Vatican To Return Fragments of the Parthenon

Photograph of the the Vatican fragments (courtesy of Kathimerini newspaper) frpm the Greek City Times article (referenced below)

Pope Francis has decided that it is time for the Vatican to return some fragments from the Parthenon in Athens. The Greek City Times reported this development after a recent visit by the Pope to Greece. Even though the article reports that the Pontiff does not intend this move to be seen as a prod to the British Museum to return the Elgin Marbles, one can hope that it provides another example and opportunity to review and reconsider the ongoing dispute. 

Did the Greeks Found Rome?

An article in the Greek Reporter reminds us that the story of Romulus and Remus is not the only one to consider when pondering the founding of Rome:

...what many people do not know is that Greek legend tells us that [the city founded by Romulus] was not actually the first settlement that existed on the Palatine Hill. Before Rome, there was a Greek city which existed in the same place.

Romulus and Remus, the Lupercal, Father Tiber, and the Palatine on a relief from a pedestal dating to the reign of Trajan (AD 98-117). By Marie-Lan Nguyen (2006), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1233398

Suetonius Describes the Death of Caesar

The Ides of March are nearly upon us, so I thought I would mark the occasion with a reading of Suetonius' description of the assassination of Julius Caesar. So many people today know of this episode from history through Shakespeare's telling of the tale, but it is obvious, after reading the passage below, that the bard was familiar with this passage (Suetonius, Divus Iulius, 82):

Assidentem conspirati specie officii circumsteterunt, ilicoque Cimber Tillius, qui primas partes susceperat, quasi aliquid rogaturus propius accessit renuentique et gestu in aliud tempus differenti ab utroque umero togam adprehendit: deinde clamantem: 'ista quidem vis est!' alter e Cascis aversum vulnerat paulum infra iugulum. Caesar Cascae brachium arreptum graphio traiecit conatusque prosilire alio vulnere tardatus est; utque animadvertit undique se strictis pugionibus peti, toga caput obvoluit, simul sinistra manu sinum ad ima crura deduxit, quo honestius caderet etiam inferiore corporis parte velata. Atque ita tribus et viginti plagis confossus est uno modo ad primum ictum gemitu sine voce edito, etsi tradiderunt quidam Marco Bruto irruenti dixisse: καὶ σὺ τέκνον; Exanimis diffugientibus cunctis aliquamdiu iacuit, donec lecticae impositum, dependente brachio, tres servoli domum rettulerunt. Nec in tot vulneribus, ut Antistius medicus existimabat, letale ullum repertum est, nisi quod secundo loco in pectore acceperat.

Fuerat animus coniuratis corpus occisi in Tiberim trahere, bona publicare, acta rescindere, sed metu Marci Antoni consulis et magistri equitum Lepidi destiterunt. 

I translate this into English as,

The conspirators, with the appearance of duty, gathered around him (Caesar) as he was sitting down, and immediately Tillius Cimber, who had chosen the first role, approached nearer, as if about to ask something, and, as Caesar was dismissing him and, with a gesture, waving him off to another time, he grabbed his toga by each shoulder: then, with Cesar shouting, "This indeed is violence!" one of the Casci, standing behind, wounded him a little below the throat. Caesar grabbed Casca's arm and stabbed it with a stilus. and then having tried to jump up he was prevented by another wound; and as he noticed on all sides that he was being attacked by drawn daggers, he covered his head with his toga, at the same time with his left hand he drew down the lap to the bottom of his legs, in order that he might fall more decently, with also the lower part of his body covered. And in this way he was stabbed with twenty-three blows, with only one groan, without a word, given at the first blow, although certain ones have related that he had said to Marcus Brutus rushing toward (him): "You too, son?" He lay lifeless for quite a while with all the others scattering, until three young slaves placed him on a litter, with an arm hanging down,  and carried him back home. And, as his doctor Antistius estimated, not any of his so many wounds was found lethal, except the one he had received in the second place on his chest.

It had been the intention of the conspirators to drag the body of the deceased into the Tiber River, to confiscate his property, and to cancel his business in the senate, but because of the fear of Marc Antony, the consul, and of Lepidus, the magister equitum, they stopped.

St. Patrick Writes About Himself

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I would take a look at some of the fifth-century Latin written by this remarkable individual and patron saint of Ireland. Take a look at the very useful website St. Patrick's Confessio, which allows one to "[r]ead what St. Patrick actually wrote in his own words."

Epistola ad milites Corotici, X

Numquid sine Deo vel secundum carnem Hiberione veni? Quis me compulit? Alligatus sum Spiritu ut non videam aliquem de cognatione mea. Numquid a me piam misericordiam quod ago erga gentem illam qui me aliquando ceperunt et devastaverunt servos et ancillas domus patris mei? Ingenuus fui secundum carnem; decorione patre nascor. Vendidi enim nobilitatem meam -- non erubesco neque me paenitet -- pro utilitate aliorum; denique servus sum in Christo genti exterae ob gloriam ineffabilem perennis vitae quae est in Christo Iesu Domino nostro.

Here is the source of the text; the translation below is my own.

A letter to the soldiers of Coroticus (10)

Is it possible that I came to Ireland without God, even following my own flesh? Who compelled me? I have been so bound by the Spirit that I do not see anyone of my own family. Is it possible that I grant holy mercy from myself towards that people who once captured me and killed the enslaved men and women of my father's house? I was a free-born according to the flesh; I was born from my father, a decurion. Indeed I sold my noble status for the service of others -- I am not ashamed of this and I do not regret it; accordingly I am a servant in Christ for people of a foreign land on account of the indescribable glory of everlasting life which is in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Remains from the Temple of Vespasian

I was looking through a folder of photographs from a trip to Rome in 2014 and came across this interesting pic of a well-preserved portion of the entablature of the Temple of Vespasian and Titus in the Roman Forum. The piece itself is now on display in the Capitoline Museum, and from the appearance of the archway to the back of this image, I am thinking it is located in the portion of the museum which is housed in the remains of the Tabularium, which overlooks the ruins of the Forum.

For a lot of good information about how this portion of the frieze survived and what is depicted by the images carved there, take a look at this report from the Library of Symbolism.

Venus Pays a Visit to Jupiter

I posted this pic of the conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter on the evening of March 1, 2023 on my other social media and added the caption, "Jupiter and Venus canoodling in the heavens this evening." Even better, a few fellow Latin teachers suggested this passage from Vergil's Aeneid in which Venus visits Jupiter and pleads for rest and safety for her long-suffering Trojans:

Atque illum talis iactantem pectore curas
tristior et lacrimis oculos suffusa nitentis
adloquitur Venus: 'O qui res hominumque deumque
aeternis regis imperiis, et fulmine terres,
quid meus Aeneas in te committere tantum,
quid Troes potuere, quibus, tot funera passis,
cunctus ob Italiam terrarum clauditur orbis?
Certe hinc Romanos olim, volventibus annis,
hinc fore ductores, revocato a sanguine Teucri,
qui mare, qui terras omni dicione tenerent,
pollicitus, quae te, genitor, sententia vertit?
Hoc equidem occasum Troiae tristisque ruinas
solabar, fatis contraria fata rependens;
nunc eadem fortuna viros tot casibus actos
insequitur. Quem das finem, rex magne, laborum?...
Hic pietatis honos? Sic nos in sceptra reponis?'

Olli subridens hominum sator atque deorum,
voltu, quo caelum tempestatesque serenat,
oscula libavit natae, dehinc talia fatur:
'Parce metu, Cytherea: manent immota tuorum
fata tibi; cernes urbem et promissa Lavini
moenia, sublimemque feres ad sidera caeli
magnanimum Aenean; neque me sententia vertit.
Hic tibi (fabor enim, quando haec te cura remordet,
longius et volvens fatorum arcana movebo)
bellum ingens geret Italia, populosque feroces
contundet, moresque viris et moenia ponet,
tertia dum Latio regnantem viderit aestas,
ternaque transierint Rutulis hiberna subactis.
At puer Ascanius, cui nunc cognomen Iulo
additur,—Ilus erat, dum res stetit Ilia regno,—
triginta magnos volvendis mensibus orbis
imperio explebit, regnumque ab sede Lavini
transferet, et longam multa vi muniet Albam.
Hic iam ter centum totos regnabitur annos
gente sub Hectorea, donec regina sacerdos,
Marte gravis, geminam partu dabit Ilia prolem.
Inde lupae fulvo nutricis tegmine laetus
Romulus excipiet gentem, et Mavortia condet
moenia, Romanosque suo de nomine dicet.
His ego nec metas rerum nec tempora pono;
imperium sine fine dedi. Quin aspera Iuno,
quae mare nunc terrasque metu caelumque fatigat,
consilia in melius referet, mecumque fovebit
Romanos rerum dominos gentemque togatam:
sic placitum. Veniet lustris labentibus aetas,
cum domus Assaraci Phthiam clarasque Mycenas
servitio premet, ac victis dominabitur Argis.
Nascetur pulchra Troianus origine Caesar,
imperium oceano, famam qui terminet astris,—
Iulius, a magno demissum nomen Iulo.
Hunc tu olim caelo, spoliis Orientis onustum,
accipies secura; vocabitur hic quoque votis.
Aspera tum positis mitescent saecula bellis;
cana Fides, et Vesta, Remo cum fratre Quirinus,
iura dabunt; dirae ferro et compagibus artis
claudentur Belli portae; Furor impius intus,
saeva sedens super arma, et centum vinctus aenis
post tergum nodis, fremet horridus ore cruento.'

Vergil's Aeneid I.227-241, 253-296

And here is my translation:

And so Venus, rather sad and swollen around her eyes glistening with tears,
pleads with that one pondering such concerns in his heart:
"Oh you who rule the affairs of men and gods with everlasting power,
and you who strike fear with the lightning bolt,
what so great offense has my Aeneas, what have the Trojans,
been able to commit against you, for whom, having suffered so many deaths,
the whole, wide world is closed because of Italy?
You actually promised that after this there would be Romans one day,
in the coming years, that after this they would be the leaders,
rising from the renewed blood of the Trojans,
who would hold the sea, the lands under all their domain.
What notion has changed your mind, father?
On my end I was soothing this fall and the sad ruins of Troy,
weighing out their past fates against future ones;
now the luck fortune pursues these men driven by so many misfortunes.
When will you, great king, bring an end to their sufferings?
This is their reward for our dutifulness? This is how you put us in power?"

Smiling down at her, the father of men and gods,
with that expression, by which he calms the sky and storms,
gave a kiss to his daughter, and then  says these words:
"Don't be afraid, Cytherea: the fates of your people remain unchanged for you;
you will see the city and the promised walls of Lavinium,
and you will carry great-souled Aeneas on high to the stars of heaven;
and no notion changes my mind. This one will wage a huge war
for you in Italy (for I will prophesy, since this concern worries you,
and I will reveal further things unknown), and he will defeat fierce peoples,
and put in place customs and walls for these men,
until a third summer has seen him ruling in Latium,
and a third winter has passed with the Rutulians subdued.
But the boy Ascanius, who now is called Iulus,
-- he used to be Ilus, while the kingdom of Troy stood --,
will fill out thirty great years in power with the months rolling along,
and he will move the kingdom from the seat of Lavinium,
and he will build Alba Longa with much strength.
Here now it will be ruled for three hundred whole years
beneath the race of Hector, until Ilia, a queen, a priestess,
pregnant by Mars, will give birth to twin offspring.
From that point Romulus, happy in the tawny hide of a nursemaid wolf
will continue the race, and will found the walls of Mars,
and he will name his people Romans after his own name.
I do not put limits or a timeframe on this things;
I have granted rule without end. Indeed harsh Juno,
who now wears out the sea and lands and heaven with fear
will change her plans for the better, and along with me
she will cherish the Romans as the masters of all things
and the toga-clad race: in this way it will be pleasing.
The time will come in the passing years,
when the House of Assaracus will hold sway over Phthia
and famous Mycenae, and it will be lord over the conquered Greeks.
A Trojan Caesar will be born from a glorious family,
who extends the empire to the ocean, and his fame to the stars,
-- he will be called Iulius, a name sent down from great Iulus.
One day you, untroubled, will welcome him, laden with the spoils
of the East, to the heavens; he, too, will be called upon by prayers.
Then these harsh ages will become calm with wars put aside;
grey-haired Faith, and Vesta, Quirinus with his brother Remus,
will give laws; the dire gates of War will be shut by iron
and close-fitting locks; wicked Madness, sitting inside
on top of savage arms, and bound by a hundred bronze knots
behind his back, will roars horribly from his bloody mouth."

That March Boy Martial

Today is March 1st, the birthday of the Roman poet Marcus Valerius Martialis, commonly called Martial. I would often teach about Martial and his poetry to my Latin students as they were making the transition between textbook Latin and authentic Latin literature.

In honor of the poet's birthday, here is the less-than-humble epigram he wrote to introduce his work:

Hic est quem legis ille, quem requiris,

toto notus in orbe Martialis

argutis epigrammaton libellis:

cui, lector studiose, quod dedisti

uiuenti decus atque sentienti,

rari post cineres habent poetae.

                                                                    Martial, Epigrams I.1 

And my translation:

Here's that guy you read, who you're looking for,

Martial, known in the whole, wide world

for his witty little books of epigrams.

The props you have given him, eager reader,

while still alive and awake,

few poets get after they're dead. 

 

Here is the information about his life and works I would distribute to my students:

Marcus Valerius Martialis, known commonly as Martial, perfected the Latin epigram as a literary artform. He penned well over 1,500 poems, each one on a single, specific topic. His work became popular among the Romans and was imitated by the poets of the empire and Renaissance and it still serves as the model for writers of epigrams today.

HISTORY AND CAREER

Martial was born around AD 40 in Bilbilis in the Roman province of Hispania.  He was given the cognomen Martialis because he was born on the Kalends of March. After spending most of his life in and around Rome, he returned to his hometown late in life and died there around 104.

After receiving a good education, Martial made his way to Rome in about 64.  There he made the acquaintance of several of the notable authors of the day, including Juvenal and fellow Spaniards Quintilian, Seneca the Younger, and Lucan. He quickly learned of life in the center of the empire after both Seneca and Lucan were ordered to commit suicide upon being linked with the conspiracy of Lucius Calpurnius Piso in 65.

Martial, of humble, provincial origins, had to rely upon his writing talent to make ends meet in the big city. In his own poetry he writes of being poor and having to climb up three flights of stairs to his humble apartment. He also writes that his patrons were not very generous. As his fame grew, his conditions improved and he makes mention of a small house on the Quirinal Hill and a cottage in nearby Nomentum, a small town in Latium. He was also awarded the honorary rank of military tribune and, although not married, was granted the ius trium liberorum, giving him tax exemption and other privileges usually reserved for fathers of three children.

HIS WORKS

The term epigram comes from the Greek epi meaning “upon” and graphein meaning “to write.” Its origins lie in the precision and economy of inscriptions on monuments and tombstones, but it was later developed into its own genre by the Greeks. Before Martial, Catullus from the 1^st century BC, reigned as the king of epigrams, often writing about love and hate and the struggles with his relationships. Following Catullus’ inspiration, many writers of the late republic and early empire penned epigrams, but very few of their works have survived. Martial perfected the form, writing to the point and without the weighty mythological similes and allusions so common in Latin lyric and epic poetry. Many of his poems consist of a single couplet with only a few exceeding twenty lines. Most of his epigrams are written in elegiac couplets; a sixth in hendecasyllabics, some 80 are choliambics, a few in iambics and hexameters.

Martial’s first known work was the Liber Spectaculorum, a collection of poems commemorating the opening of the Colosseum in Rome in AD 80. Thirty-six of the poems have survived, most of them praising the emperor Titus and providing valuable information about his inaugural games.

Around 84, Martial published a series of elegiac couplets used as labels on gifts given to friends and guests attending banquets during the Saturnalia. These gifts included food, drinks, clothing, stationary, furniture, toys, artwork, pets, and even slaves. Later, these epigrams would become Books XIII and XIV of his complete collection of Epigrams.

In the ensuing years 86-98, Martial produced eleven volumes of his most famous work of Epigrams. Like all good authors, Martial wrote about the world around him, including the memorable characters and follies he saw every day in the bustling, cosmopolitan streets of Rome. His subject matter includes poignant anecdotes and affections for true friends, acquaintances, admirable heroes from Roman history, faithful wives and slaves, the joys of country life and his Spanish homeland.  He is better known for his commentary on the seedier inhabitants of Rome: fortune-tellers, drunks, lovers, critics, and hypocrites. He also wrote in praise and complaint about his patrons and fellow poets. Finally, as a dutiful client, some of his poems are addressed to the emperor Domitian. They are marked by obvious flattery or overt praise, most likely as a means of insuring preservation and support from the principate.

A large number of Martial’s epigrams are obscene, causing him to preface several of his books with defensive comments and he cites Catullus as a precedent. Perhaps in response to criticism, he dedicated Book V to matronae puerique virginesque and Book VIII has no poems on objectionable subjects. While most of his poems are addressed to an individual, many of the names are probably pseudonyms. He wrote that it was his custom parcere personis, dicere de vitiis = “to spare the people but reveal their vices.”

Around 100, Martial had exhausted his material and tired of Rome. He returned to Bilbilis and settled down comfortably on a farm given to him by a patroness. It was there that he wrote his twelfth book in the winter of 101. While the specific date is not known, Pliny the Younger, in one of his epistles, praises Martial and mentions his death in 104.

SOURCES

Lilian Feder, The Meridian Handbook of Classical Literature. New York: New American Library, 1986.

M. C. Howatson, ed., The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 2^nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.