Edmund Luce

“ PHAEDRUS (temp. Augustus to Nero) . 1. Life. PHAEDRUS.
The Latin Fabulist, of whom we know nothing except what may be gathered or inferred from his fables. He was originally a slave, and was born in Thrace, possibly in the district of Pieria. He was brought to Rome at an early age, and there became acquainted with Roman literature. His patron appears to have been Augustus, who gave him his freedom. After publishing two books of fables he incurred the resentment of Augustus and was imprisoned. ”

“ The clever boys are, as a rule, well provided for; but, even for them, the methods of this book have been found to be the shortest road to accuracy and style in translation. Moreover by this means they have gained a firsthand acquaintance with Latin literature and the sources of Roman history.
It is impossible here to enter into ‘the question of the close and striking correspondence between the history, the literature, and the language of Rome. It was not until the history of Rome threw its mantle over her poetry that the dignity of the poet was recognised and acknowledged. ”

“ Rouse can assert, ‘The public schoolboy at nineteen is unable to read a simple Latin or Greek book with ease, or to express a simple series of thoughts without atrocious blunders: he has learnt from his classics neither accuracy viii nor love of beauty and truth’—it is obvious that, for the average boy, the system of perfunctorily prepared set-books and dashed-off unseens is a failure. ”

“ Character of Flaminius. ‘The party feelings which have so coloured the language of the ancient writers (e.g. Livy, Polybius) respecting him need not be shared by a modern historian. Flaminius was indeed an unequal antagonist to Hannibal; but, in his previous life, as Consul and as Censor, he had served his country well; and if the defile of Trasimene witnessed his rashness, it also contains his honourable grave.’ Arnold, Hist. Rome, iii. ”

“ The choice of the subject was influenced by the wish of Augustus to establish the legendary tradition of the connection of the gens Iulia with Aeneas through his son Iulus, and by Vergil’s own desire to write an epic on the greatness of Rome, in the manner of Homer. Thus ‘the centre of the mythical background was naturally Aeneas, as Augustus was the centre of the present magnificence of the Roman Empire. We surpass all other nations, says Cicero (De Nat. Deor. ii. 8) , in holding fast the belief that all things are ordered by a Divine Providence. ”

“ Thus Lucretius recognises that in a vacuum every body, no matter what its weight, falls with equal swiftness; the circulation of the sap in the vegetable world is known to him, and he describes falling stars, aerolites, etc., as the unused material of the universe.’ The great truth that matter is not destroyed but only changes its form is very clearly stated by Lucretius, and his account (Book V) of the beginnings of life upon the earth, the evolution of man, and the progress of human society is interesting and valuable. ”

“ The first ten books of Livy were being written about the same time as the Aeneid; both Vergil and Livy had the same patriotic purpose, ‘to celebrate the growth, in accordance with a divine dispensation, of the Roman Empire and Roman civilisation.’—Nettleship. Livy, however, brought into greater prominence the moral causes which contributed to the growth of the Empire. In his preface to Book I, § 9, he asks his readers to consider what have been the life and habits of the Romans, by aid of what men and by what talents at home and in the field their Empire has been gained and extended. ”

“ Satires (Sermones) in two Books.—Horace’s chief model is Lucilius, whom he wished to adapt to the Augustan age. To touch on political topics was impossible; Horace employed satire to display his own individuality and his own views on various subjects. Book I (his earliest effort) is marred by faults in execution and is often wanting in good taste; but in Book II ‘he uses the hexameter to exhibit the semi-dramatic form of easy dialogue, with a perfection as complete as that of Vergil in the stately and serious manner. In reading these Satires we all read our own minds and hearts.’—Mackail. ”

“ The Appendices (pp. 274-363) may be referred to when a boy finds himself in doubt about the value of x a Conjunction (I.) , the force of a Prefix (II.) , the meaning of a Suffix (III.) , the Life and Times of his Author (VI.) , or the historical significance of a date (VII.) . In Appendix V. a Demonstration is given to show how a boy, after sufficient practice in translation by the help of analysis, may to some extent learn to think in Latin, and so to follow the Latin order in arriving at the thought. ”

“ The aim of the present book is to help boys to translate at sight. Of the many books of unseen translation in general use few exhibit continuity of plan as regards the subject-matter, or give any help beyond a short heading. The average boy, unequal to the task before him, is forced to draw largely upon his own invention, and the master, in correcting written unseens, has seldom leisure to do more than mark mistakes—a method of correction almost useless to the boy, unless accompanied by full and careful explanation when the written work is given back. ”

“ De Vita Caesarum, the Lives of the Twelve Caesars, in eight Books (I-VI Julius-Nero; VII Galba, Otho, and Vitellius; VIII Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian) . This is his most interesting and most valuable work. His Lives are not works of art: he is simply a gatherer of facts, collected from good sources with considerable care and judgment. ‘He follows out with absolute faithfulness his own theory, which makes it necessary to omit no possible detail that can throw light upon the personality of his subject.’—Peck.
(2) De Viris Illustribus, a history of Latin literature up to his day. ”

“ Caesar let it be known to the Senate through Curio that he was willing to resign his army and provinces if Pompeius would simultaneously do the same: and the Senate voted a resolution in this sense by a majority of 370 to 22. The presiding Consul, Gaius Marcellus, broke up the meeting in anger, and with the two Consuls elected for 49 (Claudius Marcellus and Lentulus Crus) requested Pompeius to put himself at the head of the two legions stationed at Capua and to call the Italian militia to arms.
Caesar had completely attained the object of devolving the initiative of Civil War on his opponents. ”

“ His imagination never fails to kindle at great actions; it is he, more than any other author, who has impressed the great soldiers and statesmen of the Republic on the imagination of the world.’—Mackail. ”

“ Translation.—Before you translate, notice Ovid’s frequent use of parataxis, i.e. placing one thought side by side with another thought, without any connective, even although one thought is, in sense, clearly subordinate to another. This is one of the ways in which all great poets heighten the effect of what they say, and many examples of it are to be found in Ovid’s best elegiac verse. As you look through this passage you will find:
(a) Lines 1, 2, 3, 4 each form a complete sentence. ”

“ The good orator must be a good man.
‘Quintilian with admirable clearness insists on the great truth that bad education is responsible for bad life, and expresses with equal plainness the complementary truth that education, from the cradle upwards, is something which acts on the whole intellectual and moral nature, and that its object is the production of the good man.’—Mackail.
3. Style.
The style of Quintilian is modelled on that of Cicero, whom he is never tired of praising, and is intended to be a return to the usages of the best period. ”

“ Life. ENNIUS.
He was born at Rudiae in Calabria (about 19 miles S. of Brundisium) , a meeting-place of three different languages, that of common life (Oscan, cf. Opici) , that of culture and education (Greek) , that of military service (Latin) . Here he lived for some twenty years, availing himself of those means of education which at this time were denied to Rome or Latium. ”

“ Accelerat Caesar ut proelio intersit. Eius adventu ex colore vestitus cognito (quo insigni in proeliis uti consuerat) , turmisque equitum et cohortibus visis quas se sequi iusserat, ut de locis 15 superioribus haec declivia et devexa cemebantur, hostes proelium committunt. Utrimque clamore sublato excipit rursus ex vallo atque omnibus munitionibus clamor. Nostri omissis pilis gladiis rem gerunt. Repente post tergum equitatus cernitur: 20 cohortes aliae appropinquant. Hostes terga vertunt; fugientibus equites occurrunt: fit magna caedes: pauci ex tanto numero se incolumes in castra recipiunt. ”

“ Life TERENCE.
Terence was born probably at Carthage, reached Rome as a slave-boy, and passed there into the possession of a rich and educated Senator, P. Terentius Lucanus, by whom he was educated and manumitted, taking from him the name of Publius Terentius the African. ‘A small literary circle of the Roman aristocracy admitted young Terence to their intimate companionship; and soon he was widely known as making a third in the friendship of Gaius Laelius with the first citizen of the Republic, the younger Scipio Africanus. ”

“ He afterwards followed Caesar to Africa, and apparently did good service there, for he was appointed in 46 the first governor of the newly formed province of Numidia. In 45 he returned to Rome a very rich man, and built himself a magnificent palace, surrounded by pleasure grounds (the famous Gardens of Sallust, in the valley between the Quirinal and the Pincius) , which in after years emperors preferred to the palace of the Caesars. After Caesar’s death Sallust retired from public life, and it is to the leisure and study of these ten years that we owe the works that have made him famous. ”

“ Life. PROPERTIUS.
Of his life little or nothing is known, except what is recorded by himself. He was an Umbrian by birth, and probably a native of Asisium (Assisi) , a town on the W. slope of the Apennines, not far from Perusia. Like Vergil and Tibullus, he lost his family property in the confiscation of lands by the Triumvirs in 42 B.C.; but his mother’s efforts secured for him a good education, to complete which she brought him to Rome. ”

“ In regard to the historical teaching contained in the extracts, there can be little doubt that the present tendency of classical teaching is towards emphasising the subject-matter as well as the language. It is felt that as training in political principles the reading of Greek and Roman authors offers unique advantages, such as many English boys can appreciate, who are deaf to the literary appeal. ”

“ As the poet of Stoicism, using the very words of Vergil, he calls upon a benighted race to acquaint itself with the causes of things: to an inquiry into the purpose of man’s being, the art of skilful driving in the chariot-race of life, and the ordained position of each individual in the social system.’—Nettleship.
‘Persius is the sole instance among Roman writers of a philosopher whose life was in accordance with the doctrines he professed.’—Cruttwell.
Multum et verae gloriae quamvis uno libro Persius meruit.—Quint. Inst. Orat. X. i. ”

“ Pompeium et M. Crassum inita potentiae societas, quae urbi orbique terrarum nec minus diverso quoque tempore ipsis exitiabilis fuit. Hoc consilium sequendi Pompeius causam habuerat, ut tandem acta in 5 transmarinis provinciis, quibus, ut praediximus, multi obtrectabant, per Caesarem confirmarentur consulem, Caesar autem, quod animadvertebat se cedendo Pompei gloriae aucturum suam et invidia communis potentiae in illum relegata confirmaturum 10 vires suas, Crassus, ut quem principatum solus adsequi non poterat, auctoritate Pompei, viribus teneret Caesaris. ”

“ THIRD PUNIC WAR, 149-146 B.C. Destruction of Carthage, 146 B.C. Manilio deinde consule terra marique fervebat obsidio. Operti portus, nudatus est primus et sequens, iam et tertius murus, cum tamen Byrsa, quod nomen arci fuit, quasi altera civitas resistebat. Quamvis profligato urbis excidio tamen fatale Africae nomen 5 Scipionum videbatur. Igitur in alium Scipionem conversa respublica finem belli reposcebat. Sed quem ad modum maxime mortiferi morsus solent esse morientium bestiarum, sic plus negoti fuit cum semiruta Carthagine quam cum integra. ”

“ CORNELIUS TACITUS, circ. 54-120 A.D. 1. Life. TACITUS.
The personal history of Tacitus is known to us only from allusions in his own works, and from the letters of his friend the younger Pliny. He was born early in the reign of Nero, probably in Rome; his education, political career, and marriage into the distinguished family of Agricola prove that he was a man of wealth and position. He studied rhetoric under the best masters (possibly under Quintilian) , and had, as Pliny tells us (Epist. II. i. 6) , a great reputation as a speaker. ”

“ These expressions are Stoic maxims. Lucan (the nephew of Seneca) depicts the Stoic idea of virtue in the character of Cato.
382-383 patriaeque . . . mundo. Cato’s aim is patriae impendere vitam. His devotion to the service of humanity is complete; it is his part toti genitum se credere mundo. But this humanity includes Rome in the first place, the rest of the world in a quite secondary sense.—H.
386-387 hirtam togam = a coarse (lit. hairy) toga.
389 honesti = τοῦ καλοῦ. Cicero defines honestum as aut ipsa virtus, aut res gesta virtute. ”

“ Translation.— You cannot be in doubt about the principal subject and predicate. Felix is the only word outside the subordinate clause from qui . . . avari. The sense, too, of these lines is clear, so you may translate at once; but you must take special care to use dignified and appropriate language:—
50 Happy the man who has availed to know the causes of things, and so trampled under foot all fears and fate’s relentless decree, and the roar of insatiate Acheron.
II. Fortunatus et ille, deos qui novit agrestes,
Panaque, Silvanumque senem, Nymphasque sorores! (i.) ”

“ What you have to do is to think out the exact meaning of every word in the sentence, and to express this in as good and correct English as you can.
19. Pay attention to Metaphors.—The subject of Metaphor is of great importance in good translation. You will find that every language possesses its own special Metaphors in addition to those which are common to most European languages. As you become familiar with Latin Authors you 14 must try to distinguish the Metaphors common to English and Latin and those belonging only to English or to Latin. ”