of blessing of the first-fruits. The minute and
primitive ritual was evidently preserved from very ancient times, and the
hymn, though it has suffered in transliteration, is a good specimen of
early Roman worship, the rubrical directions to the brethren being
inseparably united with the invocation to the Lares and Mars. According to
Mommsen's division of the lines, the words are--
ENOS, LASES, IUVATE, (_ter_)
NEVE LUE RUE, MARMAR, SINS (V. SERS) INCURRERE IN PLEORES. (_ter_)
SATUR FU, FERE MARS. LIMEN SALI. STA. BERBER. (_ter_)
SEMUNIS ALTERNEI ADVOCAPIT CONCTOS. (_ter_)
ENOS, MARMOR, IUVATO. (_ter_)
TRIUMPE. (_Quinquies_)
The great difference between this rude dialect and classical Latin is
easily seen, and we can well imagine that this and the Salian hymn of Numa
were all but unintelligible to those who recited them. [11] The most
probable rendering is as follows:--"Help us, O Lares! and thou, Marmar,
suffer not plague and ruin to attack our folk. Be satiate, O fierce Mars!
Leap over the threshold. Halt! Now beat the ground. Call in alternate
strain upon all the heroes. Help us, Marmor. Bound high in solemn
measure." Each line was repeated thrice, the last word five times.
As regards the separate words, _enos_, which should perhaps be written _e
nos_, contains the interjectional _e_, which elsewhere coalesces with
vocatives. [12] _Lases_ is the older form of _Lares_. _Lue rue = luem
ruem_, the last an old word for _ruinam_, with the case-ending lost, as
frequently, and the copula omitted, as in _Patres Conscripti_, &c.
_Marmar, Marmor_, or _Mamor_, is the reduplicated form of _Mars_, seen in
the Sabine _Mamers_. _Sins_ is for _sines_, as _advocapit_ for
_advocabitis_. [13] _Pleores_ is an ancient form of _plures_, answering to
the Greek _pleionas_ in form, and to _tous pollous_, "the mass of the
people" in meaning. _Fu_ is a shortened imperative. [14] _Berber_ is for
_verbere_, imper. of the old _verbero, is_, as _triumpe_ from _triumpere_
= _triumphare_. _Semunes_ from _semo_ (_se-homo_ "apart from man") an
inferior deity, as we see from the Sabine _Semo Sancus_ (= _Dius Fidius_).
Much of this interpretation is conjectural, and other views have been
advanced with regard to nearly every word, but the above given is the most
probable.
The next fragment is from the Salian hymn, quoted by Varro. [15] It
appears to be incomplete. The words are:
"Cozeulodoizeso. Omnia vero adpatula coemisse iamcusianes duo
misceruses dun ianusve vet pos melios eum recum...," and a little
further on, "divum empta cante, divum deo supplicante."
The most probable transcription is:
"Chorauloedus ero; Omnia vero adpatula concepere Iani curiones. Bonus
creator es. Bonus Janus vivit, quo meliorem regum [terra Saturnia
vidit nullum]"; and of the second, "Deorum impetu canite, deorum deum
suppliciter canite."
Here we observe the ancient letter _z_ standing for _s_ and that for _r_,
also the word _cerus_ masc. of _ceres_, connected with the root _creare_.
_Adpatula_ seems = _clara_. Other quotations from the Salian hymns occur
in Festus and other late writers, but they are not considerable enough to
justify our dwelling upon them. All of them will be found in Wordsworth's
_Fragments and Specimens of early Latin_.
There are several fragments of laws said to belong to the regal period,
but they have been so modernised as to be of but slight value for the
purpose of philological illustration. One or two primitive forms, however,
remain. In a law of Romulus, we read _Si nurus ... plorassit ... sacra
divis parendum estod_, where the full form of the imperative occurs, the
only instance in the whole range of the language. [16] A somewhat similar
law, attributed to Numa, contains some interesting forms:
"Si parentem puer verberit asi ole plorasit, puer divis parentum
verberat? ille ploraverit diis
sacer esto."
Much more interesting are the scanty remains of the Laws of the Twelve
Tables (451, 450 B.C.). It is true we do not possess the text in its
original form. The great destruction of monuments by the Gauls probably
extended to these important witnesses of national progress. Livy, indeed,
tells us that they were recovered, but it was probably a copy that was
found, and not the original brass tables, since we never hear of these
latter being subsequently exhibited in the sight of the people. Their
style is bold and often obscure, owing to the omission of distinctive
pronouns, though doubtless this obscurity would be greatly lessened if we
had the entire text. Connecting particles are also frequently omitted, and
the interdependence of the moods is less developed than in any extant
literary Latin. For instance, the imperative mood is used in all cases,
permissive as well as jussive, _Si nolet arceram ne sternito_, "If he does
not choose, he need not procure a covered car." The subjunctive is never
used even in conditionals, but only in final clauses. Those which seem to
be subjunctives are either present indicatives (_e.g. escit, vindicit_) or
second futures (_e.g. faxit, rupsit_.). The ablative absolute, so strongly
characteristic of classical Latin, is never found, or only in one doubtful
instance. The word _igitur_ occurs frequently in the sense of "after
that," "in that case," a meaning which it has almost lost in the literary
dialect. Some portion of each Table is extant. We subjoin an extract from
the first.
"1. Si in ius vocat, ito. Ni it, antestamino: igitur em capito. Si calvitur
antestetur postea eum frustratur
pedemve struit, manum endo iacito
iniicito
2. Rem ubi pacunt orato. Ni pacunt, in comitio aut in foro ante
pagunt (cf. pacisci)
meridiem caussam coiciunto. Com peroranto ambo praesentes.
Una
Post meridiem praesenti litem addicito. Si ambo praesentes, Sol occasus
suprema tempestas esto."
The difference between these fragments and the Latin of Plautus is really
inconsiderable. But we have the testimony of Polybius [17] with regard to
a treaty between Rome and Carthage formed soon after the Regifugium (509
B.C.), and therefore not much anterior to the Decemvirs, that the most
learned Romans could scarcely understand it. We should infer from this
that the language of the Twelve Tables, from being continually quoted to
meet the exigencies of public life, was unconsciously moulded into a form
intelligible to educated men; and that this process continued until the
time when literary activity commenced. After that it remained untouched;
and, in fact, the main portion of the laws as now preserved shows a strong
resemblance to the Latin of the age of Livius, who introduced the written
literature.
The next specimen will be the _Columna Rostrata_, or Column of Duillius.
The original monument was erected to commemorate his naval victory over
the Carthaginians, 260 B.C., but that which at present exists is a
restoration of the time of Claudius. It has, however, been somewhat
carelessly done, for several modernisms have crept into the language. But
these are not sufficient to disprove its claim to be a true restoration of
an ancient monument. To consider it a forgery is to disregard entirely the
judgment of Quintilian, [18] who takes its genuineness for granted. It is
in places imperfect--
"Secestanosque ... opsidioned exemet, lecionesque Cartaciniensis omnis
maximosque macistratos luci palam post dies novem castreis exfociunt,
magistratus effugiunt
Macelamque opidom vi puenandod cepet. Enque eodem macistratud bene
rem navebos marid consol primos ceset, copiasque clasesque navales primos
gessit
ornavet paravetque. Cumque eis navebous claseis Poenicas omnis, item
maxumas copias Cartaciniensis, praesented Hanibaled dictatored olorom,
illorum
inaltod marid puenandod vicet. Vique navis cepet cum socieis septeresmom
in alto septiremem
unam, quinqueresmosque triresmosque naveis xxx: merset xiii. Aurom
mersit
captom numci [Symbols] DCC. arcentom captom praeda: numci CCCI[Symbols]
CCCI[Symbols]. Omne captom, aes CCCI[Symbols] (plus vicies semel). Primos
quoque navaled praedad poplom donavet primosque Cartaciniensis incenuos
ingenuos
duxit in triumpod."
We notice here C for G, ET for IT, O for V on the one hand: on the other,
_praeda_ where we should expect _praida_, besides the inconsistencies
alluded to on p. 13.
The Mausoleum of the Scipios containing the epitaphs was discovered in
1780. The first of these inscriptions dates from 280 B.C. or twenty years
earlier than the Columna Rostrata, and is the earliest original Roman
philological antiquity of assignable date which we possess. But the other
epitaphs on the Scipios advance to a later period, and it is convenient to
arrange them all together. The earliest runs thus:--
"Cornéliús Lucíus, | Scípió Barbátus,
Gnaivód patré prognátus | fórtis vír sapiénsque,
quoiús formá vírtu | teí parísuma fúit, [19]
consól censór aídílis | queí fuít apúd vos,
Taurásia Cisaúna | Sámnió cépit
subigít omné Loucánam | ópsidésque abdoúcit."
The next, the title of which is painted and the epitaph graven, refers to
the son of Barbatus. Like the preceding, it is written in Saturnian verse:
"Honc oíno ploírumé co | séntiónt Romái
duonóro óptumó fu | íse viró viróro
Lucíom Scípióne. | Fíliós Barbáti
consól censór aidílis | híc fuét apúd vos
hec cépit Córsica 'Aleri | áque urbé pugnándod,
dedét Témpestátebus | aíde méretod vótam."
The more archaic character of this inscription suggests the
explanation that the first was originally painted, and not engraven
till a later period, when, as in the case of the Columna Rostrata,
some of its archaisms (probably the more unintelligible) were
suppressed. In ordinary Latin it would be:
"Hunc unum plurimi consentiunt Romani (or Romae) bonorum optimum
fuisse virum virorum, Lucium Scipionem. Filius (erat) Barbati, Consul,
Censor. Aedilis hic fuit apud vos. Hic cepit Corsicam Aleriamque urbem
pugnando; dedit tempestatibus aedem merito votam."
The third epitaph is on P. Corn. Scipio, probably son of the great
Africanus, and adopted father of Scipio Aemilianus:--
"Quei ápice insígne diális | fláminís gesístei
mors pérfecít tua ut éssent | ómniá brévia
honós famá virtúsque | glória átque ingénium:
quibús sei in lónga lícui | sét tíbi útier víta
facilé factís superásses | glóriám maiórum.
quaré lubéns te in grémiu | Scípió récipit
terrá, Publí, prognátum | Públió Cornéli."
The last which will be quoted here is that of L. Corn. Scipio, of
uncertain date:
"Magná sapiéntiá mul | tásque vírtútes
Aetáte quóm párva | póssidét hoc sáxsum,
quoieí vitá defécit | nón honós honóre.
Is híc sitús, qui núnquam | víctus ást virtúteí.
Annós gnatús vigínti | ís Diteíst mandátus,
ne quaíratís honóre | queí minus sít mandátus."
These last two are written in clear, intelligible Latin, the former
showing in addition a genuine literary inspiration. Nevertheless, the
student will perceive many signs of antiquity in the omission of the case-
ending _m_, in the spellings _gesistei, quom_ ( = _cum_. prep.) in the old
long quantities _omnia fama facile_ and the unique _quairatis_. There are
no less than five other inscriptions in the Mausoleum, one of which
concludes with four elegiac lines, but they can hardly be cited with
justice among the memorials of the old language.
The _Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus_, or, as some scholars prefer to
call it, _Epistola Consulum ad Teuranos_ (186 B.C.), found at Terra di
Teriolo, in Calabria, in 1640, is quite in its original state. It is
easily intelligible, and except in orthography, scarcely differs from
classical Latin. We subjoin it entire, as it is a very complete and
important specimen of the language, and with it we shall close our list:--
"1. Q. Marcius L. f. S(p) Postumius L. f. cos senatum consoluerunt n. Oct-
2. ob. apud aedem | Duelonai. Sc. arf. M. Claudi(us) M. f.
Bellonae Scribendo adfuerunt
L. Valeri(us) P.f.Q. Minuci(us) C. f.--
3. De Bacanalibus quei foideratei | esent ita exdeicendum censuere.
4. Neiquis eorum Bacanal habuise velet. Sei ques | esent quei
vellet Si qui
sibei deicerent necesus ese Bacanal habere, eeis utei
5. ad pr(aetorem) urbanum | Romam venirent deque eeis rebus,
6. ubei eorum verba audita esent, utei senatus | noster decerneret, dum ne
minus Senatorbus C adesent, quom ea
adessent
7. res cosoleretur | Bacas vir nequis adiese velet ceivis Roma-
8. nus neve nominus Latini neve socium | quisquam, nisei
pr(aetorem) urbanum adiesent, isque de senatuos sententiad,
adiissent
9. dum ne | minus Senatoribus C adesent, quom ea res cosoleretur, iousiset.
Censuere. |
10. Sacerdos nequis vir eset. Magister neque vir neque mulier
11. quisquam eset. | Neve pecuniam quisquam eorum comoinem ha-
communem
12. buise velet, neve magistratum | neve pro magistratud, neque
13. virum neque mulierem quiquam fecise velet. | Neve posthac inter sed
coniourase
14. neve comvovise neve conspondise | neve compromesise velet, neve quis-
15. quam fidem inter sed dedise velet | Sacra in oquoltod ne quisquam
occulto
16. fecise velet, neve in poplicod neve in | preivatod neve exstrad urbem
17. sacra quisquam fecise velet,--nisei | pr(aetorem) urbanum adieset isque
18. de senatuos sententiad, dum ne minus | senatoribus C adesent, uom es
res cocoleretur, iousiset. Censuere.
19. Homines plous V oinversei virei atque mulieres sacra ne quisquam |
universi
20. fecise velet, neve inter ibei virei plous duobus mulieribus plous tri-
21. bus | arfuise velent, nisei de pr(aetoris) urbani senatuosque sententiad,
22. utei suprad | scriptam est.
23. Haice utei in coventionid exdeicatis ne minus trinum | noundinum
contione
24. senatuosque sententiam utei scientes esetis--eorum | sententia ita fuit:
25. Sei ques esent, quei arvorsum ead fecisent, quam suprad | scriptum
adversum ea
26. est, eeis rem caputalem faciendam censuere--atque utei | hoce in
27. tabolam abenam inceideretis, ita senatus aiquom censuit; | uteique eam
aequum
28. figier ioubeatis ubei facilumed gnoscier potisit;--atque | utei ea Ba-
29. canalia, sei qua sunt, exstrad quam sei quid ibei sacri est | ita utei
suprad scriptum est, in diebus x. quibus vobis tabelai datai
30. erunt, | faciatis utci dismota sient--in agro Teurano."
Tauriano
We notice that there are in this decree no doubled consonants, no
ablatives without the final _d_ (except the two last words, which are
probably by a later hand), and few instances of _ae_ or _i_ for the older
_ai, ei; oi_ and _ou_ stand as a rule for _oe, u_; _ques, eeis_, for _qui,
ii_. On the other hand _us_ has taken the place of _os_ as the termination
of _Romanus, Postumius_, &c., and generally _u_ is put instead of the
older _o_. The peculiarities of Latin syntax are here fully developed, and
the language has become what we call classical. At this point literature
commences, and a long succession of authors from Plautus onwards carry the
history of the language to its completion; but it should be remembered
that few of these authors wrote in what was really the speech of the
people. In most cases a literature would be the best criterion of a
language. In Latin it is otherwise. The popular speech could never have
risen to the complexity of the language of Cicero and Sallust. This was an
artificial tongue, based indeed on the colloquial idiom, but admitting
many elements borrowed from the Greek. If we compare the language and
syntax of Plautus, who was a genuine popular writer, with that of Cicero
in his more difficult orations, the difference will at once be felt. And
after the natural development of classical Latin was arrested (as it
already was in the time of Augustus), the interval between the colloquial
and literary dialects became more and more wide. The speeches of Cicero
could never have been unintelligible even to the lowest section of the
city crowd, but in the third and fourth centuries it is doubtful whether
the common people understood at all the artificially preserved dialect to
which literature still adhered. Unfortunately our materials for tracing
the gradual decline of the spoken language are scanty. The researches of
Mommsen, Ritschl, and others, have added considerably to their number. And
from these we see that the old language of the early inscriptions was
subjected to a twofold process of growth. On the one hand, it expanded
into the literary dialect under the hands of the Graecising aristocracy;
on the other, it ran its course as a popular idiom, little affected by the
higher culture for several centuries until, after the decay of classical
Latin, it reappears in the fifth century, strikingly reminding us in many
points of the earliest infancy of the language. The _lingua plebeia,
vulgaris_, or _rustica_, corrupted by the Gothic invasions, and by the
native languages of the other parts of the empire which it only partially
supplanted, became eventually distinguished from the _Lingua Latina_
(which was at length cultivated, even by the learned, only in writing,) by
the name of _Lingua Romana_. It accordingly differed in different
countries. The purest specimens of the old Lingua Romana are supposed to
exist in the mountains of Sardinia and in the country of the Grisons. In
these dialects many of the most ancient formations were preserved, which,
repudiated by the classical Latin, have reappeared in the Romance
languages, bearing testimony to the inherent vitality of native idiom,
even when left to work out its own development unaided by literature.
APPENDIX.
_Examples of the corrupted dialect of the fifth and following
centuries._ [20]
1. An epitaph of the fifth century.
"Hic requiescit in pace domna
domina
Bonusa quix ann. xxxxxx et Domo
quae vixit Domino
Menna quixitannos ... Eabeat anatema a Juda si quis alterum
qui vixit annos Habeat anathema
omine sup. me posuerit. Anatema abeas da trecenti decem et
hominem super habeas de trecentis
octo patriarche qui chanones esposuerunt et da s ca Xpi
patriarchis canones exposuerunt sanctis Christi
quatuor Eugvangelia"
Evangeliis
2. An instrument written in Spain under the government of the Moors in the
year 742, a fragment of which is taken from Lanzi. The whole is given by
P. Du Mesnil in his work on the doctrine of the Church.
"Non faciant suas missas misi
portis cerratis: sin peiter
seratis (minus) pendant
decem pesantes argenti. Monasterie quae sunto in eo mando ... faciunt
nummos Monasteriae faciant
Saracenis bona acolhensa sine vexatione neque forcia: vendant sine
vectigalia? vi
pecho tali pacto quod non vadant tributo foras de nostras terras."
nostris terris
3. The following is the oath of fealty taken by Lewis, King of
Germany, in 842 A.D.
"Pro Deo amur et pro Christian poble et nostro comun salvament
Dei amore Christiano populo nostra communi salute
dist di enavant in quant
de isto die in posterum quantum
Dis saver et podirme dunat: si salverat eo cist meon fradre Karlo
Deus scire posse donet: sic (me) servet ei isti meo fratri Carolo
et in adjudha et in cadhuna cosa si cum om per
adjumento qualicunque caussa sic quomodo homo per
dreit son fradra salvar distino: quid il mi altre
rectum (=jure) suo fratri salvare destine: quod ille mihi ex altera (parte)
si fazet; et abludher nul plaid nunquam prendrai, qui
sic faciet; ab Lothario nullum consilium unquam accipiam, quod
meon vol cist meon fradra Karlo in damno sit."
mea voluntate isti meo fratri Carolo damnum