Introduction to Lesbia: Selections from Cicero's Pro Caelio
[35] tu vero, mulier[1] -- iam enim ipse tecum nulla persona introducta[2] loquor -- si ea quae facis, quae dicis, quae insimulas, quae moliris, quae arguis, probare cogitas, rationem tantae familiaritatis, tantae consuetudinis, tantae coniunctionis reddas[3]atque exponas[4] necesse est. Accusatores quidem libidines, amores, adulteria, Baias, actas, convivia, comissationes, cantus, symphonias, navigia iactant, idemque significant nihil se te invita dicere......
[36] vicinum adulescentulum[5] aspexisti[6]; candor huius te et proceritas, voltus oculique pepulerunt; saepius videre voluisti; fuisti non numquam in isdem hortis; vis nobilis mulier illum filium familias patre parco ac tenaci[7] habere tuis copiis devinctum. non potes; calcitrat, respuit, repellit, non putat tua dona esse tanti. confer te alio. habes hortos ad Tiberim ac diligenter eo loco paratos quo omnis iuventus natandi causa venit; hinc licet condiciones cotidie legas; cur huic qui te spernit molesta es?
[38] Caeli causa est expeditissima. quid enim esset in quo se non facile defenderet? nihil iam in istam mulierem dico; sed, si esset aliqua dissimilis istius quae se omnibus pervolgaret, quae haberet palam decretum semper aliquem, cuius in hortos, domum, Baias iure suo libidines omnium commearent, quae etiam aleret adulescentis et parsimoniam patrum suis sumptibus sustineret; si vidua libere, proterva petulanter, dives effuse, libidinosa meretricio more viveret, adulterum ego putarem si quis hanc paulo liberius salutasset?
[39] Dicet aliquis: `haec igitur est tua[8] disciplina? sic tu instituis adulescentis? ob hanc causam tibi hunc puerum parens commendavit et tradidit, ut in amore atque in voluptatibus adulescentiam suam conlocaret, et ut hanc tu vitam atque haec studia defenderes?' ego, si quis, iudices, hoc robore animi atque hac indole virtutis ac continentiae fuit ut respueret omnis voluptates omnemque vitae suae cursum in labore corporis atque in animi contentione conficeret, quem non quies, non remissio, non aequalium studia, non ludi, non convivium delectaret, nihil in vita expetendum putaret nisi quod esset cum laude et cum dignitate coniunctum, hunc mea sententia divinis quibusdam bonis instructum atque ornatum puto.
The whole text of Cicero's Pro Caelio with translation, notes and vocabulary can be found here.
[Quintilian on Caelius: "multum ingenii in Caelio et praecipue in accusando multa urbanitas, dignusque vir, cui et mens melior et vita longior contigisset."
A fragment of Caelius' own speech against Marc Antony: "namque ipsum offendunt temulento sopore profligatum, totis praecordiis stertentem ructuosos spiritus geminare, praeclarasque contubernales ab omnibus spondis transversas incubare et reliquas circum iacere passim: quae tamen exanimatae terrore, hostium adventu percepto, excitare Antonium conabantur, nomen inclamabant, frustra a cervicibus tollebant, blandius alia ad aurem invocabat, vehementius etiam nonulla feriebat: quarum cum omnium vocem tactumque noscitaret, proximae cuiusque collum amplexu petebat: neque dormire excitatus neque vigilare ebrius poterat, sed semisomno sopore inter manus centurionum concubinarumque iactabatur." (Quint. 4.2.123 ff.)]
Scholarly introduction to the world of Caelius, Catullus and Clodia. T.P. Wiseman, Catullus and his World, Cambridge, 1985, pp. 1-14.
Gaius Valerius Catullus was born at Verona in Northern Italy. Scholars have made the educated guess that the date was about 84 B.C., and that he died about 54, though there are those who think that he lived on to a ripe old age. His family was of some standing in the province of Cisalpine Gaul -- for instance, we see that his father was in a position to entertain Julius Caesar when he was governor. Catullus came to Rome young and for the rest of his life it was his home, but he remained a northerner and did not lose touch with his province: he was back in Verona after the death of his brother in Asia, and it was to a villa at Sirmio on Lake Garda, presumably a family property, that he returned from foreign travel. At Rome he moved in fashionable society and there he fell under the spell of the woman whom he calls Lesbia. Her real name was Clodia and there are grounds for supposing (though the identification cannot be proved) she was the sister of P. Clodius Pulcher, Cicero's enemy, and the wife of Metellus Celer, governor of Cisalpine Gaul (modern Northern Italy) from 64 to 62.
Catullus is generally credited with bringing the poetics of Alexandria to Rome. Greek poets such as Callimachus had defined a canon of terse, allusive poetry that thrived on subtle artifice and exotic learning. Though Catullus apparently belonged to a group of stylish young poets, called the neoteroi (Ïnew poets -- we might be tempted to call them the avante garde), of this group's production only his poetry survived the ravages of time and taste. Therefore we look to Catullus as the pioneer who brought the subtle personal verse forms of the sophisticated eastern Mediterranean into the Latin language.
CVI dono lepidum nouum libellum
arida modo pumice expolitum?
Corneli, tibi: namque tu solebas
meas esse aliquid putare nugas
iam tum, cum ausus es unus Italorum
omne aeuum tribus explicare cartis
doctis, Iuppiter, et laboriosis.
quare habe tibi quidquid hoc libelli
qualecumque; quod, patrona virgo
plus uno maneat perenne saeclo.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 2
passer, deliciae meae puellae,
quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere,
cui primum digitum dare appetenti
et acris solet incitare morsus,
cum desiderio meo nitenti
carum nescio quid lubet iocari
et solaciolum sui doloris,
credo ut tum grauis acquiescat ardor:
tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem
et tristis animi leuare curas!
Recording of the meter of Catullus 3
lugete o Veneres Cupidinesque
et quantum est hominum venustiorum
passer mortuus est meae puellae,
passer, deliciae meae puellae,
quem plus illa oculis suis amabat:
nam mellitus erat suamque norat
ipsam tam bene, quam puella matrem,
nec sese a gremio illius movebat,
sed circumsiliens modo huc, modo illuc
ad solam dominam usque pipiabat.
qui nunc it per iter tenebricosum
illuc, unde negant redire quemquam.
at vobis male sit, malae tenebrae
Orci, quae omnia bella devoratis:
tam bellum mihi passerem abstulistis.
o factum male! o miselle passer!
tua nunc opera meae puellae
flendo turgiduli rubent ocelli.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 4
PHASELVS ille, quem uidetis, hospites,
ait fuisse nauium celerrimus,
neque ullius natantis impetum trabis
nequisse praeterire, siue palmulis
opus foret uolare siue linteo.
et hoc negat minacis Hadriatici
negare litus insulasue Cycladas
Rhodumque nobilem horridamque Thraciam
Propontida trucemue Ponticum sinum,
ubi iste post phaselus antea fuit
comata silua; nam Cytorio in iugo
loquente saepe sibilum edidit coma.
Amastri Pontica et Cytore buxifer,
tibi haec fuisse et esse cognitissima
ait phaselus: ultima ex origine
tuo stetisse dicit in cacumine,
tuo imbuisse palmulas in aequore,
et inde tot per impotentia freta
erum tulisse, laeua siue dextera
uocaret aura, siue utrumque Iuppiter
simul secundus incidisset in pedem;
neque ulla uota litoralibus deis
sibi esse facta, cum ueniret a mari
nouissimo hunc ad usque limpidum lacum.
sed haec prius fuere: nunc recondita
senet quiete seque dedicat tibi,
gemelle Castor et gemelle Castoris.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 5
Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus,
Rumoresque senum severiorum
Omnes unius aestimemus assis!
Soles occidere et redire possunt;
Nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,
Nox est perpetua una dormienda.
Da mi basia mille, deinde centum;
Dein mille altera, dein secunda centum;
Deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum.
Dein, cum milia multa fecerimus --
Conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus,
Aut ne quis malus invidere possit,
Cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 6
Flavi, delicias tuas Catullo,
Ni sint inlepidae atque inelegantes,
Velles dicere, nec tacere posses.
Verum nescio quid febriculosi
Scorti diligis: hoc pudet fateri.
Nam te non viduas iacere noctes
Nequiquam tacitum cubile clamat
Sertis ac Syrio fragrans olivo,
Pulvinusque peraeque et hic et ille
Attritus, tremulique quassa lecti
Argutatio inambulatioque.
Nam nil stupra valet, nihil, tacere.
Cur? Non tam latera ecfututa pandas,
Ni tu quid facias ineptiarum.
Quare, quidquid habes boni malique,
Dic nobis: volo te ac tuos amores
Ad caelum lepido vocare versu.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 8
miser Catulle, desinas ineptire,
et quod uides perisse perditum ducas.
fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles,
cum uentitabas quo puella ducebat
amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla.
ibi illa multa cum iocosa fiebant,
quae tu uolebas nec puella nolebat,
fulsere uere candidi tibi soles.
nunc iam illa non uult: tu quoque impotens noli,
nec quae fugit sectare, nec miser uiue,
sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura.
uale puella, iam Catullus obdurat,
nec te requiret nec rogabit inuitam.
at tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nulla.
scelesta, uae te, quae tibi manet uita?
quis nunc te adibit? cui uideberis bella?
quem nunc amabis? cuius esse diceris?
quem basiabis? cui labella mordebis?
at tu, Catulle, destinatus obdura.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 12
Marrucine Asini, manu sinistra
non belle uteris: in ioco atque uino
tollis lintea neglegentiorum.
hoc salsum esse putas? fugit te, inepte:
quamuis sordida res et inuenusta est.
non credis mihi? crede Pollioni
fratri, qui tua furta uel talento
mutari uelit: est enim leporum
differtus puer ac facetiarum.
quare aut hendecasyllabos trecentos
exspecta, aut mihi linteum remitte,
quod me non mouet aestimatione,
uerum est mnemosynum mei sodalis.
nam sudaria Saetaba ex Hiberis
miserunt mihi muneri Fabullus
et Veranius: haec amem necesse est
ut Veraniolum meum et Fabullum.
pedicabo ego uos et irrumabo,
Aureli pathice et cinaede Furi,
qui me ex uersiculis meis putastis,
quod sunt molliculi, parum pudicum.
nam castum esse decet pium poetam
ipsum, uersiculos nihil necesse est;
qui tum denique habent salem ac leporem,
si sunt molliculi ac parum pudici,
et quod pruriat incitare possunt,
non dico pueris, sed his pilosis
qui duros nequeunt mouere lumbos.
uos, quod milia multa basiorum
legistis, male me marem putatis?
pedicabo ego uos et irrumabo.
Salax taberna vosque contubernales,
a pilleatis nona fratribus pila,
solis putatis esse mentulas vobis,
solis licere, quidquid est puellarum,
confutuere et putare ceteros hircos?
an, continenter quod sedetis insulsi
centum an ducenti, non putatis ausurum
me una ducentos irrumare sessores?
atqui putate: namque totius vobis
frontem tabernae sopionibus scribam.
puella nam mi, quae meo sinu fugit,
amata tantum quantum amabitur nulla,
pro qua mihi sunt magna bella pugnata,
consedit istic. hanc boni beatique
omnes amatis, et quidem, quod indignum est,
omnes pusilli et semitarii moechi;
tu praeter omnes une de capillatis,
cuniculosae Celtiberiae fili,
Egnati. opaca quem bonum facit barba
et dens Hibera defricatus urina.
Egnatius, quod candidos habet dentes,
renidet usque quaque. si ad rei uentum est
subsellium, cum orator excitat fletum,
renidet ille; si ad pii rogum fili
lugetur, orba cum flet unicum mater,
renidet ille. quidquid est, ubicumque est,
quodcumque agit, renidet: hunc habet morbum,
neque elegantem, ut arbitror, neque urbanum.
quare monendum est te mihi, bone Egnati.
si urbanus esses aut Sabinus aut Tiburs
aut pinguis Vmber aut obesus Etruscus
aut Lanuuinus ater atque dentatus
aut Transpadanus, ut meos quoque attingam,
aut quilubet, qui puriter lauit dentes,
tamen renidere usque quaque te nollem:
nam risu inepto res ineptior nulla est.
nunc Celtiber es: Celtiberia in terra,
quod quisque minxit, hoc sibi solet mane
dentem atque russam defricare gingiuam,
ut quo iste uester expolitior dens est,
hoc te amplius bibisse praedicet loti.
adeste, hendecasyllabi, quot estis
omnes undique, quotquot estis omnes.
iocum me putat esse moecha turpis,
et negat mihi nostra reddituram
pugillaria, si pati potestis.
persequamur eam et reflagitemus.
quae sit, quaeritis? illa, quam uidetis
turpe incedere, mimice ac moleste
ridentem catuli ore Gallicani.
circumsistite eam, et reflagitate,
'moecha putida, redde codicillos,
redde putida moecha, codicillos!'
non assis facis? o lutum, lupanar,
aut si perditius potes quid esse.
sed non est tamen hoc satis putandum.
quod si non aliud potest ruborem
ferreo canis exprimamus ore.
conclamate iterum altiore uoce.
'moecha putide, redde codicillos,
redde, putida moecha, codicillos!'
sed nil proficimus, nihil mouetur.
mutanda est ratio modusque uobis,
siquid proficere amplius potestis:
'pudica et proba, redde codicillos.'
Recording of the meter of Catullus 43
salve, nec minimo puella naso
nec bello pede nec nigris ocellis
nec longis digitis nec ore sicco
nec sane nimis elegante lingua.
decoctoris amica Formiani,
ten provincia narrat esse bellam?
tecum Lesbia nostra comparatur?
o saeclum insapiens et infacetum!
[decoctor=someone who has "cooked down" or blown his inheritance money/ Formianus=Caesar's friend Mamurra was from Formia/ ten=te ne]
Recording of the meter of Catullus 48
mellitos oculos tuos, Iuventi,
si quis me sinat usque basiare,
usque ad milia basiem trecenta
nec numquam videar satur futurus,
non si densior aridis aristis
sit nostrae seges osculationis.
[Iuventius probably is a member of the very prominent clan of the Iuventii. Catullus poems 24, 84, and 99 also deal with this affair.]
Disertissime Romuli nepotum,
quot sunt quotque fuere, Marce Tulli,
quotque post aliis erunt in annis,
gratias tibi maximas Catullus
agit pessimus omnium poeta,
tanto pessimus omnium poeta,
quanto tu optimus omnium patronus.
A basic recording of the meter (650k wave)
ille mi par esse deo videtur,
ille, si fas est, superare divos,
qui sedens adversus identidem te
spectat et audit
dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis
eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te,
Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi
vocis in ore.
lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus
flamma demanat, sonitu suopte
tintinant aures, gemina teguntur
lumina nocte.
otium, Catulle, tibi molestum est:
otio exultas nimiumque gestis.
otium et reges prius et beatas
perdidit urbes.
Caesar and his friend Mamurra were also attacked in Catullus 29. Rome was well known for its tolerance, and even enjoyment, of libellous verse. But this poem was published in the 50s BC, a very dangerous time to be involved in politics.
pulcre convenit improbis cinaedis,
Mamurrae pathicoque Caesarique.
nec mirum: maculae pares utrisque,
urbana altera et illa Formiana,
impressae resident nec eluentur:
morbosi pariter, gemelli utrique,
uno in lecticulo erudituli ambo,
non hic quam ille magis vorax adulter,
rivales socii et puellularum.
pulcre convenit improbis cinaedis.
[convenit="it is fitting" with a dative
cinaedus,i, m.=effeminate man, "faggot"
Formiae=>Mamurra was from Formiae]
a recording of these lines (900 k wav)
sicine me patriis avectam, perfide, ab aris,
perfide, deserto liquisti in litore, Theseu?
sicine discedens neglecto numine divum,
immemor a! devota domum periuria portas?
nullane res potuit crudelis flectere mentis
consilium? tibi nulla fuit clementia praesto,
immite ut nostri vellet miserescere pectus?
at non haec quondam blanda promissa dedisti
voce mihi, non haec miserae sperare iubebas,
sed conubia laeta, sed optatos hymenaeos,
quae cuncta aerii discerpunt irrita venti.
nunc iam nulla viro iuranti femina credat,
nulla viri speret sermones esse fideles;
quis dum aliquid cupiens animus praegestit apisci,
nihil metuunt iurare, nihil promittere parcunt:
sed simul ac cupidae mentis satiata libido est,
dicta nihil meminere, nihil periuria curant.
certe ego te in medio versantem turbine leti
eripui, et potius germanum amittere crevi,
quam tibi fallaci supremo in tempore dessem.
pro quo dilaceranda feris dabor alitibusque
praeda, neque iniacta tumulabor mortua terra.
quaenam te genuit sola sub rupe leaena,
quod mare conceptum spumantibus exspuit undis
quae Syrtis, quae Scylla rapax, quae vasta Carybdis,
talia qui reddis pro dulci praemia vita?
si tibi non cordi fuerant conubia nostra,
saeva quod horrebas prisci praecepta parentis,
attamen in vestras potuisti ducere sedes,
quae tibi iucundo famularer serva labore,
candida permulcens liquidis vestigia lymphis,
purpureave tuum consternens veste cubile...
noli admirari, quare tibi femina nulla,
Rufe, uelit tenerum supposuisse femur,
non si illam rarae labefactes munere uestis
aut perluciduli deliciis lapidis.
laedit te quaedam mala fabula, qua tibi fertur
ualle sub alarum trux habitare caper.
hunc metuunt omnes, neque mirum: nam mala ualde est
bestia, nec quicum bella puella cubet.
quare aut crudelem nasorum interfice pestem,
aut admirari desine cur fugiunt.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 70
nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle
quam mihi, non si se Iuppiter ipse petat.
dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti,
in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 71
SI cui iure bono sacer alarum obstitit hircus,
aut si quem merito tarda podagra secat.
aemulus iste tuus, qui uestrem exercet amorem,
mirifice est a te nactus utrumque malum.
nam quotiens futuit, totiens ulciscitur ambos:
illam affligit odore, ipse perit podagra.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 72
dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum,
Lesbia, nec prae me velle tenere Iovem.
dilexi tum te non tantum ut vulgus amicam,
sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos.
nunc te cognovi: quare etsi impensius uror,
multo mi tamen es vilior et levior.
qui potis est, inquis? quod amantem iniuria talis
cogit amare magis, sed bene velle minus.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 75
huc est mens deducta tua mea, Lesbia culpa
atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa suo,
ut iam nec bene velle queat tibi, si optima fias,
nec desistere amare, omnia si facias.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 76
si qua recordanti benefacta priora uoluptas
est homini, cum se cogitat esse pium,
nec sanctam uiolasse fidem, nec foedere nullo
diuum ad fallendos numine abusum homines,
multa parata manent in longa aetate, Catulle,
ex hoc ingrato gaudia amore tibi.
nam quaecumque homines bene cuiquam aut dicere possunt
aut facere, haec a te dictaque factaque sunt.
omnia quae ingratae perierunt credita menti.
quare iam te cur amplius excrucies?
quin tu animo offirmas atque istinc teque reducis,
et dis inuitis desinis esse miser?
difficile est longum subito deponere amorem,
difficile est, uerum hoc qua lubet efficias:
una salus haec est. hoc est tibi peruincendum,
hoc facias, siue id non pote siue pote.
o di, si uestrum est misereri, aut si quibus umquam
extremam iam ipsa in morte tulistis opem,
me miserum aspicite et, si uitam puriter egi,
eripite hanc pestem perniciemque mihi,
quae mihi subrepens imos ut torpor in artus
expulit ex omni pectore laetitias.
non iam illud quaero, contra me ut diligat illa,
aut, quod non potis est, esse pudica uelit:
ipse ualere opto et taetrum hunc deponere morbum.
o di, reddite mi hoc pro pietate mea.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 84
chommoda dicebat, si quando commoda uellet
dicere, et insidias Arrius hinsidias,
et tum mirifice sperabat se esse locutum,
cum quantum poterat dixerat hinsidias.
credo, sic mater, sic liber auunculus eius,
sic maternus auus dixerat atque auia.
hoc misso in Syriam requierant omnibus aures:
audibant eadem haec leniter et leuiter,
nec sibi postilla metuebant talia uerba,
cum subito affertur nuntius horribilis,
Ionios fluctus, postquam illuc Arrius isset,
iam non Ionios esse sed Hionios.
Nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere amatam
vere, quantum a me Lesbia amata mea est.
Nulla fides ullo fuit umquam foedere tanta,
quanta in amore tuo ex parte reperta mea est.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 88
quid facit is, Gelli, qui cum matre atque sorore
prurit, et abiectis peruigilat tunicis?
quid facit is, patruum qui non sinit esse maritum?
ecquid scis quantum suscipiat sceleris?
suscipit, o Gelli, quantum non ultima Tethys
nec genitor Nympharum abluit Oceanus:
nam nihil est quicquam sceleris, quo prodeat ultra,
non si demisso se ipse uoret capite.
Non ideo, Gelli, sperabam te mihi fidum
in misero hoc nostro, hoc perdito amore fore,
quod te cognossem bene constantemue putarem
aut posse a turpi mentem inhibere probro;
sed neque quod matrem nec germanam esse videbam
hanc tibi, cuius me magnus edebat amor.
et quamuis tecum multo coniungerer usu,
non satis id causae credideram esse tibi.
tu satis id duxti: tantum tibi gaudium in omni
culpa est, in quacumque est aliquid sceleris.
Recording of the meter of Catullus 97
NON (ita me di ament) quicquam referre putaui,
utrumne os an culum olfacerem Aemilio.
nilo mundius hoc, nihiloque immundius illud,
uerum etiam culus mundior et melior:
nam sine dentibus est. hic dentis sesquipedalis,
gingiuas uero ploxeni habet ueteris,
praeterea rictum qualem diffissus in aestu
meientis mulae cunnus habere solet.
hic futuit multas et se facit esse uenustum,
et non pistrino traditur atque asino?
quem siqua attingit, non illam posse putemus
aegroti culum lingere carnificis?
Recording of the meter of Catullus 101
multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus
advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias,
ut te postremo donarem munere mortis
et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem.
quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum,
heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi,
nunc tamen interea haec, prisco quae more parentum
tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias,
accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu,
atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.
Cum puero bello praeconem qui videt esse,
quid credat, nisi se vendere discupere?
Saepe tibi studioso animo venante requirens
carmina uti possem mittere Battiadae,
qui te lenirem nobis, neu conarere
tela infesta mittere in usque caput,
hunc uideo mihi nunc frustra sumptum esse laborem,
Gelli, nec nostras hic ualuisse preces.
contra nos tela ista tua evitabimus amitha
at fixus nostris tu dabis supplicium.
Sextus Propertius was born between 54 and 47 B.C. at Assisi, where his family were local notables. His father died early, and the family property was much diminished by Octavian's confiscations of 41-40. Like others of his class, Propertius rejected the dull pursuit of office; his rhetorical education was employed in poetry, not in the courts. Following the example of Cornelius Gallus, he celebrated his love for a mistress to whom he gave the fancy Greek pseudonym of Cynthia; Apuleius says her real name was Hostia.
Propertius was included among that group of poets whose patron was Augustus' advisor, Maecenas. Other members of this group were Vergil, Horace, and apparently the young Ovid. Propertius' elaborate and self-conscious artistry, his vivid visual and tactile imagination, and his success in integrating what he derives from Greek literature with Roman feeling and Roman life make him one of the most continuously fascinating of the Latin poets.
Some historical background is necessary for a complete understanding of the following poem. After Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 the great general's will left his suddenly adopted son, Gaius Octavius (after adoption Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus), in a strong position, though there was still great popular support for Marc Antony. The second triumvirate was formed and a third of the empire was divided out to each of Antony, Lepidus and Octavian. The aristocratic group that assassinated Caesar opposed this triumvirate, and thus ensued a period of civil war. One of the more savage episodes of these civil wars was Octavian's reduction of Perusia, a city near to the capitol Rome. After besieging the city and successfully reducing it, Octavian allowed his soldiers to plunder and kill. Apparently one of Propertius' relatives was killed there, and preserved in this poem of Propertius.
(meter elegiac couplets) Propertius' relative, wounded and dying after the siege of Perusia [41 B.C.], asks a passerby to report his death to his sister
recording of the poem's meter (550k wave)
"Tu, qui consortem properas evadere casum,
miles ab Etruscis saucius aggeribus,
quid nostro gemitu turgentia lumina torques?
pars ego sum vestrae proxima militiae.
sic te servato possint gaudere parentes:
me soror Acca tuis sentiat e lacrimis,
Gallum, per medios ereptum Caesaris ensis
effugere ignotas non potuisse manus;
et quaecumque super dispersa invenerit ossa
montibus Etruscis, haec sciat esse mea."
consors, consortis, adj. - sharing in common.
propero, properare - to hurry, hasten.
evado, evadere - to escape, run away from.
casus, casus, m. - chance, fate, disaster.
saucius-a-um - wounded.
agger, aggeris, m. - rampart, mound.
gemitus, gemitus, m. - groaning.
turgeo, turgere - to swell.
lumen, inis, n. - light; (pl.) eyes.
torqueo, torquere - turn, twist, bend.
proxima is best to be understood temporally with pars, that is, "closest to you in time" or possibly "the last part of your army." Scholars have not arrived at a clear interpretation of this usage.
servo, servare - to save. te servato represents a distinct clause separated from the surrounding sentence in the ablative case (the so-called ablative absolute).
Acca is the name of the dying soldier's sister.
sentio, sentire - to perceive (either with the senses or the mind).
Gallus is the name of Propertius' kinsmen killed at the battle of Perugia.
eripio, eripere - tear away, rescue.
Caesar, Caesaris, m. - here referring to Iulius Caesar Octavianus, the adopted son of Julius Caesar who later came to be known as Augustus.
ensis, is, m. - sword (here used in the accusative plural which could be written either enses or ensis and apparently was pronounced similarly either way).
qualis Thesea iacuit cedente carina
languida desertis Gnosia litoribus,
qualis et accubuit primo Cepheia somno
libera iam duris cotibus Andromede,
nec minus assiduis Edonis fessa choreis
qualis in herboso concidit Apidano:
talis visa mihi mollem spirare quietem
Cynthia non certis nixa caput manibus,
ebria cum multo traherem vestigia Baccho
et quaterent sera nocte facem pueri.
hanc ego, nondum etiam sensus deperditus omnes,
molliter inpresso conor adire toro.
et quamvis duplici correptum ardore iuberent
hac Amor hac Liber, durus uterque deus,
subiecto leviter positam temptare lacerto,
osculaque admota sumere et arma manu,
non tamen ausus eram dominae turbare quietem
expertae metuens iurgia saevitiae;
sed sic intentis haerebam fixus ocellis,
Argus ut ignotis cornibus Inachidos.
et modo solvebam nostra de fronte corollas
ponebamque tuis, Cynthia, temporibus,
et modo gaudebam lapsos formare capillos,
nunc furtiva cavis poma dabam manibus,
omniaque ingrato largibar munera somno,
munera de prono saepe voluta sinu.
et quotiens raro duxti suspiria motu,
obstupui vano credulus auspicio,
ne qua tibi insolitos portarent visa timores,
neve quis invitam cogeret esse suam:
donec diversas praecurrens luna fenestras,
luna moraturis sedula luminibus,
compositos levibus radiis patefecit ocellos.
sic ait in molli fixa toro cubitum:
"tandem te nostro referens iniuria lecto
alterius clausis expulit e foribus?
namque ubi longa meae consumpsti tempora noctis
languidus exactis, ei mihi sideribus?
o utinam tales perducas, inprobe, noctes,
me miseram quales semper habere iubes!
nam modo purpureo fallebam stamine somnum,
rursus et Orpheae carmine fessa lyrae;
interdum leviter mecum deserta querebar
externo longas saepe in amore moras:
dum me iocundis lapsam Sopor inpulit alis.
illa fuit lacrimis ultima cura meis."
Horace was born to a freedman, who amassed enough wealth to ambitiously
send his son to a schoolmaster of note in Rome. He studied briefly in Athens,
joined with Brutus' army in the civil war, after which he found his father dead
and the family farm confiscated. By 38 he entered into the patronage of Maecenas,
who was a close friend of Octavian (soon to be Augustus, emperor), and patron of Vergil.
He is generally considered the greatest craftsman of Latin poetry, and his Odes have
been recognized as classics from his own lifetime to the present. The following,
Odes 1.5, is perhaps the most translated poem in Latin, and often considered the most
perfect. (meter: third asclepiadic strophe -- no tape due for this difficult meter)
quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa
simplex munditiis? heu quotiens fidem
qui nunc te fruitur credulus aurea,
intemptata nites: me tabula sacer
Horace Odes 1.5
perfusus liquidis urget odoribus
grato, Pyrrha, sub antro?
cui flavam religas comam,
mutatosque deos flebit et aspera
nigris aequora ventis
emirabitur insolens,
qui semper vacuam, semper amabilem
sperat, nescius aurae
fallacis. miseri quibus
votiva paries indicat uvida
suspendisse potenti
vestimenta maris deo.
Ovid was born a generation after Horace, Propertius, and Vergil, but is considered a member of their "golden" age of poetry. He wrote elegiac poetry that apparently got him exiled by the emperor Augustus. His recognized masterpiece is the Metamorphoses, from which this selection is taken. This hybrid of epic and didactic poetry summarizes history from a mythical viewpoint. Here Ovid retells the story of Daedalus and Icarus. (meter dactylic hexameter)
instruit et natum, "medio" que "ut limite curras,
Icare," ait, "moneo, ne, si demissior ibis,
unda gravet pennas, si celsior, ignis adurat.
inter utrumque vola. nec te spectare Booten
aut Helicen iubeo strictumue Orionis ensem;
me duce, carpe viam." pariter praecepta volandi
tradit et ignotas umeris accommodat alas.
inter opus monitusque genae maduere seniles,
et patriae tremuere manus. dedit oscula nato
non iterum repetenda suo, pennisque levatus
ante volat comitique timet, velut ales ab alto
quae teneram prolem produxit in aera nido,
hortaturque sequi damnosasque erudit artes,
et movet ipse suas et nati respicit alas.
hos aliquis tremula dum captat harundine pisces,
aut pastor baculo stivave innixus arator,
vidit et obstipuit, quique aethera carpere possent,
credidit esse deos.
instruere=to instruct
natus=son
medio limite="middle boundary," middle course (abl. of limes)
demissus="sent down," lower
gravare=to weigh down
celsus=high
Bootes/Helice/Orion=constellations
me duce=with me as leader (ablative absolute)
accommodare=accommodate something(acc.) to something else (dat.)
maduere=maduerunt, from madere, to be wet. -ere is a poetic form of erunt in the perfect.
tremuere=tremuerunt (tremere, to tremble)
repetenda=fut. pass. participle, "about to be repeated"
levare=to lift
comes, comitis=companion
ales= here "bird"
harundo=reed (fem.)
innixus=leaning on (innitor)
stiva=plough handle
-ve=vel like que=et, i.e., baculo stivave=baculo vel stiva
Ovid wrote a highly entertaining poetic manual in verse called the "Art of Love." Though it is likely that this work got him exile on the Black Sea, perhaps no work of Latin poetry went on to be more popular throughout all ages. In this passage the poet lectures us on how to approach a woman at the Circus.
Proximus a domina, nullo prohibente, sedeto,
iunge tuum lateri qua potes usque latus;
Et bene, quod cogit, si nolis, linea iungi,
Quod tibi tangenda est lege puella loci.
Hic tibi quaeratur socii sermonis origo,
Et moveant primos publica verba sonos.
Cuius equi veniant, facito, studiose, requiras:
Nec mora, quisquis erit, cui favet illa, fave.
At cum pompa frequens caelestibus ibit eburnis, [ivory statues of the gods were paraded before the races]
Tu Veneri dominae plaude favente manu;
Utque fit, in gremium pulvis si forte puellae
Deciderit, digitis excutiendus erit:
Etsi nullus erit pulvis, tamen excute nullum:
Quaelibet officio causa sit apta tuo.
Pallia si terra nimium demissa iacebunt,
Collige, et inmunda sedulus effer humo;
Protinus, officii pretium, patiente puella
Contingent oculis crura videnda tuis.
Respice praeterea, post vos quicumque sedebit,
Ne premat opposito mollia terga genu.
Parva leves capiunt animos: fuit utile multis
Pulvinum facili composuisse manu.
Profuit et tenui ventos movisse tabella,
Et cava sub tenerum scamna dedisse pedem.
Hos aditus Circusque novo praebebit amori...
This is how the Roman historian Tacitus sums up the life of Petronius: "Petronius spent his days sleeping, his nights working and enjoying himself. Others achieve fame by energy, Petronius by laziness. Yet he was not, like others who waste their resources, regarded as dissipated or extravagant, but as a refined voluptuary. People liked the apparent freshness of his unconventional and unselfconscious sayings and doings. Nevertheless, as governor of Bithynia and later as consul, he had displayed a capacity for business.
Then, reverting to a vicious or ostensibly vicious way of life, he had been admitted into the small circle of Nero's intimates, as Arbiter of Taste: to the blase emperor nothing was smart and elegant unless Petronius had given it his approval. So Tigellinus, loathing him as a rival and a more expert hedonist, denounced him on the grounds of his friendship with Flavius Scaevinus. This appealed to the emperor's outstanding passion -- his cruelty. A slave was bribed to incriminate Petronius. No defence was heard. Indeed, most of his household were under arrest.
The emperor happened to be in Campania. Petronius too had reached Cumae; and there he was arrested. Delay, with its hopes and fears, he refused to endure. He severed his own veins. Then, having them bound up again when the fancy took him, he talked with his friends -- but not seriously, or so as to gain a name for fortitude. And he listened to them reciting, not discourses about the immortality of the soul or philosophy, but light lyrics and frivolous poems. Some slaves received presents -- others beatings. He appeared at dinner, and dozed, so that his death, even if compulsory, might look natural." (Annals 16.17-18)
He left to us in very fragmentary form a novel depicting the seedier side of Roman life. We are fortunate that a short series of poems was included in the manuscript of the novel, from which the following was chosen.
(meter hendecasyllabic) an example of a poem that takes the reader from "grosser" pleasure to eternal delight in the Epicurean tradition
foeda est in coitu et brevis voluptas
et taedet Veneris statim peractae.
non ergo ut pecudes libidinosae
caeci protinus irruamus illuc
(nam languescit amor peritque flamma);
sed sic sic sine fine feriati
et tecum iaceamus osculantes.
hic nullus labor est ruborque nullus:
hoc iuvit, iuvat et diu iuvabit;
hoc non deficit incipitque semper.
Cras te uicturum, cras dicis, Postume, semper:
dic mihi, cras istud, Postume, quando uenit?
Quam longe cras istud! ubi est? aut unde petendum?
Numquid apud Parthos Armeniosque latet?
Iam cras istud habet Priami uel Nestoris annos.
Cras istud quanti, dic mihi, possit emi?
Cras uiues? Hodie iam uiuere, Postume, serum est:
ille sapit quisquis, Postume, uixit heri.
Uxor vivamus ut viximus et teneamus
nomina quae primo sumpsimus in thalamo;
nec ferat ulla dies, ut commutemur in aevo,
quin tibi sim iuvenis tuque puella mihi.
Nestore sim quamvis provectior aemulaque annis
vincas Cumanam tu quoque Deiphoben,
nos ignoremus quid sit matura senectus,
scire aevi meritum, non numerare decet.
Cumana Deiphobe= the Sibyl, very old prophetess
Columba was an Irish monk who later achieved sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church (which had successfully established itself a century earlier in Ireland). This distant island became a surprising center of learning in this period as barbarian warlords divided the old western Roman Empire among themselves, and as autocratic Byzantine emperors fought a more and more desperate defense against eastern invaders (culminating in virtual eclipse by the Arabs and Turks). As will be seen in this work, one cannot assume that this new monastic culture of Ireland slavishly imitated its Roman models.
In the Noli, Pater this Irish saint expresses an aspect of his love for his God
te timemus terribilem nullum credentes similem,
o Iesu amantissime, o rex regum rectissime.
noli, pater, indulgere tonitruo cum fulgure,
ne frangamur formidine huius atque uridine.
te cuncta canunt carmina angelorum per agmina,
teque exaltent culmina caeli vaga per fulmina.
benedictus in saecula recta regens regimina.
Iohannes coram Domino adhuc matris in utero
repletus Dei gratia pro vino atque sicera (a Hebrew borrowing that we'll call "whiskey").
Elisabeth Zachariae virum magnum genuit
Iohannem Baptistam, praecursorem Domini.
Manet in meo corde Dei amoris flamma,
ut in argenti vase auri ponitur gemma.
Venantius wandered the kingdoms left after the fall of the Roman empire, documenting many of his visits and experiences in verse. He ended up in Poitiers attached to the famous princess Radegunde, where he eventually became bishop.
Poem from Venantius in Brittany to his old friend Rucco, a priest, in Paris
altaris domini pollens, bone Rucco, minister,
hinc tibi festinus mando salutis opus.
nos maris Oceani tumidum circumfluit aequor,
te quoque Parisius, care sodalis, habet;
Sequana te retinet, nos unda Britannica cingit:
divisis terris alligat unus amor.
non furor hic pelagi vultum mihi subtrahit illum
nec boreas aufert nomen, amice, tuum.
pectore sub nostro tam saepe recurris amator,
tempore sub hiemis quam solet unda maris.
ut quatitur pelagus quotiens proflaverit eurus,
stat neque sic animus te sine, care, meus.
Poem to Gogo who had asked the poet to dinner
nectar vina cibus vestis doctrina facultas--
muneribus largis tu mihi, Gogo, sat es;
tu refluus Cicero, tu noster Apicius extas,
hinc satias verbis, pascis et inde cibis.
sed modo da veniam; bubla turgente quiesco,
nam fit lis uteri, si caro mixta fremat.
hic ubi bos recubat, fugiet puto pullus et anser
cornibus et pinnis non furor aequus erit.
et modo iam somno languentia lumina claudo;
nam dormire meum carmina lenta probant.
to his patroness, the abbess Radegunde
tempora si solito mihi candida lilia ferrent
aut speciosa foret suave rubore rosa,
haec ego rure legens aut caespite pauperis horti
misissem magnis munera parva libens.
sed quia prima mihi desunt, vel solvo secunda:
profert qui vicias ferret amore rosas.
inter odoriferas tamen has quas misimus herbas
purpureae violae nobile germen habent.
respirant pariter regali murice tinctae
et saturat foliis hinc odor, inde decor.
hae quod utrumque gerunt pariter habeatis utraque,
et sit mercis odor flore perenne decus.
Sedulius Scotus was an Irish priest who, like many others at the time, wandered into France to enjoy the so-called Carolingian Renaissance. Throughout the 9th century the remarkable learning of medieval Ireland was spread throughout Europe, and Sedulius is believed to have been one of the most learned. Here he shows both his Christian piety and skill with Classical meter and motif. A "song" for Easter addressed to Tado, the archbishop of Milan.
surrexit Christus sol verus vespere noctis,
surgit et hinc domini mystica messis agri.
nunc vaga puniceis apium plebs laeta labore
floribus instrepitans poblite mella legit.
nunc variae volucres permulcent aethera cantu,
temperat et pernox nunc philomela melos.
nunc chorus ecclesiae cantat per cantica Sion,
alleluia suis centuplicatque tonis.
Tado, pater patriae, caelestis gaudia paschae
percipias meritis limina lucis: ave.
The Carmina Burana are a collection of Latin songs and poems discovered in a German monastery and generally dated to the twelth and thirteenth centuries or the high Middle Ages. They have been valued highly for their insight into the vivacity and playfullness of medieval poets, as well as glimpses of student life. They are often connected with the tradition of the vagantes, or wandering scholars, who traversed Europe like gypsies, living off the land, singing of love and life, and yet also seeking out profound learning and novel forms of expression.
(stressed and rhymed meter like English poetry) a wistful student's thoughts on love
I
Dum Diane vitrea
sero lampas oritur,
et a fratris rosea
luce dum succenditur,
dulcis aura zephyri
spirans omnes etheri
nubes tollit
sic emollit
vi chordarum pectora,
et immutat
cor, quod nutat
ad amoris pignora.
Letum jubar hesperi
gratiorem
dat humorem
roris soporiferi
mortalium generi.
II
O quam felix est
antidotum soporis,
quot curarum tempestates
sedat et doloris!
Dum surrepit clausis
oculorum poris,
gaudio equiparat
dulcedini amoris.
III
Morpheus in mentem
trahit impellentem
ventum lenem,
segetes maturas,
murmura rivorum
per arenas puras,
circulares ambitus
molendinorum, (Engl. "mills" ?)
qui furantur somno
lumen oculorum.
IV
Post blanda Veneris
commercia
lassatur cerebri
substantia.
Hinc caligantes
mira novitate
oculi nantes
in palpebrarum rate!
Hei, quam felix transitus
amoris ad soporem
sed suavior regressus
soporis ad amorem!
stabat mater dolorosa
iuxta crucem lacrimosa
dum pendebat Filius,
cuius animam gementem
contristantem et dolentem
pertransivit gladius.
o quam tristis et afflicta
fuit illa benedicta
mater Unigeniti,
quae maerebat et dolebat
et tremebat, dum videbat
Nati poenas incliti.
quis est homo qui non fleret
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?
quis non posset contristari
piam matrem contemplari
dolentem cum filio?
pro peccatis suae gentis
vidit Iesum in tormentis
et flagellis subditum,
vidit suum dulcem Natum
morientem, desolatum,
dum emisit spiritum.
pia mater, fons amoris,
me sentire vim doloris
fac ut tecum lugeam,
fac ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum,
ut sibi complaceam.
This orphan, born near the Danube (near the border of modern Hungary), was sent to Italy for his education by a wealthy uncle. There he attended the most celebrated school of Guarino in Ferrara which offered study in the "modern" Renaissance curriculum, that is, in the great authors of Classical Greece and Rome. Most of his poetry was composed before he was twenty years old. After studies in Italy he spent time in the magnificent court of Matthew Corvinus at Budapest, and settled into the bishopric of Pecs (in central Hungary) where he died at the age of 38. He is best known for a large collection of epigrams dealing with life among the elite of Renaissance Italy.
(meter hendecasyllabic) the 15th century Martial states his opinion on religion and poetry in polished Classical mode
cur et tu, rogo, cur, poeta cum sis,
Parnasi tamen arce derelicta,
cum capsa, Galeotte, cum bacillo,
Romanam peregrinus is in urbem?
hoc plebs credula gentium exterarum,
hoc larvas solitum timere vulgus,
hoc turbae faciant hypocritarum.
tu senti mihi quod putavit olim
vafri callidus Euathli magister,
aut divum Theodorus abnegator,
vel sectae pater ille delicatae
summum qui statuit malum dolorem.
sin devotio tam beata cordi est,
si torto iuvat ambulare collo,
cuncta et credere, quae dies per omnes
rauca praedicat altus e cathedra
Albertus pater et loquax Rubertus,
gaudens lacrimulis anicularum,
dilectis, age, dic valere musis,
sacras rumpe fides, et alma Phoebi
claudo carmina da fabro deorum.
nemo religiosus et poeta est.
Galeotto Marzio of Narni (1427- c. 1497) was in Ferrara in 1447 and later taught Latin literature in Bologna. He was a close friend of Janus and visited Hungary several times.
capsa/bacillo -- these represent the paraphernalia of a Christian pilgrimage.
Evathlius was reputed to be a student of Protagoras (5th cent. B.C. Greek philosopher) who adopted an agnostic position towards the gods.
Theodore of Cyrene (c. 485 B.C.) was forced to move to Athens because he denied the existence of the gods. His is reputed to have taught Plato.
Epicurus (3rd cent. B.C.), the founder of the Epicurean school which taught that the gods are detached and unknowable.
Alberto Berfini da Sarziano (1385-1450) and Roberto Caracciola da Lecce (1425-1495) were well-known Franciscan Priests who drew large crowds to their masses.]
Janus on his own poetry
non est hic, studiosa turba, non est
festivissimus ille Martialis.
verum simia Martialis haec est,
cui tu non quoties sacro poetae
sed dumtaxat ea vacabis hora
qua cum simiola voles iocari.
[Martial, a Spanish provincial, was the great poet of the high Roman empire (under Domitian, Nerva and Trajan) and who wrote on the seamier side of everyday life in Rome. Janus clearly modelled his own poetry on the great Roman.]
John Milton is considered the greatest poet of the English Renaissance, most famous for his Paradise Lost. But he was a talented Latinist, and wrote some of the best Latin poetry to come out of England. Here is a selection from a verse letter to his father explaining his choice of poet as career.
ll. 17-23
nec tu vatis opus divinum despice carmen,
quo nihil aethereos ortus, et semina caeli,
nil magis humanam commendat origine mentem,
sancta Prometheae retinens vestigia flammae.
carmen amant superi, tremebundaque Tartara carmen
ima ciere valet, divosque ligare profundos,
et triplici duros Manes adamante coercet.
56-63
nec tu perge, precor, sacras contemnere Musas,
nec vanas inopesque puta, quarum ipse peritus
munere mille sonos numeros componis ad aptos,
millibus et vocem modulis variare canoram
doctus, Arionii merito sis nominis haeres.
nunc tibi quid mirum si me genuisse poetam
contigerit, caro si tam prope sanguine iuncti
cognatas artes studiumque affine sequamur?
93-
i nunc, confer opes, quisquis malesanus avitas
Austriaci gazas Peruanaque regna praeoptas.
quae potuit maiora pater tribuisse, vel ipse
Iupiter, excepto, donasset ut omnia, caelo?
115-120
et vos, o nostri, iuvenilia carmina, lusus,
si modo perpetuos sperare audebitis annos,
et domini superesse rogo, lucemque tueri,
nec spisso rapient oblivia nigra sub Orco,
forsitan has laudes, decantatumque parentis
nomen, ad exemplum, sero servabitis aevo.
(1627 at 20 years old, casting aside his frequent love poems in Latin)
haec ego mente olim laeva, studioque supino,
nequitiae posui vana trophaea meae.
scilicet abreptum sic me malus impulit error,
indocilisque aetas prava magistra fuit;
donec Socraticos umbrosa Academia rivos
praebuit, admissum dedocuitque iugum.
protinus, extinctis ex illo tempore flammis,
cincta rigent multo pectora nostra gelu;
unde suis frigus metuit puer ipse Sagittis,
et Diomedeam vim timet ipsa Venus.
[mens laeva: an enigmatic phrase whose meaning will need to be inferred from the tone of the rest of the poem.
ponere: as often in poetry, used for deponere
Academia: the neighborhood in Athens where Plato met with his students.
Socraticos...rivos: metaphor for Platonic philosophy; Socrates was Plato's teacher.
dedocere: to "unteach," to teach someone to give up something they had already learned
cinctus-a-um> cingo, cingere to bind
gelu: here abl. of 4th decl. noun gelu
puer: Cupid
Diomedeam vim: In Homer's Iliad (book 5) the Greek hero Diomedes, acting with the warlike spirit Athena bestowed on him, drove Aphrodite/Venus from the battle field. Diomedeus-a-um is an adjective created from Diomedes' name.]
Born into an affluent and artistic Victorian family, Hopkins received the best education of his time, and showed great promise at University. He later converted to Roman Catholicism, and entered into the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits. His priesthood did not quell his poetic output completely, and what he left us, both in Latin and English, is generally considered among the best poetry of his period.
(meter hendecasyllabic) translation of Shakespeare's "Tell me where fancy is bred" (Merchant of Venice, III.ii)
rogo vos Amor unde sit, Camenae.
quis illum genuit? quis educavit?
qua vel parte oriundus ille nostra
sit frontis mage pectorisne alumnus
consultae memorabitis, sorores.
amorem teneri creant ocelli;
pascunt qui peperere; mox eundem
aversi patiuntur interire,
nam cunas abiisse ita in feretrum!
amorem tamen efferamus omnes,
quem salvere jubemus et valere
sic, o vos pueri atque vos puellae:
eheu heu, Amor, ilicet, valeto.
Eheu heu, Amor, ilicet, valeto.
[Camenae -- Roman version of Muses
mage=magis
peperere > pario, parere, peperi, partum to give birth to (-ere poetic ending for -erunt)]
[Tell me where is fancy bred,
Or in the heart or in the head?
How begot, how nourished?
Reply, reply.
It is engender'd in the eyes,
With gazing fed; and fancy dies
In the cradle where it lies.
Let us all ring fancy's knell;
I'll begin it, -- Ding, dong, bell.
-- All --
Ding, dong, bell.]
Summary of the plot of the Merchant of Venice
Bassanio, a fun loving, improvident young gentleman of Venice, is very much in love with the beautiful Portia of Belmont, heiress to a princely name and such a colossal fortune that distinguised men from all parts of the world come to court her. Knowing he has no chance of winning her without sufficient funds to defray his expenses, Bassanio turns as usual to his good friend Antonio, a wealthy merchant, regretting his previous heedlessly contracted debts and suggesting that a little present assistance might help him eventually to return all the borrowed money.
The generous, lovable Antonio seems sad, as though vaguely apprehensive of coming distress, but responds immediately to his young friends request for a loan of three months. Antonios entire wealth at the time happens to be tied up in his merchandise-laden ships at sea, but he breaks his custom of never lending or borrowing on interest and asks Shylock, a rich Jewish money-lender, for the required sum.
Shylock, brooding over insults and injuries and hating the Christian merchant for despising his usurious habits, at once foresees an opportunity for revenge by one desperate act, and blandly agrees to lend the money without interest, provided that Antonio sign a bond, as a joke, stipulating that the forfeit be one pound of flesh cut from any part of the body that he, Shylock, may designate. Bassanio protests against taking the loan on such terms, but Antonio dismisses the matter lightly in his confidence that his ships will be back within the next two months, and the gay-hearted lover with his friend, the sportive Gratiano, sets out for Belmont to woo the heiress.
Meanwhile, in her palatial home, Portia is carrying out the terms of her fathers will by having each suitor make his choice of three caskets, gold, silver, and lead, the lucky aspirant being the one who will choose the casket containing her picture. With stately ceremony, the Prince of Morocco is led to the caskets and chooses the golden one, only to be disappointed by the picture of a skull. The haughty Prince of Aragon opens the silver one and finds the protrait of an idiot. Then, to Portias great joy, comes news of Bassanios arrival, and she orders a song sung during his trial that hints the proper choice (our piece of poetry). He selects the leaden casket and finding Portias picture at once claims his bride, who gives him a ring which he vows always to keep.
His friend Gratiano has made love successfully to Portias confidential companion, the pensive but practical Nerissa, and now another pair appears on the scene, Lorenzo, an artist-friend of Bassanios, with his bride Jessica, Shylocks pretty daughter, who, bored with the seclusion of her fathers house, has eloped with her Christian lover, taking with her in her flight bags of ducats and jewels. They had met Salerio, a messenger, who asked for their company to Belmont where he was he is ruined, that Shylocks forfeit of the pound of flesh from his breast must be paid, and that he greatly desires to see his friend before he dies. Bassanio is appalled by the tragic news which he explains to Portia, and Salerio adds to his distress by describing the utterly futile efforts that have been made by twenty merchants, the Duke, and prominent Venetian noblemen, to dissuade the banker from his purpose, even the payment of ten times the amount of the overdue loan having been refused. Hurrying Bassanio through a marriage ceremony, likewise Gratiano and Nerissa, and dispatching the two men to Venice with enough gold to pay Antonios debt many times over, the level-headed Portia appeals for help to her cousin, a distinguished lawyer, and leaving her household in charge of Lorenzo and Jessica she proceeds to the court in Venice, introduced and disguised as the learned young Doctor Balthasar of Rome, with Nerissa dressed as a lawyers clerk.
As judge in the case, Portia upholds the law in favor of Shylock who fawns upon her admiringly, but when she makes an eloquent appeal to him to be merciful, the banker, doubly hardened by the loss of his daughter, his money and jewels, defends himself well and firmly demands the full penalty of the law. This the court awards, but in his moment of triumph as he faces his enemy with whetted knife, Shylock is suddenly warned by Portia, on the pain of death, not to shed a drop of blood or take even a fraction more or less of flesh than the law allows. Adhering strictly to the letter of the law, the young judge then informs the astounded Shylock that, having refused payment of the debt in open court, nothing is due him but his legal forfeiture, and because of his evident plot against the life of a Venetian citizen half of his possessions go to Antonio, the other half to the state, and his life itself lies at the mercy of the Duke alone.
The Duke pardons the broken old man before he can ask, and Antonio requests, while refusing his share, that Shylock make a will leaving his estate at death to his daughter Jessica and her husband. Portia waves aside the fee offered her, but both Nerissa and she ask for the rings, their own bridal gifts, which Bassanio and Gratiano are wearing. At home again in Belmont, they tease and banter merrily about these trinkets until it is revealed to the amazed men that Portia was the acute doctor of laws and Nerissa her clerk, and Portia hands Antonio a letter telling him of the safe arrival of three of his most valued ships.
1 this woman is Clodia Metelli, who was most likely Catullus' Lesbia.
2 Cicero had just been acting out parts such as what Clodia's august ancestor
Appius Claudius Caecus would have said about her fast lifestyle.
3 rationem reddere= to give an account of.
4 reddas/exponas=subjunctives without an ut relying on necesse est.
5 adulescentulum=Caelius.
6 aspexisti=Cicero is addressing Clodia/Lesbia.
7 patri parco et tenaci=Caelius came from a relatively poor family.
8 tua=Cicero was Caelius' teacher/mentor. Cicero's imagined questioner
wants to know why Cicero didn't keep a more vigilant watch on Caelius.