This next semester you will be writing a Roman Comedy. To help you prepare for this project, I ask that over our break you watch the following films. One is a production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and the other is P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster. The first thing to understand about Roman Comedy is that it follows a very specific form, much like a sonnet. To do well at this assignment you will need to get to know its unique rules inside and out.
Of the rules that govern the Roman Comedy, the most important is the use of stock characters.
The Main Characters are all required and must function as the key drivers of your plot.
The Adolescent: The adulescens was the loveable hero. He is young, rich, but not too brave or smart. He tends to bemoan his fate and get himself into situations where he requires backup. Another character often has to take action on his behalf, often the servus callidus. His father or guardian is often the senex, whom he fears, but does not respect.
The Old Man: The senex typically was portrayed in two different forms.
A. As a friend of the family, or relative, he is either too strict or too soft with the adulscens. He tends
to be passionately in love with the same woman as the adulescens, a woman who is much too
young for him. He never gets the girl and is subjected to embarrassing circumstances due to his
pursuit of her.
B. Sometimes he is the father of the adulescens and although too strict or too soft earlier in the play
eventually he decides to help the adulescens. He is often a miser.
The Slaveowner: The leno is a slaveowner. The virgo is typically owned by the leno so that the adulescens is often forced to deal with him. The leno is unabashedly amoral and only interested in
money.
The Maiden: The virgo (young maiden) is the love interest of the adulescens, but barely appears on stage. She is often a slave owned by the leno, but described as beautiful and virtuous with little personality. She is treated as a prize.
The Wise Slave: The servus callidus is often the most important character and often has the most monologues. He is not the kind of slave typical of a real Roman home. The servus callidus, or clever slave, is always talkative, but his other traits vary. Most of the time he is the loyal slave of the adulescens, sometimes he is the slave of the senex. In the second case he usually is secretly working to help the adulescens. He brings tricks and comedy to the play, and tends to drive the plot. He is often the one who finds the truth out at the end of the play. He can be identified by his tendency to use eloquent poetic quotations.
The Minor Characters can be used in any combination to drive the plot forward, but should not be one of the main drivers of the narrative.
The Braggart: The miles gloriosus is a braggart soldier. He loves himself more than anything else and sees himself as handsome, physically fit, and brave, while in reality, he is very stupid, cowardly, and gullible. He may be interested in the same girl as the adulescens.
The Parasite: The parasitus is a parasite who lives only for himself. He is money-grubbing and often tries to steal food or get free meals, which he is typically refused. He lies for his own gain.
The Maid: The ancilla is a maid or nurse of no particular age. She is a minor character used to move the plot by presenting information or helping to develop another character. She is a tool of her mistress and may be used as a messenger.
The Mother: The matrona is shrewd. She loves her children but is temperamental towards her husband. She does not have to be a devoted wife but sometimes is.
Plot Devices
You will need to include both of the following plot devices in your scripts.
Peripeteia:
Peripeteia, specifically, is "a change from one state of affairs to its exact opposite." For example, a Leno might suddenly shift from opposing a marriage to seeking it when he discovers the true identity of the adulescens.
Anagnorisis:
Anagnorisis is "change from ignorance to knowledge, leading either to friendship or to hostility on the part of those persons who are marked for good fortune or bad." This ‘realization’ often includes the recognition that a circumstance that has blocked the union of the two lovers is, in fact, based on error. For example, the young man may suffer amnesia after an accident, only to remember his aristocratic status after a similar accident, thus paving the way for marriage.
Examples of Roman Comedy Style in more modern plays
Now that you have reviewed the basic information from the syllabus, I would like you to review two examples of more modern adaptations of the Roman Comedy formula. The first of these is Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde's famous play is important to us because itshares many of the 'classical norms and
dramatic practices' of Roman Comedy.
Wilde‘s play has strong resemblances to...New Comedy [the basis of Roman Comedy], where, the characters find themselves in a complicated and unpleasant situation which for a while seems destined to
grow steadily worse, but the story is so manipulated that everything works out well in the end and everyone is
left happy and contented (O‘Neill, xlix).
As you watch the play, I ask that you look for examples of the form discussed at the beginning of this post. In particular, look for examples of the stock characters and make a list as you spot them.
.
Secondly, look for examples of Peripeteia and Anagnorisis. How do they benefit the plot's structure?
For the second video, I would like you to do much the same. Look for examples of the stock characters and note them. How does Wodehouse use stock characters in comparison to Wilde? Lastly, look for examples of how Wodehouse uses Peripeteia and Anagnorisis. Does Wodehouse follow the same formula, if so how or how not?
Excerpt from: The Egyptian Book of the Dead, The Papyros of Ani, Egyptian
Text, Transliteration and Translation. E.A. Wallis Budge, S. 194-198.
Verily I have come to thee, I have brought to thee Maāt. I have driven away for thee
wickedness. I have not done iniquity to mankind. Not have I done harm unto animals. Not
have I done wickedness in the place of Maāt. Not have I known evil. Not have I acted
wickedly. Not have I done each and every day works above what I should do. Not hath come
forth my name to the boat of the Prince. Not have I despised God.
Not have I caused misery. Not have I caused affliction. Not have I done what is abominable to
God. Not have I caused harm to be done to the servant by his chief. Not have I caused pain.
Not have I made to weep. Not have I killed. Not have I made order for killing for me. Not
have I done harm to mankind. Not have I taken aught of the oblations in the temples. Not
have I purloined the cakes of the gods. Not have I carried off the offerings of the blessed
dead. Not have I fornicated. Not have I defiled myself.
Not have I added to, not have I diminished the offerings. Not have I stolen from the orchard.
Not have I trampled down the fields. I have not added to the weight of the balance. Not have I
diminished from the weight of the balance. Not have I carried off the milk from the mouth of
the babe. Not have I driven away the cattle which were upon their pastures. Not have I
captured the birds of the preserves of the gods. Not have I taken fishes [with bait] of their own
bodies. Not have I turned back water at its season. Not have I cut a cutting in water running.
Not have I extinguished a flame at its hour. Not have I violated the times for the chosen
offerings. Not have I driven back the cattle of divine things.
Not have I repulsed God in his manifestations. I, even I, am pure. Times four. I am pure
[with] the purity of bennu that great which is the Suten-henen, because I am, behold, nose that
of the lord of winds making to live mortals all on day that of filling the utchat, in Heliopolis,
in month second of the season coming forth to the end, before the lord of this earth. I see the
filling of the uchat in Heliopolis. Not let be done evil to me in land this, in hall this of Double
Maāt, because I, I know the name of these gods who are in it, the followers of the god great.
In the 19th century AD, archaeologists descended on the region of Mesopotamia seeking physical evidence which would corroborate the biblical narratives of the Old Testament. While this may not have been initially their driving purpose, their need for funding (based on public interest to justify such funding) soon made it so. When the archaeologist Austen Henry Layard began excavations at Kalhu in AD 1845 , assisted by Hormuzd Rassam, he was under so much pressure to find biblical sites that he jumped to the conclusion the city he had uncovered was Nineveh. His published account of the excavations, in AD 1849, was titled Nineveh and its Remains and, owing to Nineveh’s fame from the Bible, the book became a best seller. The success of the book sparked further interest in Mesopotamian history as a means of corroborating biblical narratives and so further expeditions were sent to the region in search of other cities mentioned in the Bible.
Marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi
Prior to this time, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and The Song of Songs from the Bible (also known as The Song of Solomon) the oldest love poem. When Layard excavated the actual site of Nineveh in AD 1846-1847 he discovered the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (reigned 668-627 BC) and the cuneiform texts, which were then translated by the legendary George Smith, made it clear that the story of the Fall of Man and The Great Flood and Noah's Ark were widely discussed in ancient non-Biblical texts. These new discoveries led scholars to the conclusion that The Song of Songs, dated to approximately the 6th century BC, could no longer be considered the oldest love poem once The Love Song for Shu-Sin (written c.2000 BC) was discovered.
When it was found, the cuneiform tablet of The Love Song for Shu-Sin was taken to the Istanbul Museum in Turkey where it was stored in a drawer, untranslated and unknown, until AD 1951 when the famous Sumerologist Samuel Noah Kramer came across it while translating ancient texts. Kramer was trying to decide what works to translate next when he found the love song in the drawer. He describes the moment in his work History Begins at Sumer:
"The little tablet numbered 2461 was lying in one of the drawers, surrounded by a number of other pieces. When I first laid eyes on it, its most attractive feature was its state of preservation. I soon realized that I was reading a poem, divided into a number of stanzas, which celebrated beauty and love, a joyous bride and a king named Shu-Sin (who ruled over the land of Sumer close to four thousand years ago). As I read it again and yet again, there was no mistaking its content. What I held in my hand was one of the oldest love songs written down by the hand of man." (245)
The poem was not just a love poem, however, but a part of the sacred rite, performed each year, known as the "sacred marriage" in which the king would symbolically marry the goddess Inanna, to ensure prosperity for the coming year. Kramer writes:
"Once a year, according to Sumerian belief, it was the sacred duty of the ruler to marry a votary of Inanna, the goddess of love...in order to ensure fertility to the soil...The time-honored ceremony was celebrated on New Year's day and was preceeded by feasts and banquets accompanied by music, song, and dance. The poem inscribed on the little Istanbul clay tablet was in all probability recited by the chosen bride of King Shu-Sin in the course of one of these New Year celebrations." (245-246)
The scholar Jeremy Black, also well respected for his work with Mesopotamian texts, interprets the poem along the same lines. Black writes:
"This is one of several love songs composed for this king which articulate a belief in his very close and personal relationship with the goddess of love. In some songs of this type, the king's name seems to have been merely substituted for that of Dumuzi [Inanna's consort]. Almost certainly they were performed in the context of certain religious rituals which have been referred to as the `sacred marriage' but the precise details are unknown." (88-89)
Shu-Sin reigned as king in the city of Ur from 1972-1964 BC according to what is known in scholarly circles as the `short chronology' but, according to the `long chronology' used by some scholars, reigned 2037-2029 BC. The poem, therefore, is dated according to either 1965 BC or 2030 BC but is most often assigned a general date of composition at around 2000 BC. Shu-Sin was the younger son of Shulgi of Ur (reigned 2029-1982 BC) who was the last great king of the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BC). According to the historian Stephen Bertman, besides this poem, "Shu-Sin was also the male lead in a series of poems in Akkadian written in dialogue form similar to the later biblical Song of Songs" (105).
The archaeological work done in Mesopotamia in the 19th century AD completely changed the way history, and the world, could be understood. Following the discovery of Mesopotamia's ancient past, history was enlarged, deepened, and humanity's story became much more complex and interesting. The literature of ancient Mesopotamia provided the first forms of world literature, the first expressions of human emotion and experience and, among them, the experience of romantic love and passion through the world's oldest love poem.
The following translation of the oldest known love poem is from Samuel Noah Kramer's work History Begins at Sumer, pp 246-247:
Bridegroom, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honey-sweet,
Lion, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honey-sweet.
You have captivated me, let me stand before you.
Bridegroom, I would go to our new home.
You have captivated me, let me stand before you.
Lion, I would be carried by you into our new abode.
Bridegroom, let me see you,
My longing is sweeter than honey,
In our home, honey-filled,
Let me enjoy your goodly beauty,
Lion, let me see you,
My longing is more sweet than honey.
Bridegroom, you have filled my heart with joy,
Tell my mother, she will give you delicacies,
My father, he will give you precious gifts.
Your spirit, I know how to cheer your spirit,
Bridegroom, stay in our house until dawn,
Your heart, I know how to gladden your heart,
Lion, sleep in our house until dawn.
You, because you love me,
Give me pray of your kindness,
My lord god, my lord protector,
My Shu-Sin, who gladdens Enlil’s heart,
Give me pray of your kindness.
Our love is as goodly as honey, pray I,
Bring your hand of protection,
protect me with your outstretched arm.
What is culture? What is society? Your culture
consists of your beliefs about the world, the ways you behave, the kinds of
objects you possess. Culture includes things like language, morals, etiquette,
and many other things. A society, on the other hand, is the group of people who share those
beliefs, behaviors, and objects. A social culture consists of the particular meanings applied to objects, behaviors, and beliefs by a given society.
The discipline of history is
rooted in the invention of writing. Before writing came into existence, culture was
spread in the form of stories and songs passed from one person to another. While
these stories were culturally useful, without an easily shareable format, they were constrained by the number of people who spent their lives physically together.
Thus we can think of the era before
writing as pre-historic. Written culture emerged in Mesopotamia due to the rise
of agriculture that was happening in that region.
One of the biggest impacts
of written culture is the growth in the size of societies. It meant that a larger
group of people could share a culture, without personally knowing one another. By sharing ideas about morality or technologies, writing allowed societies to extend to anyplace that written words could be shared. Thus writing, as a technology, both allowed history to emerge as a discipline by providing us with data to study, it also allowed for the emergence of larger, more complex societies.
Considering our tight schedule of Roman Comedy rehearsals, I think that it might be best to delay week 29 vivas so that we can spend this week's class time on a from-memory, costume, and props rehearsal. If you would still like to go this week, I will make time during office hours or if you can't make that time, I can hear your viva over lunchtime.
Eusebius’ Account of Constantine’s Gradual Conversion
By: Jacqueline Pedlow
Paradoxically, at the beginning of the fourth century Roman laws permitted the persecution of Christians, yet by the end of the same century, the Holy Roman Empire was thriving. Bishop Eusebius’ account of Constantine’s conversion from Paganism to Christianity in 312 at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge is traditionally viewed as the catalyst for this change. In Eusebius’ biography, Life of Constantine, when Constantine began praying for divine assistance in battle, “a cross-shaped trophy formed from light” appeared in the sky, along with the words “‘By this conquer.’”[1] That same evening, Constantine dreamed of a conversation with God, who told him to use the sign in the sky “as protection against the attacks of the enemy.”[2] The next morning, Constantine sought to learn about and devote his life to this Christian God. The emperor quickly won the battle and then “somewhat later,” added the image from the sky to his soldiers’ armor and called it the labarum.[3]
Many scholars today wonder if Constantine truly converted during this battle in 312. Some historians argue the battle led to Constantine’s conversion and the creation of the labarum, while others believe it only resulted in the labarum. Few historians go further, presenting the idea that the mystical event never even occurred. In this debate, historians have made Eusebius’ account of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge synonymous with Constantine’s conversion. When scholars analyze Eusebius’ work, they assume Eusebius argues that Constantine converted during the battle in 312. Perhaps, however, Eusebius’ purpose in writing this account was not to tell of Constantine’s conversion, but rather to share Constantine’s experience. Moreover, perhaps Eusebius’ account argues that Constantine’s complete conversion took more time than just one day, and therefore the typical perspective taken on Eusebius’ passage is flawed.
A title is the first tool authors have in introducing their reader to their work and their purpose. With this in mind, Eusebius uses two headings for this event: “Constantine seeks divine aid and receives the labarum” and “The vision of Constantine.”[4] Eusebius’ choice of titles does not imply a conversion but does reference the labarum. It would be logical to assume, then, that Eusebius saw the creation of the labarum as the more important, or perhaps the more relevant, result of the emperor’s experience than his conversion.
Toward the beginning of the account, Eusebius claims the story he tells is that which Constantine directly told him “a long while after” the occurrence, and when he“was privileged with [the emperor’s] acquaintance and company.”[5] In other words, Eusebius is reporting the words of Constantine. It is worth mentioning Eusebius does not use any form of “convert” through the tale. The idea of a conversion comes from the line that states Constantine was “determined to worship no other god than the one who had appeared,”[6]clearly implying a change in religious affiliation, though the bulk of the commentary is on Constantine learning about Christ as opposed to worshipping him. While Eusebius claims this is when Constantine decided to follow God, the length of time over which Constantine learns about God is unclear—learning about God could have been, as it often is, a gradual process. Historian T. G. Elliott states that “Constantine never mentioned the alleged conversion” elsewhere.[7] This fact could call Eusebius’ credibility into question, but this is an entire debate within itself. For the purpose of this paper, let us recognize that historian H. A. Drake argues there is ample evidence that the primary flaw of Eusebius’ work is that the biography is incomplete, not inaccurate.[8] With this understanding, it is feasible Constantine never mentioned the conversion because when Constantine shared the event with Eusebius, his purpose was not to explain his conversion, but rather, as Eusebius’ title implies, to explain the origin of the labarum.
Nonetheless, regardless of why Constantine shared this event, the fact remains that he didinclude that this was when he dedicated his life to the Christian God. Although this seems troubling on the surface, “modern studies of conversion experiences suggest that a dramatic 180-degree turn…is the way converts typically remember the event long after it has happened.”[9] Drake argues that “Constantine fits this model.”[10] It is likely that the cross in the sky influenced Constantine’s religious beliefs, but that the overall conversion was gradual.
If Eusebius’ account can support that Constantine’s conversion was gradual, then Life of Constantine becomes an asset instead of a hinderance in uncovering the true story of Constantine’s walk of faith. For example, T. G. Elliott argues against the 312 conversion because there is evidence that Constantine may have been Christian before this date.[11] Acknowledging that religion is not a black and white topic, with a gradual conversion, Constantine may have believed pieces of Christianity and/or combined these beliefs with other religions before 312. Then the Battle of the Milvian Bridge can be looked at as one piece of Constantine’s journey in faith in which he became more connected to Christianity, but not the sole, decisive event which caused the conversion. In short, seeing Eusebius’ story as one of a gradual rather than a sudden conversion opens doors for the ways in which Life of Constantine can be used as evidence.
[1]Eusebius, Life of Constantine, trans. Averil Cameron and Stuart G. Hall (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999), 81.
[2]Eusebius, Life, 81.
[3]Eusebius, Life, 82.
[4]Eusebius, Life, 79-80.
[5]Eusebius, Life, 81.
[6]Eusebius, Life, 82.
[7]T. G. Elliott, “Constantine’s Conversion: Do We Really Need It?” Phoenix 41, no. 4 (Winter, 1987): 437, JSTOR.
[8]H. A. Drake, “What Eusebius Knew: The Genesis of the ‘Vita Constantini,’” Classical Philology 83, no. 1 (Jan., 1988): 37, JSTOR.
[9]H. A. Drake, “The Impact of Constantine on Christianity,” in The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine, ed. Noel Lenski (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 115.
[10]H. A. Drake, “The Impact,” 115.
[11]T. G. Elliott, “Constantine’s Conversion,” 424-7.
BEGIN the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, and of the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but that it participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him, For we are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to nature; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn away.
Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh and breath, and the ruling part. Throw away thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not allowed; but as if thou wast now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood and bones and a network, a contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries. See the breath also, what kind of a thing it is, air, and not always the same, but every moment sent out and again sucked in. The third then is the ruling part: consider thus: Thou art an old man; no longer let this be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to unsocial movements, no longer either be dissatisfied with thy present lot, or shrink from the future.
All that is from the gods is full of Providence. That which is from fortune is not separated from nature or without an interweaving and involution with the things which are ordered by Providence. From thence all things flow; and there is besides necessity, and that which is for the advantage of the whole universe, of which thou art a part. But that is good for every part of nature which the nature of the whole brings, and what serves to maintain this nature. Now the universe is preserved, as by the changes of the elements so by the changes of things compounded of the elements. Let these principles be enough for thee, let them always be fixed opinions. But cast away the thirst after books, that thou mayest not die murmuring, but cheerfully, truly, and from thy heart thankful to the gods.
Remember how long thou hast been putting off these things, and how often thou hast received an opportunity from the gods, and yet dost not use it. Thou must now at last perceive of what universe thou art a part, and of what administrator of the universe thy existence is an efflux, and that a limit of time is fixed for thee, which if thou dost not use for clearing away the clouds from thy mind, it will go and thou wilt go, and it will never return.
Every moment think steadily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast in hand with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom, and justice; and to give thyself relief from all other thoughts. And thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last, laying aside all carelessness and passionate aversion from the commands of reason, and all hypocrisy, and self-love, and discontent with the portion which has been given to thee. Thou seest how few the things are, the which if a man lays hold of, he is able to live a life which flows in quiet, and is like the existence of the gods; for the gods on their part will require nothing more from him who observes these things.
Do wrong to thyself, do wrong to thyself, my soul; but thou wilt no longer have the opportunity of honouring thyself. Every man's life is sufficient. But thine is nearly finished, though thy soul reverences not itself but places thy felicity in the souls of others.
Do the things external which fall upon thee distract thee? Give thyself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around. But then thou must also avoid being carried about the other way. For those too are triflers who have wearied themselves in life by their activity, and yet have no object to which to direct every movement, and, in a word, all their thoughts.
Through not observing what is in the mind of another a man has seldom been seen to be unhappy; but those who do not observe the movements of their own minds must of necessity be unhappy.
This thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature of the whole, and what is my nature, and how this is related to that, and what kind of a part it is of what kind of a whole; and that there is no one who hinders thee from always doing and saying the things which are according to the nature of which thou art a part.
Theophrastus, in his comparison of bad acts- such a comparison as one would make in accordance with the common notions of mankind- says, like a true philosopher, that the offences which are committed through desire are more blameable than those which are committed through anger. For he who is excited by anger seems to turn away from reason with a certain pain and unconscious contraction; but he who offends through desire, being overpowered by pleasure, seems to be in a manner more intemperate and more womanish in his offences. Rightly then, and in a way worthy of philosophy, he said that the offence which is committed with pleasure is more blameable than that which is committed with pain; and on the whole the one is more like a person who has been first wronged and through pain is compelled to be angry; but the other is moved by his own impulse to do wrong, being carried towards doing something by desire.
Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly. But to go away from among men, if there are gods, is not a thing to be afraid of, for the gods will not involve thee in evil; but if indeed they do not exist, or if they have no concern about human affairs, what is it to me to live in a universe devoid of gods or devoid of Providence? But in truth they do exist, and they do care for human things, and they have put all the means in man's power to enable him not to fall into real evils. And as to the rest, if there was anything evil, they would have provided for this also, that it should be altogether in a man's power not to fall into it. Now that which does not make a man worse, how can it make a man's life worse? But neither through ignorance, nor having the knowledge, but not the power to guard against or correct these things, is it possible that the nature of the universe has overlooked them; nor is it possible that it has made so great a mistake, either through want of power or want of skill, that good and evil should happen indiscriminately to the good and the bad. But death certainly, and life, honour and dishonour, pain and pleasure, all these things equally happen to good men and bad, being things which make us neither better nor worse. Therefore they are neither good nor evil.
How quickly all things disappear, in the universe the bodies themselves, but in time the remembrance of them; what is the nature of all sensible things, and particularly those which attract with the bait of pleasure or terrify by pain, or are noised abroad by vapoury fame; how worthless, and contemptible, and sordid, and perishable, and dead they are- all this it is the part of the intellectual faculty to observe. To observe too who these are whose opinions and voices give reputation; what death is, and the fact that, if a man looks at it in itself, and by the abstractive power of reflection resolves into their parts all the things which present themselves to the imagination in it, he will then consider it to be nothing else than an operation of nature; and if any one is afraid of an operation of nature, he is a child. This, however, is not only an operation of nature, but it is also a thing which conduces to the purposes of nature. To observe too how man comes near to the deity, and by what part of him, and when this part of man is so disposed.
Nothing is more wretched than a man who traverses everything in a round, and pries into the things beneath the earth, as the poet says, and seeks by conjecture what is in the minds of his neighbours, without perceiving that it is sufficient to attend to the daemon within him, and to reverence it sincerely. And reverence of the daemon consists in keeping it pure from passion and thoughtlessness, and dissatisfaction with what comes from gods and men. For the things from the gods merit veneration for their excellence; and the things from men should be dear to us by reason of kinship; and sometimes even, in a manner, they move our pity by reason of men's ignorance of good and bad; this defect being not less than that which deprives us of the power of distinguishing things that are white and black.
Though thou shouldst be going to live three thousand years, and as many times ten thousand years, still remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he now loses. The longest and shortest are thus brought to the same. For the present is the same to all, though that which perishes is not the same; and so that which is lost appears to be a mere moment. For a man cannot lose either the past or the future: for what a man has not, how can any one take this from him? These two things then thou must bear in mind; the one, that all things from eternity are of like forms and come round in a circle, and that it makes no difference whether a man shall see the same things during a hundred years or two hundred, or an infinite time; and the second, that the longest liver and he who will die soonest lose just the same. For the present is the only thing of which a man can be deprived, if it is true that this is the only thing which he has, and that a man cannot lose a thing if he has it not.
Remember that all is opinion. For what was said by the Cynic Monimus is manifest: and manifest too is the use of what was said, if a man receives what may be got out of it as far as it is true.
The soul of man does violence to itself, first of all, when it becomes an abscess and, as it were, a tumour on the universe, so far as it can. For to be vexed at anything which happens is a separation of ourselves from nature, in some part of which the natures of all other things are contained. In the next place, the soul does violence to itself when it turns away from any man, or even moves towards him with the intention of injuring, such as are the souls of those who are angry. In the third place, the soul does violence to itself when it is overpowered by pleasure or by pain. Fourthly, when it plays a part, and does or says anything insincerely and untruly. Fifthly, when it allows any act of its own and any movement to be without an aim, and does anything thoughtlessly and without considering what it is, it being right that even the smallest things be done with reference to an end; and the end of rational animals is to follow the reason and the law of the most ancient city and polity.
Of human life the time is a point, and the substance is in a flux, and the perception dull, and the composition of the whole body subject to putrefaction, and the soul a whirl, and fortune hard to divine, and fame a thing devoid of judgement. And, to say all in a word, everything which belongs to the body is a stream, and what belongs to the soul is a dream and vapour, and life is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and after-fame is oblivion. What then is that which is able to conduct a man? One thing and only one, philosophy. But this consists in keeping the daemon within a man free from violence and unharmed, superior to pains and pleasures, doing nothing without purpose, nor yet falsely and with hypocrisy, not feeling the need of another man's doing or not doing anything; and besides, accepting all that happens, and all that is allotted, as coming from thence, wherever it is, from whence he himself came; and, finally, waiting for death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution of the elements of which every living being is compounded. But if there is no harm to the elements themselves in each continually changing into another, why should a man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all the elements? For it is according to nature, and nothing is evil which is according to nature.
We will be working on our plays in class this week in lieu of a viva lecture. Everyone should bring a paper copy of their script with them to class. Thank you!
Nero was born at Antium nine months after the death of Tiberius, on the eighteenth day before the Kalends of January, just as the sun rose, so that he was touched by its rays almost before he could be laid upon the ground. Many people at once made many ominous predictions based on his horoscope. A remark made by his father Domitius was also regarded as an omen; for while receiving the congratulations of his friends, he said that "nothing but evil could be born of Agrippina and himself." Another manifest indication of Nero's future unhappiness occurred on the day of his purification for when Gaius Caesar was asked by his sister to give the child whatever name he liked, he looked at his uncle Claudius, who later became emperor and adopted Nero, and said that he gave him his name. This he did, not seriously, but in jest, and Agrippina hated it because at that time Claudius was the laughing-stocks of the court. At the age of three he lost his father, being left heir to a third of his estate; but even this he did not receive in full since his fellow heir Gaius seized all the property. Then his mother was banished too, and he was brought up at the house of his aunt Lepida almost in actual want, under two tutors, a dancer, and a barber. But when Claudius became emperor, Nero not only recovered his father's property but was also enriched by an inheritance from his stepfather, Passienus Crispus. When his mother was recalled from banishment and reinstated, he became so prominent through her influence that it leaked out that Messalina, wife of Claudius, had sent emissaries to strangle him as he was taking his noonday nap, regarding him as a rival. An addition to this bit of gossip is, that the would‑be assassins were frightened away by a snake that darted out from under his pillow. The only foundation for this tale was, that there was found in his bed near the pillow the shed skin of a serpent; but nevertheless, at his mother's request, he had the skin enclosed in a golden bracelet, and wore it for a long time on his right arm. But when at last the memory of his mother grew hateful to him, he threw it away, and afterward at the end of life apparently spent a great deal of time trying to find it, without luck. While he was still a young, half-grown boy he took part in the game of Troy at a performance in the Circus with great self-possession and success. In the eleventh year of his age he was adopted by Claudius and consigned to the training of Annaeus Seneca, who was then already a senator. They say that on the following night Seneca dreamed that he was teaching Gaius Caesar, and Nero soon proved the dream prophetic by revealing the cruelty of his disposition at the earliest possible opportunity. For merely because his brother Britannicus had, after his adoption, greeted him as usual as Ahenobarbus, he tried to convince his father that Britannicus was a bastard. Also when his aunt Lepida was accused, he publicly gave testimony against her, to gratify his mother, who was using every effort to ruin Lepida. At his formal introduction into public life, he announced a gift to the people and a gift of money to the soldiers, ordered a drill of the praetorians and headed them shield in hand; and thereafter returned thanks to his father in the senate. In the latter's consulship, he pleaded the cause of the people of Bononia before him in Latin, and of those of Rhodes and Ilium in Greek. His first appearance as a judge was when he was prefect of the city during the Latin Festival, when the most celebrated pleaders vied with one another in bringing before him, not trifling and brief cases according to the usual custom, but many of the highest importance, though this had been forbidden by Claudius. Shortly afterward he took Octavia to wife and gave games and a beast-baiting in the Circus, that health might be given to Claudius.
How Herod rebuilt the temple, and raised it higher, and made it more magnificent than it was before. As also concerning that tower, which he called Antonia.
1. And now Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign, and after the acts already mentioned, undertook a very great work; that is to build of himself the temple of God, and make it larger in compass, and to raise it to a most magnificent altitude: as esteeming it to be the most glorious of all his actions, as it really was, to bring it to perfection; and that this would be sufficient for an everlasting memorial of him. But as he knew the multitude were not ready nor willing to assist him in so vast a design; he thought to prepare them first by making a speech to them; and then to set about the work itself. So he called them together, and spake thus to them: “I think I need not speak to you, my countrymen, about such other works as I have done, since I came to the Kingdom: although I may say they have been performed in such a manner as to bring more security to you, than glory to my self. For I have neither been negligent in the most difficult times about what tended to ease your necessities: nor have the buildings I have made been so proper to preserve me, as yourselves from injuries. And I imagine that, with God’s assistance, I have advanced the nation of the Jews to a degree of happiness which they never had before. And for the particular edifices belonging to your own country, and your own cities; as also to those cities that we have lately acquired, which we have erected, and greatly adorned, and thereby augmented the dignity of your nation; it seems to me a needless task to enumerate them to you: since you well know them yourselves. But as to that undertaking which I have a mind to set about at present, and which will be a work of the greatest piety and excellence that can possibly be undertaken by us; I will now declare it to you. Our Fathers indeed, when they were returned from Babylon, built this temple to God Almighty. Yet does it want sixty cubits of its largeness in altitude. For so much did that first temple which Solomon built exceed this temple. Nor let anyone condemn our fathers for their negligence or want of piety herein. For it was not their fault, that the temple was no higher. For they were Cyrus, and Darius the son of Hystaspes,16 who determined the measures for its rebuilding. And it hath been by reason of the subjection of those fathers of ours to them and to their posterity, and after them to the Macedonians, that they had not the opportunity to follow the original model of this pious edifice; nor could raise it to its ancient altitude. But since I am now, by God’s will, your Governour; and I have had peace a long time, and have gained great riches, and large revenues; and, what is the principal thing of all, I am in amity with and well regarded by the Romans; who, if I may so say, are the rulers of the whole world; I will do my endeavour to correct that imperfection, which hath arisen from the necessity of our affairs, and the slavery we have been under formerly: and to make a thankful return, after the most pious manner, to God, for what blessings I have received from him, by giving me this Kingdom, and that by rendring his temple as compleat as I am able.”
2. And this was the speech which Herod made to them: but still this speech affrighted many of the people: as being unexpected by them; and because it seemed incredible, it did not encourage them, but put a damp upon them: for they were afraid that he would pull down the whole edifice, and not be able to bring his intentions to perfection for its rebuilding. And this danger appeared to them to be very great; and the vastness of the undertaking to be such, as could hardly be accomplished. But while they were in this disposition, the King encouraged them; and told them, “He would not pull down their temple till all things were gotten ready for building it up entirely again.” And as he promised them this beforehand, so he did not break his word with them: but got ready a thousand waggons, that were to bring stones for the building; and chose out ten thousand of the most skilful workmen, and bought a thousand sacerdotal garments, for as many of the priests; and had some of them taught the arts of stone cutters, and others of carpenters; and then began to build: but this not till everything was well prepared for the work.
3. So Herod took away the old foundations, and laid others, and erected the temple upon them: being in length a hundred cubits; and in height twenty additional cubits: which [twenty], upon the sinking of their foundations, fell down. (29) And this part it was that we resolved to raise again in the days of Nero. Now the temple was built of stones that were white and strong: and each of their lengths was twenty-five cubits; their height was eight, and their breadth about twelve. And the whole structure, as was also the structure of the royal cloister, was on each side much lower; but the middle was much higher: till they were visible to those that dwelt in the country for a great many furlongs; but chiefly to such as lived over against them, and those that approached to them. The temple had doors also at the entrance, and lintels over them, of the same height with the temple itself. They were adorned with embroidered veils, with their flowers of purple, and pillars interwoven. And over these, but under the crown work, was spread out a golden vine, with its branches, hanging down from a great height; the largeness and fine workmanship of which was a surprising sight to the spectators; to see what vast materials there were, and with what great skill the workmanship was done. He also encompassed the entire temple with very large cloisters; contriving them to be in a due proportion thereto: and he laid out larger sums of money upon them than had been done before him: till it seemed that no one else had so greatly adorned the temple as he had done. There was a large wall to both the cloisters; which wall was itself the most prodigious work that was ever heard of by man. The hill was a rocky ascent; that declined by degrees towards the east parts of the city; till it came to an elevated level. This hill it was which Solomon, who was the first of our Kings, by divine revelation encompassed with a wall; it was of excellent workmanship upwards, and round the top of it. He also built a wall below; beginning at the bottom: which was encompassed by a deep valley. And at the south side he laid rocks together, and bound them one to another with lead; and included some of the inner parts, till it proceeded to a great height; and till both the largeness of the square edifice, and its altitude, were immense: and till the vastness of the stones in the front were plainly visible on the outside; yet so, that the inward parts were fastened together with iron, and preserved the joints immoveable for all future times. When this work [for the foundation] was done, in this manner, and joined together as part of the hill itself to the very top of it; he wrought it all into one outward surface, and filled up the hollow places which were about the wall, and made it a level, on the external upper surface, and a smooth level also. This hill was walled all round; and in compass four furlongs: [the distance of] each angle containing in length a furlong. But within this wall, and on the very top of all, there ran another wall of stone also: having, on the east quarter, a double cloister, of the same length with the wall. In the midst of which was the temple itself. This cloister looked to the gates of the temple: and it had been adorned by many Kings in former times. And round about the entire temple were fixed the spoils taken from barbarous nations. All these had been dedicated to the temple by Herod; with the addition of those he had taken from the Arabians.
4. Now on the north side [of the temple] was built a citadel, whose walls were square, and strong, and of extraordinary firmness. This citadel was built by the Kings of the Asamonean race, who were also High Priests, before Herod; and they called it the tower: in which were reposited the vestments of the High Priest, which the High Priest only put on at the time when he was to offer sacrifice. These vestments King Herod kept in that place; and after his death they were under the power of the Romans; until the time of Tiberius Cesar. Under whose reign Vitellius, the president of Syria, when he once came to Jerusalem, and had been most magnificently received by the multitude, he had a mind to make them some requital for the kindness they had shewed him. So, upon their petition to have those holy vestments in their own power, he wrote about them to Tiberius Cesar: who granted his request.17 And this their power over the sacerdotal vestments continued with the Jews till the death of King Agrippa. But after that, Cassius Longinus, who was president of Syria; and Cuspius Fadus, who was procurator of Judea, injoined the Jews to reposit those vestments in the tower of Antonia: for that they ought to have them in their power, as they formerly had. However, the Jews sent ambassadors to Claudius Cesar, to intercede with him for them. Upon whose coming, King Agrippa junior being then at Rome, asked for and obtained the power over them from the Emperor: who gave command to Vitellius, who was then commander in Syria, to give it them accordingly. Before that time they were kept under the seal of the High Priest, and of the treasurers of the temple. Which treasurers, the day before a festival, went up to the Roman captain of the temple guards, and viewed their own seal, and received the vestments. And again, when the festival was over, they brought it to the same place, and shewed the captain of the temple guards their seal, which corresponded with his seal, and reposited them there. And that these things were so, the afflictions that happened to us afterwards [about them] are sufficient evidence. But for the tower itself, when Herod the King of the Jews had fortified it more firmly than before, in order to secure and guard the temple, he gratified Antonius; who was his friend, and the Roman ruler; and then gave it the name of the tower of Antonia.
5. Now in the western quarters of the inclosure of the temple there were four gates. The first led to the King’s palace, and went to a passage over the intermediate valley. Two more led to the suburbs of the city: and the last led to the other city, where the road descended down into the valley by a great number of steps, and thence up again by the ascent. For the city lay over against the temple, in the manner of a theatre; and was encompassed with a deep valley, along the entire south quarter. But the fourth front of the temple, which was southward, had indeed itself gates in its middle: as also it had the royal cloisters, with three walks: which reached in length from the east valley, unto that on the west: for it was impossible it should reach any farther. And this cloister deserves to be mentioned better than any other under the sun. For while the valley was very deep, and its bottom could not be seen, if you looked from above into the depth, this farther vastly high elevation of the cloister stood upon that height: insomuch that if anyone looked down from the top of the battlements, or down both those altitudes, he would be giddy: while his sight could not reach to such an immense depth. This cloister had pillars that stood in four rows, one over against the other all along; for the fourth row was interwoven into the wall, which [also was built of stone.] And the thickness of each pillar was such, that three men might, with their arms extended fathom it round, and join their hands again: while its length was twenty-seven feet: with a double spiral at its basis. And the number of all the pillars [in that court] was a hundred and sixty-two. Their chapiters were made with sculptures, after the Corinthian order; and caused an amazement [to the spectators,] by reason of the grandeur of the whole. These four rows of pillars included three intervals for walking in the middle of this cloister. Two of which walks were made parallel to each other, and were contrived after the same manner: the breadth of each of them was thirty feet: the length was a furlong: and the height fifty feet. But the breadth of the middle part of the cloister was one and an half of the breadth of the other: and the height was double. For it was much higher than those on each side. But the roofs were adorned with deep sculptures in wood; representing many sorts of figures. The middle was much higher than the rest: and the wall of the front was adorned with beams, resting upon pillars, that were interwoven into it: and that front was all of polished stone. Insomuch that its fineness, to such as had not seen it was incredible: and to such as had seen it was greatly amazing. Thus was the first inclosure. In the midst of which, and not far from it, was the second: to be gone up to by a few steps. This was encompassed by a stone wall, for a partition: with an inscription, which forbade any foreigner to go in under pain of death. Now this inner inclosure had on its southern and northern quarters three gates [equally] distant one from another. But on the east quarter, towards the sun-rising, there was one large gate: through which such as were pure came in; together with their wives. But the temple farther inward in that gate was not allowed to the women. But still, more inward was there a third [court of the] temple; whereinto it was not lawful for any but the priests alone to enter. The temple itself was within this: and before that temple was the altar; upon which we offer our sacrifices and burnt offerings to God. Into none of these three did King Herod enter. For he was forbidden; because he was not a priest. However, he took care of the cloisters, and the outer inclosures; and these he built in eight years.
6. But the temple itself was built by the priests in a year and six months. Upon which all the people were full of joy; and presently they returned thanks, in the first place to God; and in the next place, for the alacrity the King had shewed. They feasted, and celebrated this rebuilding of the temple. And for the King, he sacrificed three hundred oxen to God: as did the rest every one according to his ability. The number of which sacrifices is not possible to set down: for it cannot be that we should truly relate it. For at the same time with this celebration for the work about the temple, fell also the day of the Kings inauguration; which he kept of an old custom as a festival: and it now coincided with the other. Which coincidence of them both made the festival most illustrious.
7. There was also an occult passage built for the King. It led from Antonia, to the inner temple, at its eastern gate. Over which he also erected for himself a tower: that he might have the opportunity of a subterraneous ascent to the temple, in order to guard against any sedition which might be made by the people against their Kings. ’Tis also reported, that during the time that the temple was building, it did not rain in the day time: but that the showers fell in the nights: so that the work was not hindered. And this our fathers have delivered to us. Nor is it incredible; if anyone have regard to the manifestations of God. And thus was performed the work of the rebuilding of the temple.
Your scene summaries should look like the examples included below. Please post a link to these on your homework check-list. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help! Kind regards, Dr. Parker PS Consider using existing scenes from Jeeves and Wooster or elsewhere as your basis, it will make things much easier!
ROMAN BATH
Lucius, ADOLESCENT, is eating some grapes and reading a love note from VIRGO. He fans himself with the letter. PARASITUS walks in, gnawing on a turkey leg. He hides the turkey leg behind him. "So, I hear that your father is trying to block the marriage after all? Lucius is suddenly sad. "Yes, but you know what they say, love finds a way." The PARASITUS then offers to share a secret about his father, in exchange for lunch. The ADOLESCENT agrees, kissing the letter excitedly. They exit debating where to get food.
FOOD STALL
PARASITUS walks out wiping mouth, carrying a big bundle of food. "Well, I never knew that, but my father's birdwatching hardly seems to be good blackmail material." PARASITUS suddenly downcast, and then excited. "Actually, I do have a brilliant plan, but could we stop for some roast mice first, I think best when I'm not so hungry." ADOLESCENT looks at his wallet sadly. "Okay, but it had better be a good one this time or we're done."
MARKETPLACE – WALKING TOGETHER
"Now that is truly a brilliant idea, my friend." "It is foolproof." "If we simply offer him an all-expenses trip to Carthage to watch the great migration of the Punic Storks, there's no way he'll refuse." The PARASITUS, still munching on food, is very happy. They discuss how they will arrange for the pirates to capture the ADOLESCENT'S father only to have the ADOLESCENT rescue him and ask for one wish to be granted. "I'll ask to marry the woman of my dreams" he shouts excitedly. In walks, the MILES looking perturbed but takes a moment to kiss his bicep. "You are not going to believe what I just saw..."
To begin with, it is generally admitted that, after the taking of Troy, while all the other Trojans
were treated with severity, in the case of two, Aeneas and Antenor, the Greeks forbore to
exercise the full rights of war, both on account of an ancient tie of hospitality, and because they
had persistently recommended peace and the restoration of Helen: and then Antenor, after
various vicissitudes, reached the inmost bay of the Adriatic Sea, accompanied by a body of the
Eneti, who had been driven from Paphlagonia by civil disturbance, and were in search both of a
place of settlement and a leader, their chief Pylamenes having perished at Troy; and that the
Eneti and Trojans, having driven out the Euganei, who dwelt between the sea and the Alps,
occupied these districts. In fact, the place where they first landed is called Troy, and from this it
is named the Trojan canton. The nation as a whole is called Veneti. It is also agreed that
Aeneas, an exile from home owing to a like misfortune, but conducted by the fates to the
founding of a greater empire, came first to Macedonia, that he was then driven ashore at Sicily
in his quest for a settlement, and sailing thence directed his course to the territory of Laurentum.
This spot also bears the name of Troy. When the Trojans, having disembarked there, were
driving off booty from the country, as was only natural, seeing that they had nothing left but their
arms and ships after their almost boundless wandering, Latinus the king and the Aborigines,
who then occupied these districts, assembled in arms from the city and country to repel the
violence of the new-comers. In regard to what followed there is a twofold tradition. Some say
that Latinus, having been defeated in battle, first made peace and then concluded an alliance
with Aeneas; others, that when the armies had taken up their position in order of battle, before
the trumpets sounded, Latinus advanced to the front, and invited the leader of the strangers to a
conference. He then inquired what manner of men they were, whence they had come, for what
reasons they had left their home, and in quest of what they had landed on Laurentine territory.
After he heard that the host were Trojans, their chief Aeneas, the son of Anchises and Venus,
and that, exiled from home, their country having been destroyed by fire, they were seeking a
settlement and a site for building a city, struck with admiration both at the noble character of the
nation and the hero, and at their spirit, ready alike for peace or war, he ratified the pledge of
future friendship by clasping hands. Thereupon a treaty was concluded between the chiefs, and
mutual greetings passed between the armies: Aeneas was hospitably entertained at the house
of Latinus; there Latinus, in the presence of his household gods, cemented the public league by
a family one, by giving Aeneas his daughter in marriage. This event fully confirmed the Trojans
in the hope of at length terminating their wanderings by a lasting and permanent settlement.
They built a town, which Aeneas called Lavinium after the name of his wife. Shortly afterward
also, a son was the issue of the recently concluded marriage, to whom his parents gave the
name of Ascanius.
Aeneas Fights Turnus
Aborigines and Trojans were soon afterward the joint objects of a hostile attack. Turnus, king of
the Rutulians, to whom Lavinia had been affianced before the arrival of Aeneas, indignant that a
stranger had been preferred to himself, had made war on Aeneas and Latinus together. Neither
army came out of the struggle with satisfaction. The Rutulians were vanquished: the victorious
Aborigines and Trojans lost their leader Latinus. Thereupon Turnus and the Rutulians,
mistrustful of their strength, had recourse to the prosperous and powerful Etruscans, and their
king Mezentius, whose seat of government was at Caere, at that time a flourishing town. Even
from the outset he had viewed with dissatisfaction the founding of a new city, and, as at that
time he considered that the Trojan power was increasing far more than was altogether
consistent with the safety of the neighbouring peoples, he readily joined his forces in alliance
with the Rutulians. Aeneas, to gain the good-will of the Aborigines in face of a war so serious
and alarming, and in order that they might all be not only under the same laws but might also
bear the same name, called both nations Latins. In fact, subsequently, the Aborigines were not
behind the Trojans in zeal and loyalty toward their king Aeneas. Accordingly, in full reliance on
this state of mind of the two nations, who were daily becoming more and more united, and in
spite of the fact that Etruria was so powerful, that at this time it had filled with the fame of its
renown not only the land but the sea also, throughout the whole length of Italy from the Alps to
the Sicilian Strait, Aeneas led out his forces into the field, although he might have repelled their
attack by means of his fortifications. Thereupon a battle was fought, in which victory rested with
the Latins, but for Aeneas it was even the last of his acts on earth. He, by whatever name laws
human and divine demand he should be called, was buried on the banks of the river Numicus:
they call him Jupiter Indiges.
Ascanius Founds Alba Longa
Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, was not yet old enough to rule; the government, however,
remained unassailed for him till he reached the age of maturity. In the interim, under the regency
of a woman -- so great was Lavinia's capacity -- the Latin state and the boy's kingdom, inherited
from his father and grandfather, was secured for him. I will not discuss the question -- for who
can state as certain a matter of such antiquity? -- whether it was this Ascanius, or one older than
he, born of Creusa, before the fall of Troy, and subsequently the companion of his father's flight,
the same whom, under the name of Iulus, the Julian family represents to be the founder of its
name. Be that as it may, this Ascanius, wherever born and of whatever mother -- it is at any rate
agreed that his father was Aeneas -- seeing that Lavinium was over-populated, left that city, now
a flourishing and wealthy one, considering those times, to his mother or stepmother, and built
himself a new one at the foot of the Alban mount, which, from its situation, being built all along
the ridge of a hill, was called Alba Longa.
Amulius Drives Out His Brother Numitor
There was an interval of about thirty years between the founding of Lavinium and the
transplanting of the colony to Alba Longa. Yet its power had increased to such a degree,
especially owing to the defeat of the Etruscans, that not even on the death of Aeneas, nor subsequently between the period of the regency of Lavinia, and the first beginnings of the young
prince's reign, did either Mezentius, the Etruscans, or any other neighbouring peoples venture
to take up arms against it. Peace had been concluded on the following terms, that the river
Albula, which is now called Tiber, should be the boundary of Latin and Etruscan territory. After
him Silvius, son of Ascanius, born by some accident in the woods, became king. He was the
father of Aeneas Silvius, who afterward begot Latinus Silvius. By him several colonies were
transplanted, which were called Prisci Latini. From this time all the princes, who ruled at Alba,
bore the surname of Silvius. From Latinus sprung Alba; from Alba, Atys; from Atys, Capys; from
Capys, Capetus; from Capetus, Tiberinus, who, having been drowned while crossing the river
Albula, gave it the name by which it was generally known among those of later times. He was
succeeded by Agrippa, son of Tiberinus; after Agrippa, Romulus Silvius, having received the
government from his father, became king. He was killed by a thunderbolt, and handed on the
kingdom to Aventinus, who, owing to his being buried on that hill, which now forms part of the
city of Rome, gave it its name. After him reigned Proca, who begot Numitor and Amulius. To
Numitor, who was the eldest son, he bequeathed the ancient kingdom of the Silvian family.
Force, however, prevailed more than a father's wish or the respect due to seniority. Amulius
drove out his brother and seized the kingdom: he added crime to crime, murdered his brother's
male issue, and, under pretence of doing honour to his brother's daughter, Rea Silvia, having
chosen her a Vestal Virgin,[2] deprived her of all hopes of issue by the obligation of perpetual
virginity.
The Conception, Birth, and Upbringing of Mars' Sons
My opinion, however, is that the origin of so great a city and an empire next in power to that of
the gods was due to the fates. The Vestal Rea was ravished by force, and having brought forth
twins, declared Mars to be the father of her illegitimate offspring, either because she really
imagined it to be the case, or because it was less discreditable to have committed such an
offence with a god.[3] But neither gods nor men protected either her or her offspring from the
king's cruelty. The priestess was bound and cast into prison; the king ordered the children to be
thrown into the flowing river. By some chance which Providence seemed to direct, the Tiber,
having over flown its banks, thereby forming stagnant pools, could not be approached at the
regular course of its channel; notwithstanding it gave the bearers of the children hope that they
could be drowned in its water however calm. Accordingly, as if they had executed the king's
orders, they exposed the boys in the nearest land-pool, where now stands the ficus Ruminalis,
which they say was called Romularis.[4] At that time the country in those parts was a desolate
wilderness. The story goes, that when the shallow water, subsiding, had left the floating trough,
in which the children had been exposed, on dry ground, a thirsty she-wolf from the mountains
around directed her course toward the cries of the infants, and held down her teats to them with
such gentleness, that the keeper of the king's herd found her licking the boys with her tongue.
They say that his name was Faustulus; and that they were carried by him to his homestead and
given to his wife Larentia to be brought up. Some are of the opinion that Larentia was called
Lupa among the shepherds from her being a common prostitute, and hence an opening was
afforded for the marvellous story. The children, thus born and thus brought up, as soon as they
reached the age of youth, did not lead a life of inactivity at home or amid the flocks, but, in the
chase, scoured the forests. Having thus gained strength, both in body and spirit, they now were
not only able to withstand wild beasts, but attacked robbers laden with booty, and divided the
spoils with the shepherds, in whose company, as the number of their young associates
increased daily, they carried on business and pleasure.
Lupercalia
Even in these early times it is said that the festival of the Lupercal, as now celebrated, was
solemnized on the Palatine Hill, which was first called Pallantium, from Pallanteum, a city of
Arcadia, and afterward Mount Palatius. There Evander, who, belonging to the above tribe of the
Arcadians, had for many years before occupied these districts, is said to have appointed the
observance of a solemn festival, introduced from Arcadia, in which naked youths ran about
doing honour in wanton sport to Pan Lycaeus, who was afterward called Inuus by the Romans.
When they were engaged in this festival, as its periodical solemnization was well known, a band
of robbers, enraged at the loss of some booty, lay in wait for them, and took Remus prisoner,
Romulus having vigorously defended himself: the captive Remus they delivered up to King
Amulius, and even went so far as to bring accusations against him. They made it the principal
charge that having made incursions into Numitor's lands, and, having assembled a band of
young men, they had driven off their booty after the manner of enemies. Accordingly, Remus
was delivered up to Numitor for punishment. Now from the very first Faustulus had entertained
hopes that the boys who were being brought up by him, were of royal blood: for he both knew
that the children had been exposed by the king's orders, and that the time, at which he had
taken them up, coincided exactly with that period: but he had been unwilling to disclose the
matter, as yet not ripe for discovery, till either a fitting opportunity or the necessity for it should
arise. Necessity came first. Accordingly, urged by fear, he disclosed the whole affair to Romulus.
By accident also, Numitor, while he had Remus in custody, having heard that the brothers were
twins, by comparing their age and their natural disposition entirely free from servility, felt his
mind struck by the recollection of his grandchildren, and by frequent inquiries came to the
conclusion he had already formed, so that he was not far from openly acknowledging Remus.
Accordingly a plot was concerted against the king on all sides. Romulus, not accompanied by a
body of young men -- for he was not equal to open violence -- but having commanded the
shepherds to come to the palace by different roads at a fixed time, made an attack upon the
king, while Remus, having got together another party from Numitor's house, came to his
assistance; and so they slew the king.
Numitor Reigns in Alba Longa
Numitor, at the beginning of the fray, giving out that enemies had invaded the city and attacked
the palace, after he had drawn off the Alban youth to the citadel to secure it with an armed
garrison, when he saw the young men, after they had compassed the king's death, advancing
toward him to offer congratulations, immediately summoned a meeting of the people, and
recounted his brother's unnatural behaviour toward him, the extraction of his grandchildren, the
manner of their birth, bringing up, and recognition, and went on to inform them of the king's
death, and that he was responsible for it. The young princes advanced through the midst of the
assembly with their band in orderly array, and, after they had saluted their grandfather as king, a
succeeding shout of approbation, issuing from the whole multitude, ratified for him the name
and authority of sovereign. The government of Alba being thus intrusted to Numitor, Romulus
and Remus were seized with the desire of building a city on the spot where they had been
exposed and brought up. Indeed, the number of Alban and Latin inhabitants was too great for
the city; the shepherds also were included among that population, and all these readily inspired hopes that Alba and Lavinium would be insignificant in comparison with that city, which was
intended to be built. But desire of rule, the bane of their grandfather, interrupted these designs,
and thence arose a shameful quarrel from a sufficiently amicable beginning. For as they were
twins, and consequently the respect for seniority could not settle the point, they agreed to leave
it to the gods, under whose protection the place was, to choose by augury which of them should
give a name to the new city, and govern it when built. Romulus chose the Palatine and Remus
the Aventine, as points of observation for taking the auguries.
The Fratricide
It is said that an omen came to Remus first, six vultures; and when, after the omen had been
declared, twice that number presented themselves to Romulus, each was hailed king by his own
party, the former claiming sovereign power on the ground of priority of time, the latter on
account of the number of birds. Thereupon, having met and exchanged angry words, from the
strife of angry feelings they turned to bloodshed: there Remus fell from a blow received in the
crowd. A more common account is that Remus, in derision of his brother, leaped over the newly erected walls, and was thereupon slain by Romulus in a fit of passion, who, mocking him, added words to this effect:" So perish every one hereafter, who shall leap over my walls." Thus
Romulus obtained possession of supreme power for himself alone. The city, when built, was
called after the name of its founder.[5] He first proceeded to fortify the Palatine Hill, on which he
himself had been brought up. He offered sacrifices to Hercules, according to the Grecian rite, as
they had been instituted by Evander; to the other gods, according to the Alban rite. There is a
tradition that Hercules, having slain Geryon, drove off his oxen, which were of surpassing
beauty,[6] to that spot: and that he lay down in a grassy spot on the banks of the river Tiber,
where he had swum across, driving the cattle before him, to refresh them with rest and luxuriant
pasture, being also himself fatigued with journeying. There, when sleep had overpowered him,
heavy as he was with food and wine, a shepherd who dwelt in the neighborhood, by name
Cacus, priding himself on his strength, and charmed with the beauty of the cattle, desired to
carry them off as booty; but because, if he had driven the herd in front of him to the cave, their
tracks must have conducted their owner thither in his search, he dragged the most beautiful of
them by their tails backward into a cave. Hercules, aroused from sleep at dawn, having looked
over his herd and observed that some of their numbers were missing, went straight to the nearest
cave, to see whether perchance their tracks led thither. When he saw that they were all turned
away from it and led in no other direction, troubled and not knowing what to make up his mind to
do, he commenced to drive off his herd from so dangerous a spot. Thereupon some of the cows
that were driven away, lowed, as they usually do when they missed those that were left; and
the lowings of those that were shut in being heard in answer from the cave, caused Hercules to
turn round. And when Cacus attempted to prevent him by force as he was advancing toward the
cave, he was struck with a club and slain, while vainly calling upon the shepherds to assist him.
At that time Evander, who was an exile from the Peloponnesus, governed the country more by
his personal ascendancy than by absolute sway. He was a man held in reverence on account of
the wonderful art of writing, an entirely new discovery to men ignorant of accomplishments,[7]
and still more revered on account of the supposed divinity of his mother Carmenta, whom those
peoples had marvelled at as a prophetess before the arrival of the Sybil in Italy. This Evander,
roused by the assembling of the shepherds as they hastily crowded round the stranger, who
was charged with open murder, after he heard an account of the deed and the cause of it,
gazing upon the personal appearance and mien of the hero, considerably more dignified and
majestic than that of a man, asked who he was. As soon as he heard the name of the hero, and
that of his father and native country, "Hail!" said he, "Hercules, son of Jupiter! my mother,
truthful interpreter of the will of the gods, has declared to me that thou art destined to increase
the number of the heavenly beings, and that on this spot an altar shall be dedicated to thee,
which in after ages a people most mighty on earth shall call Greatest, and honour in accordance
with rites instituted by thee." Hercules, having given him his right hand, declared that he
accepted the prophetic intimation, and would fulfil the predictions of the fates, by building and
dedicating an altar. Thereon then for the first time sacrifice was offered to Hercules with a choice
heifer taken from the herd, the Potitii and Pinarii [aside: this is the family Steven Saylor
concentrates on in his "Roma" novels], the most distinguished families who then inhabited those
parts, being invited to serve at the feast. It so happened that the Potitii presented themselves in
due time and the entrails were set before them: but the Pinarii did not arrive until the entrails
had been eaten up, to share the remainder of the feast. From that time it became a settled
institution, that, as long as the Pinarian family existed, they should not eat of the entrails of the
sacrificial victims. The Potitii, fully instructed by Evander, discharged the duties of chief priests
of this sacred function for many generations, until their whole race became extinct, in
consequence of this office, the solemn prerogative of their family, being delegated to public
slaves. These were the only religious rites that Romulus at that time adopted from those of
foreign countries, being even then an advocate of immortality won by merit, to which the destiny
marked out for him was conducting him.
Romulus Reigns in Rome
The duties of religion having been thus duly completed, the people were summoned to a public
meeting: and, as they could not be united and incorporated into one body by any other means
save legal ordinances, Romulus gave them a code of laws: and, judging that these would only
be respected by a nation of rustics, if he dignified himself with the insignia of royalty, he clothed
himself with greater majesty -- above all, by taking twelve lictors to attend him, but also in regard
to his other appointments. Some are of opinion that he was influenced in his choice of that
number by that of the birds which had foretold that sovereign power should be his when the
auguries were taken. I myself am not indisposed to follow the opinion of those, who are inclined
to believe that it was from the neighbouring Etruscans -- from whom the curule chair and purplebordered toga were borrowed -- that the apparitors of this class, as well as the number itself,
were introduced: and that the Etruscans employed such a number because, as their king was
elected from twelve states in common, each state assigned him one lictor.
Augmenting the Population of Rome
In the meantime, the city was enlarged by taking in various plots of ground for the erection of
buildings, while they built rather in the hope of an increased population in the future, than in
view of the actual number of the inhabitants of the city at that time. Next, that the size of the city
might not be without efficiency, in order to increase the population, following the ancient policy of
founders of cities, who, by bringing together to their side a mean and ignoble multitude, were in
the habit of falsely asserting that an offspring was born to them from the earth, he opened as a
sanctuary the place which, now inclosed, is known as the "two groves," and which people come
upon when descending from the Capitol. Thither, a crowd of all classes from the neighbouring peoples, without distinction, whether freemen or slaves, eager for change, flocked for refuge,
and therein lay the foundation of the city's strength, corresponding to the commencement of its
enlargement. Having now no reason to be dissatisfied with his strength, he next instituted a
standing council to direct that strength. He created one hundred senators, either because that
number was sufficient, or because there were only one hundred who could be so elected.
Anyhow they were called fathers[8], by way of respect, and their descendants patricians.
Neighboring States Fear and Loathe the Romans
By this time the Roman state was so powerful, that it was a match for any of the neighboring
states in war: but owing to the scarcity of women its greatness was not likely to outlast the
existing generation, seeing that the Romans had no hope of issue at home, and they did not
intermarry with their neighbors. So then, by the advice of the senators, Romulus sent around
ambassadors to the neighboring states, to solicit an alliance and the right of intermarriage for
his new subjects, saying, that cities, like everything else, rose from the humblest beginnings:
next, that those which the gods and their own merits assisted, gained for themselves great
power and high renown: that he knew full well that the gods had aided the first beginnings of
Rome and that merit on their part would not be wanting: therefore, as men, let them not be
reluctant to mix their blood and stock with men. The embassy nowhere obtained a favorable
hearing: but, although the neighboring peoples treated it with such contempt, yet at the same
time they dreaded the growth of such a mighty power in their midst to the danger of themselves
and of their posterity. In most cases when they were dismissed they were asked the question,
whether they had opened a sanctuary for women also: for that in that way only could they obtain
suitable matches.
The Rape of the Sabines
The Roman youths were bitterly indignant at this, and the matter began unmistakably to point to
open violence. Romulus in order to provide a fitting opportunity and place for this, dissembling
his resentment, with this purpose in view, instituted games to be solemnized every year in
honor of Neptunus Equester, which he called Consualia. He then ordered the show to be
proclaimed among the neighboring peoples; and the Romans prepared to solemnize it with all
the pomp with which they were then acquainted or were able to exhibit, in order to make the
spectacle famous, and an object of expectation. Great numbers assembled, being also desirous
of seeing the new city, especially all the nearest peoples, the Caeninenses, Crustumini, and
Antemnates: the entire Sabine population attended with their wives and children. They were
hospitably invited to the different houses: and, when they saw the position of the city, its fortified
walls, and how crowded with houses it was, they were astonished that the power of Rome had
increased so rapidly. When the time of the show arrived, and their eyes and minds alike were
intent upon it, then, according to preconcerted arrangement, a disturbance was made, and, at a
given signal, the Roman youths rushed in different directions to carry off the unmarried women.
A great number were carried off at hap-hazard, by those into whose hands they severally fell:
some of the common people, to whom the task had been assigned, conveyed to their homes
certain women of surpassing beauty, who were destined for the leading senators. They say that
one, far distinguished beyond the rest in form and beauty, was carried off by the party of a
certain Talassius, and that, when several people wanted to know to whom they were carrying
her, a cry was raised from time to time, to prevent her being molested, that she was being
carried to Talassius: and that from this the word was used in connection with marriages. The
festival being disturbed by the alarm thus caused, the sorrowing parents of the maidens retired,
complaining of the violated compact of hospitality, and invoking the god, to whose solemn
festival and games they had come, having been deceived by the pretense of religion and good
faith. Nor did the maidens entertain better hopes for themselves, or feel less indignation.
Romulus, however, went about in-person and pointed out that what had happened was due to
the pride of their fathers, in that they had refused the privilege of intermarriage to their
neighbors; but that, notwithstanding, they would be lawfully wedded, and enjoy a share of all
their possessions and civil rights, and -- a thing dearer than all else to the human race -- the
society of their common children: only let them calm their angry feelings, and bestow their
affections on those on whom fortune had bestowed their bodies. Esteem (said he) often arose
subsequent to wrong: and they would find them better husbands for the reason that each of
them would endeavor, to the utmost of his power, after having discharged, as far as his part
was concerned, the duty of a husband, to quiet the longing for country and parents. To this, the
blandishments of the husbands were added, who excused what had been done on the plea of
passion and love, a form of entreaty that works most successfully upon the feelings of women.
By this time the minds of the maidens were considerably soothed, but their parents, especially
by putting on the garb of mourning, and by their tears and complaints, stirred up the
neighboring states. Nor did they confine their feelings of indignation to their own home only,
but they flocked from all quarters to Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, and embassies crowded
thither because the name of Tatius was held in the greatest esteem in those quarters. The
Caeninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates were the people who were chiefly affected by the
outrage. As Tatius and the Sabines appeared to them to be acting in too dilatory a manner,
these three peoples by mutual agreement among themselves made preparations for war
unaided. However, not even the Crustumini and Antemnates bestirred themselves with sufficient
activity to satisfy the hot-headedness and anger of the Caeninenses: accordingly, the people of
Caenina, unaided, themselves attacked the Roman territory. But Romulus with his army met
them while they were ravaging the country in straggling parties, and in a trifling engagement
convinced them that anger unaccompanied by strength is fruitless. He routed their army and put
it to flight, followed in pursuit of it when routed, cut down their king in battle and stripped him of
his armor, and, having slain the enemy's leader, took the city at the first assault. Then, having
led back his victorious army, being a man both distinguished for his achievements, and one
equally skillful at putting them in the most favorable light, he ascended the Capitol, carrying
suspended on a portable frame, cleverly contrived for that purpose, the spoils of the enemy's
general, whom he had slain: there, having laid them down at the foot of an oak held sacred by
the shepherds, at the same time that he presented the offering, he marked out the boundaries
for a temple of Jupiter, and bestowed a surname on the god. "Jupiter Feretrius," said he, "I, King
Romulus, victorious over my foes, offer to thee these royal arms, and dedicate to thee a temple
within those quarters, which I have just now marked out in my mind, to be a resting-place for the
spolia opima, which posterity, following my example, shall bring hither on slaying the kings or
generals of the enemy." This is the origin of that temple, the first that was ever consecrated at
Rome. It was afterward the will of the gods that neither the utterances of the founder of the
temple, in which he solemnly declared that his posterity would bring such spoils thither, should
be spoken in vain, and that the honor of the offering should not be rendered common owing to the number of those who enjoyed it. In the course of so many years and so many wars, the
spolia opima were only twice gained: so rare has been the successful attainment of this honor.
While the Romans were thus engaged in those parts, the army of the Antemnates made a
hostile attack upon the Roman territories, seizing the opportunity when they were left
unguarded. Against these, in like manner a Roman legion was led out in haste and surprised
them while straggling in the country. Thus the enemy was routed at the first shout and charge:
their town was taken: Romulus, amid his rejoicings at this double victory, was entreated by his
wife Hersilia, in consequence of the importunities of the captured women, to pardon their fathers
and admit them to the privileges of citizenship; that the commonwealth could thus be knit
together by reconciliation. The request was readily granted. After that, he set out against the
Crustumini, who were beginning hostilities: in their case, as their courage had been damped by
the disasters of others, the struggle was less keen. Colonies were sent to both places: more,
however, were found to give in their names for Crustuminum, because of the fertility of the soil.
Great numbers also migrated from thence to Rome, chiefly of the parents and relatives of the
women who had been carried off.
War With the Sabines
The last war broke out on the part of the Sabines, and this was by far the most formidable: for
nothing was done under the influence of anger or covetousness, nor did they give indications of
hostilities before they had actually begun them. Cunning also was combined with prudence.
Spurius Tarpeius was in command of the Roman citadel: his maiden daughter, who at the time
had gone by chance outside the walls to fetch water for sacrifice, was bribed by Tatius, to admit
some armed soldiers into the citadel. After they were admitted, they crushed her to death by
heaping their arms upon her: either that the citadel might rather appear to have been taken by
storm, or for the sake of setting forth a warning, that faith should never on any occasion be kept
with a betrayer. The following addition is made to the story: that, as the Sabines usually wore
golden bracelets of great weight on their left arm and rings of great beauty set with precious
stones, she bargained with them for what they had on their left hands; and that therefore shields
were heaped upon her instead of presents of gold. Some say that, in accordance with the
agreement that they should deliver up what was on their left hands, she expressly demanded
their shields, and that, as she seemed to be acting treacherously, she herself was slain by the
reward she had chosen for herself.
Be that as it may, the Sabines held the citadel, and on the next day, when the Roman army,
drawn up in order of battle, had occupied all the valley between the Palatine and Capitoline
Hills, they did not descend from thence into the plain until the Romans, stimulated by
resentment and the desire of recovering the citadel, advanced uphill to meet them. The chiefs
on both sides encouraged the fight, on the side of the Sabines Mettius Curtius, on the side of
the Romans Hostius Hostilius. The latter, in the front of the battle, on the unfavourable ground,
supported the fortunes of the Romans by his courage and boldness. When Hostius fell, the
Roman line immediately gave way, and, being routed, was driven as far as the old gate of the
Palatium. Romulus himself also, carried away by the crowd of fugitives, cried, uplifting his arms
to heaven: "O Jupiter, it was at the bidding of thy omens, that here on the Palatine I laid the first
foundations for the city. The citadel, purchased by crime, is now in possession of the Sabines:
thence they are advancing hither in arms, having passed the valley between. But do thou, O
father of gods and men, keep back the enemy from hence at least, dispel the terror of the
Romans, and check their disgraceful flight. On this spot I vow to build a temple to thee as
Jupiter Stator, to be a monument to posterity that the city has been preserved by thy ready aid."
Having offered up these prayers, as if he had felt that they had been heard, he cried: "From this
position, O Romans, Jupiter, greatest and best, bids you halt and renew the fight." The Romans
halted as if ordered by a voice from heaven. Romulus himself hastened to the front. Mettius
Curtius, on the side of the Sabines, had rushed down from the citadel at the head of his troops
and driven the Romans in disordered array over the whole space of ground where the Forum
now is. He had almost reached the gate of the Palatium, crying out: "We have conquered our
perfidious friends, our cowardly foes: now they know that fighting with men is a very different
thing from ravishing maidens." Upon him, as he uttered these boasts, Romulus made an attack
with a band of his bravest youths. Mettius then happened to be fighting on horseback: on that
account his repulse was easier. When he was driven back, the Romans followed in pursuit: and
the remainder of the Roman army, fired by the bravery of the king, routed the Sabines. Mettius,
his horse taking fright at the noise of his pursuers, rode headlong into a morass: this
circumstance drew off the attention of the Sabines also at the danger of so high a personage.
He indeed, his own party beckoning and calling to him, gaining heart from the encouraging
shouts of many of his friends, made good his escape. The Romans and Sabines renewed the
battle in the valley between the two hills: but the advantage rested with the Romans.
At this crisis the Sabine women, from the outrage on whom the war had arisen, with disheveled
hair and torn garments, the timidity natural to women being overcome by the sense of their
calamities were emboldened to fling themselves into the midst of the flying weapons, and,
rushing across, to part the incensed combatants and assuage their wrath: imploring their fathers
on the one hand and their husbands on the other, as fathers-in-law and sons-in-law, not to
besprinkle themselves with impious blood, nor to fix the stain of murder on their offspring, the
one side on their grandchildren, the other on their children. "If," said they, "you are dissatisfied
with the relationship between you, and with our marriage, turn your resentment against us; it is
we who are the cause of war, of wounds and bloodshed to our husbands and parents: it will be
better for us to perish than to live widowed or orphans without one or other of you." This incident
affected both the people and the leaders; silence and sudden quiet followed; the leaders
thereupon came forward to conclude a treaty; and not only concluded a peace, but formed one
state out of two. They united the kingly power, but transferred the entire sovereignty to Rome.
Rome having thus been made a double state, that some benefit at least might be conferred on
the Sabines, they were called Quirites from Cures. To serve as a memorial of that battle, they
called the place -- where Curtius, after having emerged from the deep morass, set his horse in
shallow water -- the Lacus Curtius.[11]
Divisions of the Romans
This welcome peace, following suddenly on so melancholy a war, endeared the Sabine women
still more to their husbands and parents, and above all to Romulus himself. Accordingly, when
dividing the people into thirty curiae, he called the curiae after their names. While the number of
the women were undoubtedly considerably greater than this, it is not recorded whether they
were chosen for their age, their own rank or that of their husbands, or by lot, to give names to
the curiae. At the same time also three centuries of knights were enrolled: the Ramnenses were
so called from Romulus, the Titienses from Titus Tatius: in regard to the Luceres, the meaning of
the name and its origin is uncertain.[12] From that time forward the two kings enjoyed the regal
power not only in common, but also in perfect harmony.
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