The Saturnalia

«Many and various, Eustachius my son, are the things on which in this life of ours Nature has led us to set our affections; but of all Nature’s ties the strongest is our love for our children, and it is her will that we should take such pains to train and instruct them that nothing else could give a parent so much pleasure as to succeed in these aims and nothing so much distress as to fail.» — Macrobio abre el prefacio dirigiéndose a su hijo Eustachius y pone el amor a los hijos por encima de todos los lazos de la Naturaleza

«That is why I too regard your education as my chief care. In seeking to make it complete I have preferred the short cut to the roundabout route and, impatient of all delay, instead of waiting for you to make your own way forward through those studies, and only those, on which you are yourself diligently engaged, I purpose to put my own reading as well at your disposal.» — Macrobio declara el propósito del libro: atajar el camino de la educación de su hijo poniendo a su disposición su propia lectura

«In this way the whole of the material carefully gathered by my labors, after your birth and before it, from a number of different works in Greek or Latin will furnish you with knowledge; and, if ever you have occasion to call to mind some historical fact, buried in a mass of books and generally unknown, or some memorable word or deed, it will be easy for you to find it and produce it, as it were, from a literary storehouse.» — Macrobio describe la obra como almacén literario del que sacar un hecho histórico sepultado o un dicho memorable

«Moreover, things worth remembering have not been heaped together in confusion, but a variety of subjects of different authorship and divers dates have been arranged to form, so to speak, a body, in such a way that the notes which I had made without any plan or order, as aids to memory, came together like the parts of a coherent whole.» — Macrobio dice haber ordenado en cuerpo lo que primero anotó sin plan ni orden, como ayudas de memoria

«You should not count it a fault if I shall often set out the borrowings from a miscellaneous reading in the authors’ own words (for the present work undertakes to be a collection of matters worth knowing, not a display of my command of language» — Macrobio pide que no se le impute a falta citar en las palabras mismas de los autores: la obra se presenta como colección de cosas que vale la pena saber y no como exhibición de lengua

«We ought in some sort to imitate the bees;! and just as they, in their wanderings to and fro, sip the flowers, then arrange their spoil and distribute it among the combs, and transform the various juices to a single flavor by in some way mixing with them a property of their own being» — Macrobio enuncia el símil de las abejas, que liban, reparten y transforman los jugos en un solo sabor mezclándoles algo propio; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«so I too shall put into writing all that I have acquired in the varied course of my reading, to reduce it thereby to order and to give it coherence. For not only does arrangement help the memory, but the actual process of arrangement, accompanied by a kind of mental fermentation which serves to season the whole, blends the diverse extracts to make a single flavor; with the result that, even if the sources are evident, what we get in the end is still something clearly different from those known sources.» — Macrobio aplica el símil a su propio trabajo: la disposición y la fermentación mental mezclan los extractos y producen algo distinto de las fuentes, aunque estas se vean

«We see nature acting in this way in our own bodies without any effort on our part, since the food we take is a heavy burden to the stomach for as long as it remains in its original state and floats there in a solid mass, but when it has been transmuted, then, and not until then, it passes into the blood and strengthens us. And so it is with the food of the mind: we must see to it that we do not allow what we have absorbed to remain unchanged and thus fail to assimilate it, but we must, as it were, digest it. To do otherwise is to feed the memory, not the mind.» — Macrobio traslada el símil a la digestión: lo absorbido que no se transforma no alimenta, y con el alimento de la mente pasa igual

«Let us gather then from all sources and from them form one whole, as single numbers combine to form one number. Let our minds aim at showing the finished product, but conceal all that has helped to produce it, just as the makers of scented unguents take special care to ensure that their preparations have the property of no one scent but blend the essence of all the odors into a single perfume.» — Macrobio pide ocultar lo que produjo el resultado, como los perfumistas mezclan las esencias sin que domine ningún olor

«Or take a choir: it consists, as you see, of many voices and yet all those voices form a unity; for in a choir one voice is high, another low, another of the middle register; there are men’s voices and the voices of women, and among them the notes of the pipe; and yet, although individual voices do not emerge, the voices of all are heard and from a number of different sounds there comes a harmony.» — Macrobio cierra con el símil del coro: voces altas, bajas y medias, de hombres y de mujeres, y flautas, sin que ninguna sobresalga, dan una sola armonía

«for, to the best of my belief, the work contains nothing that it is either useless to know or difficult to comprehend, but everything in it is calculated to quicken your understanding, to strengthen your memory, to give more dexterity to your discourse, and to make your speech more correct—except in so far as the genius of the Latin language may in places prove to be a stumbling block to me born under an alien sky.» — Macrobio declara el efecto que busca —avivar el entendimiento, fortalecer la memoria, dar destreza al discurso— y se excusa por haber nacido bajo cielo ajeno a la lengua latina

«But here I am indeed imprudent, and I have incurred that neat rebuke which Marcus Cato? gave to the Aulus Albinus who was consul with Lucullus.» — Macrobio se reprende a sí mismo por la excusa y trae el reproche de Marco Catón a Aulo Albino

«This Albinus composed a History of Rome in Greek and wrote in the preface to the effect that no one ought to criticize him for any lack of arrangement, or faults of style, “for,” said he, “I am a Roman, born in Latium, and the Greek language is altogether foreign to me”; and on that ground he claimed the privilege of being excused from censure for any mistakes he might have made.» — Macrobio refiere el caso: Albino escribió en griego una Historia de Roma y pidió en el prefacio que no se le criticara por ser romano y serle el griego lengua ajena

«After reading this, Marcus Cato said: “Upon my word, Aulus, you carry your trifling too far in choosing to apologize for a fault instead of refraining from committing it. As a rule, one asks for pardon after making a mistake through inadvertence or after doing wrong under compulsion; but who, pray, compelled you to do that for which you would ask pardon in advance?”» — Macrobio cita la respuesta de Catón: se pide perdón tras errar por inadvertencia o por fuerza, y a él nadie lo obligó a hacer aquello por lo que pide perdón de antemano

«This, then, is what I would have this present work be: a repository of much to teach and much to guide you, examples drawn from many ages but informed by a single spirit, wherein—» — Macrobio define la obra como repositorio de enseñanza y de guía, con ejemplos de muchas épocas informados por un solo espíritu; el tramo se corta en el límite de chunk

«And I shall now proceed to indicate the theme of the work in the form, as it were, of a prologue.» — Macrobio cierra el prefacio anunciando que pasa a indicar el tema de la obra a modo de prólogo

«shunning what you do not—you will find much that it would be a pleasure to read, an education to have read, and of use to remember;» — Continuación de la misma frase de Macrobio tras el corte de chunk: quien no huya de lo que no sabe hallará lectura placentera, educación y cosas útiles de recordar

«During the festival of the Saturnalia leading Roman nobles, and some scholars with them, meet at the house of Vettius Praetextatus and devote the annual celebration to conversation on matters relating to the liberal arts, inviting each other in turn to dinner, in friendly hospitality, and separating only for repose at night.» — El marco que Macrobio fija para el diálogo: nobles romanos y eruditos se reúnen en casa de Vettius Praetextatus y dedican la fiesta a conversar sobre las artes liberales

«For the whole of the rest days! the better part of the day is devoted to serious discussions, but at dinner their talk is on topics that become the festive board. In this way there is always some subject under review the whole day long, for learned treatment or light, although the conversation at table will of course take a more jovial turn, as having pleasure for its aim rather than some earnest purpose.» — Macrobio reparte el día de fiesta: la parte mejor para discusiones serias y la sobremesa para asuntos que convienen a la mesa, con el placer por fin y no el propósito grave

«Certainly in Plato’s well-known Symposium (as in the works of other writers who have described such banquets) the conversation of the guests does not touch on any matter of graver import, but the theme is love, treated with diversity and charm, and Socrates indeed here, so far from seeking as usual to press his opponent hard and to tie him up in tighter and tighter knots, seems to be engaging in a sham fight rather than a battle and all but giving his victims the chance to slip away and escape.» — Macrobio invoca el Banquete de Platón como precedente de conversación de sobremesa, con un Sócrates que pelea de mentiras y deja escapar a sus víctimas

«I trust too that no one will think that I am acting unfairly if one or two of the characters who meet reached maturity a generation later than Praetextatus, for the dialogues of Plato prove that this license is permissible.» — Macrobio pide que no se le impute injusticia por juntar personajes de generaciones distintas y se ampara en los diálogos de Platón

«Thus Parmenides, for example, lived so long before Socrates that the latter:as a boy could hardly have met the former in his old age, and yet they are represented discussing certain abstruse problems together; and a famous dialogue is wholly taken up with a discussion between Socrates and Timaeus, although it is well known that the two men did not belong to the same generation.» — Macrobio alega los casos de Parménides con Sócrates y de Sócrates con Timeo como licencias platónicas del mismo orden

«Thus, with the example of Plato to support me, it has seemed inappropriate to go to the length of reckoning on my fingers the ages of the persons whom I have brought together.» — Macrobio declara improcedente contar con los dedos las edades de los personajes que reúne

«To enable the words of each speaker to be more easily recognized and distinguished, I have introduced Decius questioning Postumianus about the talks and the participants in them. But now, not to keep the reader any longer from what he is waiting for, the conversation between Decius and Postumianus will explain how the colloquy began and how it progressed.» — Macrobio explica el recurso de marco: Decius pregunta a Postumianus para que las palabras de cada hablante se distingan mejor

«My dear Decius, said Postumianus, all my life—as you can have seen for yourself, so far as your age permits, and can have heard from your father Albinus—all my life, the one thing to my mind most worth while has been to devote such leisure as I may have had from my work at the bar to meeting men of learning, like yourself, and to talking with them;» — Postumianus declara que lo más digno de su vida ha sido dedicar el ocio que le dejaba el foro a tratar con hombres doctos

«But at the time I had a number of cases to examine which concerned friends of mine, and so, when I was asked to the dinner, I replied that I should have to spend the holidays in study rather than in dining, and I suggested that another, with no business cares to engage and occupy him, should be invited instead.» — Postumianus explica su ausencia del banquete y que él mismo propuso que se invitara a otro sin ocupaciones

«for Praetextatus gave instructions for an invitation to be sent to the rhetorician Eusebius in my place—a ready speaker and an accomplished man, one who, among the Greeks, is superior to all practicing rhetoric to-day and one who is well versed in Latin studies too.» — Postumianus consigna que el lugar vacante lo ocupó el retórico Eusebius, a quien describe superior entre los griegos que ejercen hoy la retórica

«When I listened to that conversation, I thought that I was entering the life of those whom philosophers speak of as the Blessed.» — Eusebius, citado por Postumianus, dice haber creído entrar en la vida de los que los filósofos llaman Bienaventurados al escuchar aquella conversación

«I have put all into writing, that nothing be forgotten and omitted; but, if you wish to hear my account of it, you must not suppose that a single day will be enough to recall what it took so many days to say.”» — Eusebius declara haberlo puesto todo por escrito y advierte que un solo día no basta para recordar lo que llevó tantos días decir

«Toward evening on the day before the festival of the Saturnalia, replied Postumianus, Aurelius Symmachus and Caecina Albinus, closest of friends by reason of their age, their habits, and their pursuits, called on Vettius Praetextatus, who was at home to all who wished to meet at his house; and Servius, who had recently joined the ranks of the professional grammarians, a man as remarkable for his learning as he is lovable for his modesty, was close behind them, walking with his eyes fixed on the ground after the manner of one who wished to pass unnoticed.» — Postumianus data la escena inicial en la víspera de los Saturnales y presenta a Servius, recién llegado a los gramáticos de oficio, tan notable por su saber como amable por su modestia

«You must know, then, replied Praetextatus, that the subject of our talk was this. Tomorrow will be the first of the days dedicated to Saturn. But when are we to say that the festival of the Saturnalia begins? or, in other words, when are we to suppose that tomorrow begins?» — Praetextatus plantea la cuestión que abre el diálogo: cuándo empieza exactamente la fiesta de los Saturnales, es decir, cuándo empieza el día de mañana

«Marcus Varro in his work on Human Antiquities, writing of days, says: “Persons who are born in the course of the twenty-four hours between one midnight and the next are said to have been born on one and the same day.”» — Caecina Albinus cita a Marco Varrón para fijar el día romano de medianoche a medianoche

«Varro also wrote in the same book that the Athenians have a different method of reckoning and say that the whole interval of time between one sunset and the next is a single day; and that the Babylonians have yet another rule, for they call the period from one sunrise to the beginning of the next sunrise a day; and, as for the Umbrians, they say that the interval between one midday and the next is one and the same day;» — Caecina Albinus contrapone los cómputos: atenienses de ocaso a ocaso, babilonios de orto a orto, umbros de mediodía a mediodía

«There is plenty of evidence to show that the Romans, as Varro said, reckoned each day as running from one midnight to the next; for of the religious ceremonies held at Rome, some are “diurnal,” others “nocturnal”—the term “diurnal” being taken to cover any ceremonies held between the beginning of a day and midnight, but any which begin after the sixth hour of the night being taken to belong to the “nocturnal” ceremonies of the following day.» — Caecina Albinus prueba el cómputo romano por la distinción entre ceremonias diurnas y nocturnas

«Moreover, the ritual practice in connection with the taking of auspices also points to the same method of reckoning; for, since the magistrates must, on one and the same day, both take the auspices and perform the act touching which the auspices have previously been taken, they take the auspices after midnight and perform the act after sunrise; and thus they are said to have taken the auspices and performed the act on the same day.» — Caecina Albinus añade la práctica augural: los magistrados toman los auspicios después de medianoche y ejecutan el acto después del orto, y se dice que ambos fueron el mismo día

«Furthermore, I have read that the jurist Quintus Mucius used to say that a woman who began to cohabit with a husband on the first of January and left him on the twenty-seventh of December following,® in order to interrupt the husband’s possession, had not interrupted it, because the three nights’ absence from her husband,» — Caecina Albinus trae el caso jurídico de Quinto Mucio sobre la interrupción del *usus* matrimonial; el tramo se corta en el límite de chunk

«Vergil, too, suggests the same method of reckoning, but (as became a poet) by means of an indirect and veiled allusion to an old established practice, in the lines: The dank night wheels her course midway, and now I feel the breath of the cruel steeds of dawn [Aeneid 5. 738] for with these words he reminds us that what at Rome is called the civil day begins to run from the sixth hour of the night.» — Caecina Albinus lee en un verso de la Eneida la alusión velada al día civil romano que empieza a la hora sexta de la noche

«The divisions of the civil day are these: first, “the middle turning point of the night”; then “cock crow”; after that, “the silence”, when the cocks are silent and men are still asleep; then “first light”, when day becomes discernible; after that, “morning” (mane), when the light of day is clear.» — Caecina Albinus enumera las divisiones del día civil, de la vuelta media de la noche al canto del gallo, al silencio, a la primera luz y a la mañana

«Now we use the word mane either because daylight begins to rise from the world below, that is to say, from the abode of the Manes,’ or departed spirits, or (and this to my mind is more likely to be the true meaning of the word) because it is a word of good omen» — Caecina Albinus da dos etimologías de *mane*, la de los Manes y la del buen agüero, y declara cuál le parece más probable

«It follows therefore that the beginning of the Saturnalia (Saturnaliorum) will be midnight in the night which is about to come (noctu futura), although it is customary not to begin the festivities until tomorrow (die crastini).» — Caecina Albinus concluye que los Saturnales empiezan a la medianoche de la noche que viene, aunque se acostumbre no festejar hasta el día siguiente

«I am much impressed, replied Avienus, by the authority with which Caecina has spoken, and I am aware that such profound learning cannot be mistaken. Nevertheless, the expressions noctu futura and die crastini which he has used in preference to the regular forms futura nocte and die crastino struck my ear as strange.» — Avienus objeta no la doctrina sino la lengua: las formas *noctu futura* y *die crastini* le suenan extrañas frente a las regulares

«In a company such as this, said Servius, a company of men whose learning no less than their noble birth commands respect, my place should be to learn rather than to teach.» — Servius declara su lugar en la reunión: aprender antes que enseñar

«But those who say Saturnaliorum have the support of distinguished authorities; for Sallust, in the third book of his Histories, speaks of Bacchanaliorum; and Masurius in the second book of his Calendar says: “The day of the Wine Festival (Vinaliorum) is sacred to Jupiter and not, as some suppose, to Venus.”» — Servius contrapone a la regla los precedentes de Salustio y de Masurio

«We must therefore ask ourselves if it is absolutely true to say that this form of the genitive is confined to names of festivals or if the truth is rather that the old writers took pleasure in variety.» — Servius abre la alternativa: o la forma en -orum se ciñe a los nombres de fiestas, o los viejos escritores se complacían en la variedad

«educated mind find more useful or more seemly relaxation than in taking some opportunity for learned and polite conversation and friendly discussion.» — Postumianus fija el valor de la conversación docta y cortés como el descanso más útil y decoroso que puede hallar una mente educada

«To say Saturnalium is to follow the rule: for declinable words with a dative plural ending in -bus never have more syllables in the genitive plural than in the dative, but the genitive has either the same number of syllables as the» — Servius formula la regla de los genitivos plurales de las palabras cuyo dativo plural acaba en -bus; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«dative (for example: monilibus, monilium; sedilibus, sedilium) or one syllable less (for example: carminibus, carminum; liminibus, liminum);, and therefore, given Saturnalibus, Saturnalium rather than Saturnaliorum is the regular form of the genitive.» — Continuación de la regla en la plana siguiente: dado *Saturnalibus*, la forma regular del genitivo es *Saturnalium* y no *Saturnaliorum*

«themselves freedom to vary inflections and would say, for example, both exanimos and exanimes, inermos and inermes, hilaros and hilares; so that it is certainly permissible to say both Saturnalium and Saturnaliorum, the former having the support of the grammatical rule as well as of precedent, the latter relying on precedent alone—although the precedents are many.» — Servius cierra admitiendo las dos formas: una con regla y precedente, la otra solo con precedente, aunque abundante

«Nor is it irrelevant, I think, at this point to remind you also that in the Twelve Tables the decemvirs, clean contrary to the accepted usage, said nox for noctu. The words are as follows: If a theft shall have been committed at night (ox), and one shall have killed him (im) [the thief], let him be held to have been lawfully killed.» — Servius cita las Doce Tablas, donde los decemviros escribieron *nox* por *noctu* contra el uso admitido, y la norma sobre el ladrón nocturno

«Your Caelius, remarked Symmachus, took both the story and the expression diequinti from the Origins of Marcus Cato, who wrote: “And so the commander of the cavalry gave the Carthaginian general this advice: ‘Send the cavalry with me to Rome and on the fifth day (diequinti) dinner shall be ready for you on the» — Symmachus remite la anécdota y la forma *diequinti* a los Orígenes de Marco Catón; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«in accordance with the custom of our ancestors, regularly proclaims the rest day called the Compitalia. The words are these: “On the» — Praetextatus busca en la fórmula con que el pretor proclama el día de descanso de los Compitalia otra prueba del uso antiguo. El troceo trunca aquí la plana 60: el resto de la proclamación no tiene capa de texto y el chunk siguiente abre ya en la plana 61 con el capítulo 5

«Curius, Fabricius, and Coruncanius of old, said Avienus, looking at Servius, and that famous triple band of brothers, too, the Horatii, who belong to a still earlier age, talked clearly and intelligibly with their fellows, using the language of their own day and not that of the Aurunci or Sicani or Pelasgi, who men say were the first inhabitants of Italy.» — Avienus objeta el arcaísmo: los antiguos hablaban claro y en la lengua de su día, no en la de los aurunci, sicanos o pelasgos

«You, my friends, all proclaim that you find pleasure in antiquity because of the honesty, sobriety, and moderation of those times. Very well then; let us show in our lives the manners of the past but speak in the language of our own day.» — Avienus formula su regla: vivir con las maneras del pasado y hablar con la lengua del propio tiempo

«For I always remember and take to heart what Gaius Caesar, that man of outstanding genius and wisdom, wrote in the first Book of his treatise On Grammatical Analogy: “I should avoid,” he said, “a rare and unusual word as I would a rock.”» — Avienus cita a Cayo César en su tratado sobre la analogía gramatical: evitar la palabra rara y desusada como quien evita una roca

«Hush, pray, said Praetextatus with characteristic earnestness, let us not so far forget ourselves as to do harm to the respect that is due to antiquity, the mother of the arts. Indeed you go far to betray your love for what is old in your attempt to dissemble that love, for your expression “There is a thousand of words” has an odor of antiquity about it.» — Praetextatus replica que no se falte al respeto debido a la antigüedad, madre de las artes, y le devuelve a Avienus que su propia frase huele a antiguo

«In saying milli passum for mille passibus and milli nummum for mille nummis Lucilius has shown clearly that mille is a noun, is used in the singular number, has an ablative case, and that its plural is milia.» — Praetextatus deduce de dos versos de Lucilio que *mille* es nombre, va en singular, tiene ablativo y hace *milia* en plural

«For mille does not stand for the Greek yid1a but for xAac, and just as one can say one y1Alag and two y1A1ddec, so the old writers, following a definite and regular principle, used to say unum mille and duo milia.» — Praetextatus apoya la deducción en el griego: *mille* no traduce el plural sino el singular, y de ahí *unum mille* y *duo milia*

«But tell me, Avienus, continued Praetextatus, when it comes to voting on the use of words, would you disfranchise those learned men whom Cicero and Varro were proud to imitate, and would you thrust them from the bridge! as though they were old men in their sixties?» — Praetextatus cierra la objeción con una imagen: privar del voto a los doctos que Cicerón y Varrón imitaron sería echarlos del puente como a los sesentones

«I suggest, however, that we spend it from early morning until dinnertime in such sober conversation as that in which we have been engaged. And at dinner, too, instead of indulging in heavy drinking and lavish dishes, I suggest that we pass the time decently in learned inquiries and in exchange of information from our place at table.» — Praetextatus propone el programa del día siguiente: conversación sobria desde el alba hasta la cena, y en la mesa indagaciones doctas en vez de bebida y platos copiosos

«for we shall not, as the saying goes, just be allowing our minds to unbend—Musonius, you know, says loosening (remittere) your mind is like losing (amittere) it—but the charm of pleasant and improving talk will afford our minds a measure of soothing relaxa» — Praetextatus cita a Musonio para negar que aflojar la mente sea descanso, y pone en su lugar el encanto de la conversación provechosa; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«On the next day, as they had agreed the day before, all came early in the morning to the house of Vettius Praetextatus, who was waiting for them in the library.» — Se abre el primer día de la fiesta: la reunión se da en la biblioteca de Vettius Praetextatus

«It occurs to me therefore to ask a question which will not, I think, seem absurd; for, since neither the toga nor the trabea nor the paludamentum has given rise to the formation of a proper name, why, pray, has the usage of old times led to such occurrence only in the case of the praetexta; or else what is the origin of your name?» — Avienus plantea la cuestión del nombre: ni la toga ni la trabea ni el paludamento dieron nombre propio, y solo la pretexta lo hizo

«The temple door at Delphi bore the inscription “Know Thyself,” and this is also a maxim of one of the Seven Sages. What an ignoramus then I must be thought to be, if I am ignorant of my own name! And so I must now tell of its origin and how I come to bear it.» — Praetextatus acepta la pregunta invocando el *Conócete a ti mismo* de Delfos: sería ignorante quien ignorara su propio nombre

«Tullus Hostilius, the third king of the Romans, was the first to introduce the use at Rome of the curule chair, lictors, and the toga picta? and toga praetexta: it was after his conquest of the Etruscans, for whose magistrates they were the insignia of office.» — Praetextatus data la entrada en Roma de la silla curul, los lictores y la toga pretexta en Tulo Hostilio, tras vencer a los etruscos, de cuyos magistrados eran insignias

«Afterward, however, Tarquinius Priscus (son of the Corinthian exile, Demaratus) who, some say, was called Lucumo—he was third‘ after Hostilius and the fifth4 after Romulus to reign at Rome—celebrated a triumph over the Sabines; and, since in that war his son, a lad of fourteen years, had killed one of the enemy with his own hand, he made a public speech in the boy’s honor and presented him with an amulet (bulla) of gold and a purple-bordered toga praetexta, to show by rewards indicative of manliness and office that the lad had displayed a courage beyond his years.» — Praetextatus refiere el origen de la pretexta y la bula de oro en el muchacho de catorce años que mató a un enemigo en la guerra sabina

«For just as the toga praetexta was worn by a magistrate, so it was the custom for a victorious general to wear on his breast at his triumph an amulet containing charms believed to be of the greatest potency against the evil eye.» — Praetextatus explica la bula por su función: contenía amuletos tenidos por potentísimos contra el mal de ojo

«This then is the origin of the custom by which boys of noble birth came to wear the praetexta and the bulla as a presage of, and a prayer for, manliness like that of him who first received these rewards while yet a boy.» — Praetextatus cierra el relato: los niños nobles llevan pretexta y bula como presagio y plegaria de una hombría como la de aquel primer premiado

«No one, replied Symmachus, at any rate no one who regards himself as a not unworthy member of this company, will refuse to accept the proposed meeting or its president.» — Symmachus acepta la reunión propuesta y a su anfitrión como presidente

«They were the philosophers Carneades of the Academy, Diogenes the Stoic, and Critolaus the Peripatetic, each of whom, we are told, lectured separately before a large crowd in the most frequented parts of Rome to display his ability.» — Symmachus nombra a los tres filósofos de la embajada ateniense —Carnéades el académico, Diógenes el estoico y Critolao el peripatético— y los sitúa disertando por separado en los lugares más concurridos de Roma

«The eloquence of Carneades is said to have been forcible and vehement, that of Critolaus adroit and well-turned, that of Diogenes restrained and sober;» — Symmachus distingue los tres estilos: vehemente el de Carnéades, diestro y bien torneado el de Critolao, contenido y sobrio el de Diógenes

«But afterward the right to wear the praetexta was granted to the sons of freedmen also, for the following reason which Marcus Laelius, the augur, relates.» — Praetextatus consigna la extensión del derecho de la pretexta a los hijos de libertos, por la razón que refiere el augur Marco Lelio

«Prayers were offered by boys, both free-born and sons of freedmen, and a hymn was sung by maidens who had both parents living. Subsequently, sons of freedmen, too, provided that they had been born of lawfully wedded mothers, were allowed to wear the toga praetexta, but in place of the honor of a golden amulet they wore a bulla of leather round their necks.» — Praetextatus cierra el caso: los hijos de libertos nacidos de madres legítimamente casadas obtuvieron la pretexta, pero con bula de cuero en lugar de la de oro

«But, to complete the party, I move that we invite these others to join us and dine with us: Flavianus, who has proved that-he has surpassed that admirable man Venustus, his father, by the distinction of his character and the dignity of his life no less than by the abundance and depth of his» — Symmachus propone completar la mesa e invita a Flavianus, a quien describe superior a su padre Venustus en carácter, dignidad de vida y hondura de saber; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Some believe that free-born boys were allowed to wear the heart-shaped figure of the bulJa on the breast, in order that the sight of this figure might remind them that excellence of heart was needed to make them men; and that the further gift of the toga praetexta was made to the end that the blush of the purple might teach them to order their lives with a modesty befitting their free birth.» — Praetextatus recoge la lectura simbólica de las dos insignias: la bula en forma de corazón recuerda que hace falta excelencia de corazón, y el rubor de la púrpura enseña modestia

«It was formerly the custom for Senators, when they went to the House, to be accompanied by sons who were still wearing the praetexta. One day, when the discussion of a matter of considerable importance had been adjourned to the morrow, it was resolved that no one should refer to the subject of the debate until a decision had been reached.» — Praetextatus abre el relato de cómo el nombre de la prenda pasó a nombre propio: los senadores llevaban al Senado a sus hijos con la pretexta

«The Senate warmly commended the lad’s loyalty and ingenuity but resolved that in the future boys should not be admitted to the House with their fathers, an exception being made in favor of the young Papirius alone, who was honored subsequently by decree with the surname “Praetextatus,” for the discretion he had shown, in silence and in speech, while still of age to wear the praetexta.» — Praetextatus cierra el origen del cognomen: el Senado prohibió la entrada de los niños salvo al joven Papirio, honrado por decreto con el sobrenombre Praetextatus

«The Scipios, continued Vettius, got their name just because a Cornelius was given the surname “Scipio” [a staff] for acting as a staff to guide his blind father (another Cornelius), and from him this name passed as a surname to his descendants.» — Praetextatus explica el nombre de los Escipiones por el Cornelio que hizo de bastón a su padre ciego

«These names, replied Praetextatus, are neither complimentary nor insulting in their origin; they are the result of chance circumstances.» — Praetextatus niega que Scropha y Asina sean sobrenombres elogiosos o injuriosos y los atribuye al azar de las circunstancias

«Horus too, who had been just behind, came in with them, a man whose mind matched his body in strength, for after countless victories as a boxer he had taken up the study of philosophy and, as a follower of Antisthenes, Crates, and Diogenes himself, was of no little repute among the Cynics.» — Entra Horus, boxeador de innumerables victorias vuelto filósofo, seguidor de Antístenes, Crates y Diógenes, y de no poca fama entre los cínicos

«Finding himself in the presence of a large and distinguished company who rose as he entered, Evangelus said: Is it just chance that has brought all these gentlemen to your house, Praetextatus, or have you met deliberately to consider some matter of importance which called for the absence of witnesses? If that is so—and I think it is—I shall go away rather than meddle with your secrets; for I shall be glad to keep clear of them, although, as ill luck will have it, I have blundered upon them.» — Evangelus entra sospechando una reunión de puertas cerradas y amaga con irse antes que entrometerse en secretos ajenos

«For I have not forgotten—and I am sure that all here know well—that hallowed precept of philosophy: “Speak with your fellow men as though in the hearing of the gods and with the gods as though in the hearing of your fellow men.”» — Praetextatus contesta con el precepto filosófico: hablar con los hombres como si los dioses oyeran, y con los dioses como si oyeran los hombres

«The second half of this precept forbids us to ask anything of the gods, if it were unbecoming to admit to our fellows the wish to have it.» — Praetextatus deriva del precepto su consecuencia: no se pide a los dioses lo que daría vergüenza confesar a los hombres

«For if, during the celebration of a sacred festival, no religious ordinance forbids us to scour a watercourse, and if the laws of gods and men allow us to dip our sheep then to keep them healthy,? surely we may be held to show respect for religion if we devote to the hallowed study of literature days that are appointed to be kept holy.» — Praetextatus justifica el programa del día: si en fiesta sagrada se permite limpiar una acequia o bañar las ovejas, se guarda la religión dedicando esos días al estudio de las letras

«Your presence will confer this benefit on us, replied Vettius, that our full member will then equal that of the Muses and the Graces together; and it is meet that the Graces attend a feast in honor of the chief of all the gods.» — Praetextatus vuelve el argumento del número: con los recién llegados la mesa iguala a Musas y Gracias juntas, y a las Gracias les toca asistir a la fiesta del mayor de los dioses

«In this worship of Saturn, whom you call the chief of the gods, your ceremonies differ from those of that most devout of people, the Egyptians, for they had admitted neither Saturn nor Serapis himself to the secret places of their temples until after the death of Alexander of Macedon, when pressure by their despotic rulers the Ptolemies compelled them to accept the cult of these gods, after the manner of the inhabitants of Alexandria, who used to hold them in special» — Horus objeta a Avienus el rango de Saturno: los egipcios no admitieron a Saturno ni a Serapis en lo secreto de sus templos hasta después de la muerte de Alejandro, forzados por los Ptolomeos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Then, because of his mother’s insistence, the boy had recourse to a neat and humorous falsehood: the question debated was, he said, whether the advantage» — Praetextatus refiere la mentira ingeniosa del joven Papirio a su madre sobre lo que el Senado debatía; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«As for Tremellius, he got the surname “Scropha” from the following incident. He was at his country estate with his children and household when his slaves stole and killed a sow (scropha) which was wandering away from a neighbor’s land. The neighbor summoned guards and surrounded the other’s whole estate, to prevent any possible removal of the animal, and then called on the master to return it to him.» — Praetextatus refiere el incidente de la cerda robada del que salió el sobrenombre Scropha

«But Tremellius had heard from his bailiff what had happened, and so he put the dead body of the sow under some rugs on which his wife was lying and invited the neighbor to make a search. When they came to the bedroom, Tremellius swore that there was no sow in his house, “Except,” said he, pointing to the bed, “the one lying in those rugs.” And for this humorous oath he was given the surname Scropha.» — Cierre del mismo relato: el juramento humorístico de Tremelio, que negó tener cerda alguna salvo la que yacía entre las mantas

«I take it that you are all acquainted with the book by Varro—one of his Menippean satires—called You Never Can Tell» — Evangelus invoca una sátira menipea de Varrón sobre el número de comensales; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«The laws of religion, he said, allow me to disclose the origin of the festival of the Saturnalia so far as the account of its origin is a matter of mythology or is made known to all by the physicists. But of the secret nature of the deity I may not treat, for it is not permissible even at the sacred rites themselves to tell of the hidden principles which flow from the fountain of pure truth, and whoever attains to knowledge of them is bidden to keep such knowledge locked in his breast.» — Praetextatus fija de entrada el límite de lo que va a decir: puede exponer el origen mitológico o físico de la fiesta, pero no la naturaleza secreta del dios, que quien la alcanza debe guardar en el pecho

«According to Hyginus, who has followed Protarchus of Tralles, Janus ruled over the country now called Italy, and he and Cameses, who was also a native of it, held the land in joint sovereignty, the country being called Camesene and the town Janiculum.» — Praetextatus atribuye a Higino, siguiendo a Protarco de Tralles, el reinado conjunto de Jano y Camese sobre la tierra que hoy se llama Italia

«Janus is believed to have had two faces and so could see before him and behind his back—a reference, no doubt, to the foresight and shrewdness of the king, as one who not only knew the past but would also foresee the future, just as Antevorta and Postvorta are worshipped at Rome as deities most fittingly associated with divina» — Praetextatus lee las dos caras de Jano como figura de la previsión del rey, que conocía el pasado y preveía el futuro; el tramo se corta antes del volado de nota

«When Saturn arrived by ship, Janus received him here as his guest and learned from him the art of husbandry, thereby improving a mode of life which, before men understood how to make use of the fruits of the earth, had been brutish and rude; and he rewarded Saturn by sharing his kingdom with him.» — Praetextatus refiere que Saturno llegó por barco, enseñó a Jano la agricultura y recibió en pago la mitad del reino

«Janus and Saturn reigned together in harmony and built two neighboring towns by their joint endeavors, as is clear not only from the line in Vergil which runs: This fortress town the name Janiculum, that Saturnia, bore [Aeneid 8. 358] but also from the fact that later generations dedicated two successive months to these personages, December having in it the festival of Saturn and January embodying the name of Janus.» — Praetextatus liga los dos meses sucesivos a los dos reyes: diciembre con la fiesta de Saturno y enero con el nombre de Jano

«It was during their reign that Saturn suddenly disappeared, and Janus then devised means to add to his honors. First he gave the name Saturnia to al] the land which acknowledged his rule; and then he built an altar, instituting rites as to a god and calling these rites the Saturnalia—a fact which goes to show how very much older the festival is than the city of Rome. And it was because Saturn had improved the conditions of life that, by order of Janus, religious honors were paid to him, as his effigy indicates, which received the additional attribute of a sickle, the symbol of harvest.» — Praetextatus data la institución de los Saturnales por Jano tras la desaparición del dios, y saca de ahí que la fiesta es mucho más vieja que la ciudad de Roma

«Saturn is credited with the invention of the art of grafting, with a cultivation of fruit trees, and with instructing men in everything that belongs to the fertilizing of the fields. Furthermore, at Cyrene his worshipers, when they offer sacrifice to him, crown themselves with fresh figs and present each other with cakes, for they hold that he discovered honey and fruits. Moreover, at Rome men call him “Sterculius,” as having been the first to fertilize the fields with dung (stercus).» — Praetextatus inventaría lo que se acredita a Saturno: el injerto, el cultivo de los frutales, la miel y los frutos en Cirene, y el nombre romano de Sterculius por el estiércol

«His reign is said to have been a time of great happiness, ia. on account of the universal plenty that then prevailed and because as yet there was no division into bond and free—as one may gather from the complete license enjoyed by slaves at the Saturnalia.» — Praetextatus explica la licencia de los esclavos en la fiesta por el reinado de Saturno, sin división entre libres y siervos

«I am aware too of the account given by Varro of the origin of the Saturnalia. The Pelasgians, he says, when they were driven from their homes, made for various lands, but most of them flocked to Dodona and, doubtful where to settle, consulted the oracle. They received this reply: “Go ye in search of the land of the Sicels and the Aborigines, a land, sacred to Saturn, even Cotyle, where floateth an island. Mingle with these people and then send a tenth to Phoebus and offer heads to Hades and a man to the Father.”» — Praetextatus trae la versión de Varrón: los pelasgos expulsados consultan el oráculo de Dodona y reciben la respuesta sobre la isla flotante y las ofrendas

«The discovery of this marvel showed the Pelasgians that here was the home foretold for them. And, after having driven out the Sicilian inhabitants, they took possession of the land, dedicating a tenth of the spoil to Apollo, in accordance with the response given by the oracle, and raising a little shrine to Dis and an altar to Saturn, whose festival they named the Saturnalia.» — Praetextatus cierra la versión pelasga: hallada la isla flotante en el lago de Cutilia, alzaron altar a Saturno y llamaron Saturnales a su fiesta

«This is the origin of the custom of sending round wax tapers during the Saturnalia, although others think that the practice is derived simply from the fact that it was in the reign of Saturn that we made our way, as though to the light, from a rude and gloomy existence to a knowledge of the liberal arts.» — Praetextatus da las dos explicaciones del envío de velas en la fiesta: la sustitución del sacrificio y el paso de una existencia ruda a la luz de las artes liberales

«I should add, however, that I have found it written that, since many through greed made the Saturnalia an excuse to solicit and demand gifts from their clients, a practice which bore heavily on those of more slender means, one Publicius, a tribune, proposed to the people that no one should send anything but wax tapers to one richer than himself.» — Praetextatus registra la medida del tribuno Publicio contra quienes hacían de la fiesta pretexto para exigir regalos a sus clientes

«I find, Praetextatus, interposed Albinus Caecina, a substituted sacrifice, such as that which you have just mentioned, made in later times at the rites of the Compitalia, when games used to be held at crossroads throughout the city, that is to say, on the restoration of these games by Tarquinius Superbus, in honor of the Lares and of Mania, in accordance with an oracle of Apollo. For that oracle ordained that offering should be made “for heads with heads,”» — Caecina Albinus aporta un paralelo: la sustitución de víctimas en los Compitalia restaurados por Tarquinio el Soberbio según oráculo de Apolo

«and for some time the ritual required the sacrifice of boys to . the goddess Mania, the mother of the Lares, to insure the safety of the family. But after the expulsion of Tarquinius, Junius Brutus, as consul, determined to change the nature of the sacrificial rite. By his order heads of garlic and poppies were used at the rite, so that the oracle was obeyed, in so far as it had prescribed “heads,” and a criminal and unholy sacrifice was discarded.» — Caecina Albinus refiere que Junio Bruto cambió el rito por cabezas de ajo y de adormidera, cumpliendo la letra del oráculo

«In most of Greece, and above all at Athens, men celebrate in honor of Saturn a festival which they always call the festival of Cronos. The day is kept a holiday, and in country and in town all usually hold joyful feasts, at which each man waits on his own slaves. And so it is with us. Thus from Greece that custom has been handed down, and slaves dine with their masters at that time.» — Los versos de Lucio Accio que Praetextatus cita: la fiesta de Cronos en Grecia, con el amo sirviendo a sus esclavos, de donde dice venir la costumbre romana

«We must now say a few words about the temple of Saturn itself. I find it recorded that Tullus Hostilius, after two triumphs over the Albans and a third over the Sabines, consecrated a shrine to Saturn in fulfillment of a vow and that the festival of the Saturnalia was then first instituted at Rome; although Varro in his sixth book,! which deals with sacred buildings, writes that King Lucius Tarquinius contracted for the building of a temple of Saturn in the Forum, but that it was the dictator Titus Larcius who dedicated it during the Saturnalia.» — Praetextatus contrapone sin armonizar dos noticias sobre el templo de Saturno: la de Tulo Hostilio y la de Varrón sobre Lucio Tarquinio y el dictador Tito Larcio

«The god also has an altar in front of the Senaculum, and the rites are performed there with head uncovered, in conformity with the Greek use, because it is thought that such was the original practice, first of the Pelasgians and afterwards of Hercules.» — Praetextatus consigna que en el altar ante el Senáculo se sacrifica con la cabeza descubierta, al uso griego

«The Romans made the temple of Saturn the public treasury; because it is said that, while the god lived in Italy, no theft was committed within his borders; or else because, under him, nobody held any private property, but It was impious to mark out the ground or part the field with boundary stone; men garnered for the common store,» — Praetextatus explica el erario público en el templo de Saturno por las dos razones: que bajo el dios no hubo robo, y que no hubo propiedad privada, con el verso de las Geórgicas

«Nor must I omit to mention the horn-blowing Tritons placed on the gable of the temple of Saturn, to show that from the time of this commemoration of the god up to our own day history is, as it were, to be seen by our eyes and heard by our ears; whereas before that time it was unheard, unseen, and unknown, as witness the Tritons’ tails, buried in the ground and hidden from view.» — Praetextatus lee los tritones del frontón como emblema del tiempo histórico: visible y audible desde el dios, y con las colas enterradas por lo que quedó sin ver ni oír

«Saturn, too, is represented with his feet tied together, and, although Verrius Flaccus says that he does not know the reason, my reading of Apollodorus suggests an explanation. Apollodorus says that throughout the year Saturn is bound with a bond of wool but is set free on the day of his festival, that is to say, in this present month of December. And he finds in this practice the origin of the proverb “The gods have feet of wool”—the story in fact signifying the growth to full life, in the tenth month, of the seed which has been kept alive in the womb and which, until it issues into the light of day, is confined in nature’s gentle bonds.» — Praetextatus explica los pies atados de Saturno por Apolodoro: atado con lana todo el año y suelto en su fiesta, de donde el proverbio de que los dioses tienen pies de lana

«Moreover, Saturn, as Cronus, is identified with Time (X%pOvoc). For just as the mythographers in their fables give divergent accounts of the god, so the physicists to some extent recall a true picture of him. Thus it is said that Saturn, having cut off the privy parts of his father, Heaven, threw them into the sea and that from them Venus was born and received the name Aphrodite from the foam [&@pdc] out of which she was formed» — Praetextatus identifica a Saturno con el Tiempo y distingue a los mitógrafos de los físicos, que recuerdan en parte un cuadro verdadero del dios

«a myth from which we are meant to understand that, while chaos lasted, times and seasons did not exist, since time has fixed measurements and those are determined by the revolution of the heavens.» — Praetextatus da la lectura física del mito: mientras duró el caos no hubo tiempos ni estaciones, porque el tiempo se mide por la revolución de los cielos

«Saturnians, from the name which the hill too used previously to bear, and, conscious of the protection afforded to them by the name of Saturn and by the awe which the god inspired, they are said to have instituted the Saturnalia, to the end that the very observance of the festival thus proclaimed might bring the uncouth minds of their neighbors to show a greater respect for the worship of the god.» — Continuación en la plana siguiente: se llamaron saturnios e instituyeron la fiesta para que su observancia moviera a los vecinos a mayor respeto por el culto del dios

«For many years they thought to propitiate Dis with human heads and Saturn with the sacrifice of men, since the oracle had bidden them: “Offer heads to Hades and a man» — Praetextatus consigna los años de sacrificio humano a Dis y a Saturno según la letra del oráculo; el tramo se corta ante la palabra griega que el troceo no imprime en caracteres latinos

«But later, the story goes, Hercules, returning through Italy with the herds of Geryon, persuaded their descendants to replace these unholy sacrifices with others of good omen, by offering to Dis little masks cleverly fashioned to represent the human face, instead of human heads» — Continuación: Hércules persuadió a los descendientes de sustituir las cabezas humanas por máscaras hábilmente hechas

«Janus was also the first to strike coins of bronze, and in this too he showed his high regard for Saturn; for on one side of a coin he stamped the image of his own head but on the other side a ship» — Praetextatus acredita a Jano la primera acuñación de bronce, con su cabeza en una cara y la nave en la otra, en memoria de que Saturno llegó por barco; el tramo se corta antes del volado de nota al pie

«You have referred, said Praetextatus, to a parallel instance of a change for the better in the ritual of a sacrifice. The point is well taken and well timed.» — Praetextatus acepta el paralelo que Caecina Albinus trajo sobre el cambio de rito

«Hercules is said to have left men behind him in Italy, either (as certain authorities hold) because he was angry with them for neglecting to watch over his herds or (as some suppose), deliberately, to protect his altar and temple from attacks. Harassed by brigands, these men occupied a high hill and called themselves» — Praetextatus da una segunda tradición: los hombres que Hércules dejó en Italia, acosados por bandidos, ocuparon un cerro alto; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«the origin of the Saturnalia it appears that the festival is of greater antiquity than the city of Rome, for in fact Lucius Accius?? in his Annals says that its regular observance began in Greece before the foundation of Rome.» — Praetextatus concluye que la fiesta es más antigua que Roma y cita los Anales de Lucio Accio para su observancia en Grecia antes de la fundación

«It is the myth of shis assault on his father that has also led our authorities to call the god Saturnus, deriving the name from the Greek word o46n, which means the male member, as though to say “Sathunnus”, and, since Satyrs are prone to lewdness, this name is thought to have the same derivation and to stand for “Sathuni.” As for the god’s attribute of a sickle,‘ it is held by some to indicate that time reaps, cuts off, and cuts short all things.» — Praetextatus deriva el nombre de Saturno de una palabra griega y lee la hoz como señal de que el tiempo siega y acorta todas las cosas; el troceo imprime *shis* por *this*

«It is said that Saturn used to swallow his children* and vomit them forth again, a myth likewise pointing to an identification of the god with time, by which all things in turn are created, destroyed, and brought to birth again.» — Praetextatus lee el mito del dios que devora y vomita a sus hijos como identificación con el tiempo, que crea, destruye y vuelve a dar a luz

«His deposition by his son indicates, simply, that as times grow old they are superseded by the times that succeed them.» — Praetextatus lee la deposición del dios por su hijo como el relevo de las edades

«His bonds point to the fact that all periods of time are by an immutable law of nature interconnected, or else to the fact that [the stalks of] all the fruits of the field are made up of cord-like substances and knots alternately arranged.» — Praetextatus da dos lecturas de las ataduras del dios: la trabazón inmutable de los tiempos, o los tallos de los frutos hechos de fibras y nudos alternos

«The mythographers say that, when Janus was king, every man’s house was sacred and inviolable and that for the protection thus afforded divine honors were decreed for him, the entrances into and exits from a house being dedicated to him in gratitude for his favor.» — Praetextatus expone a los mitógrafos sobre Jano: bajo su reinado toda casa fue sagrada e inviolable, y por eso se le dedicaron entradas y salidas

«Xenon, too, relates in the first book of his Italian Antiquities that in Italy Janus was the first to build temples to the gods and to ordain religious ceremonies and that for this he was rewarded with the privilege of being for all time the first to be called on by name at a sacrifice.» — Praetextatus cita a Jenón: Jano fue el primero en Italia en levantar templos y ordenar ceremonias, y por eso se le nombra primero en todo sacrificio

«The physicists on the other hand produce strong evidence for his divinity. For there are some who identify Janus with Apollo and Diana and maintain that he combines in himself the divine attributes of both.» — Praetextatus pasa a los físicos, que identifican a Jano con Apolo y Diana reunidos

«Some are of the opinion that Janus represents the sun and that his two faces (geminus) suggest his lordship over each of the two heavenly gates, since the sun’s rising opens and his setting closes the day.» — Praetextatus recoge la opinión que hace de Jano el sol, con sus dos caras por las dos puertas del cielo

«Again, it is as marking his connection with the sun that an image of Janus commonly shows him expressing the number three hundred with his right hand and sixty-five with his left; for these numbers point to the measure of a year, and it is a special function of the sun to determine this measure.» — Praetextatus lee los números trescientos y sesenta y cinco de las manos de la imagen como la medida del año, función propia del sol

«Others hold that Janus is the universe, that is to say, the heavens, and that the name is derived from eundo, since the universe is always in motion, wheeling in a circle and returning to itself at the point where it began. That is why Cornificius remarks, in the third book of his Derivations, “Cicero does not call the god ‘Janus’ but ‘Eanus,’ as though from eundo.”» — Praetextatus recoge la opinión que hace de Jano el universo, con el nombre derivado de *eundo* por el movimiento circular que vuelve a su punto de partida

«And Gavius Bassus, in his book on the gods, says that figures of Janus have two faces, since he is the doorkeeper of both heaven and hell, and that the figures are quadriform, as though to show that his greatness embraces all the regions of the world.» — Praetextatus cita a Gavio Baso: las figuras bifrontes porque el dios guarda la puerta del cielo y la del infierno, y las cuadriformes porque su grandeza abarca todas las regiones

«Again, in our sacred rites we invoke Janus as Janus Geminus, Janus Pater, Janus Junonius, Janus Consivius, Janus Quirinus, and Janus Patultius and Clusivius.» — Praetextatus enumera los epítetos cultuales de Jano

«we call on him as “Pater” as the god of gods; and as “Junonius” because the beginning not only of January but of all the months is his, and Juno has authority over all the Kalends» — Praetextatus glosa los epítetos: Padre como dios de los dioses, y Junonius porque suyo es el comienzo de todos los meses y Juno manda en las calendas

«He is called upon as “Consivius” from conserendo, as the patron of “sowing,” that is to say, as the patron of the propagation of the human race, whose sowing and increase are of him; and he is invoked as “Quirinus,” as the lord of battles, from the spear which the Sabines call curis.» — Praetextatus glosa Consivius por la siembra y la propagación del género humano, y Quirinus como señor de las batallas por la lanza que los sabinos llaman *curis*

«It was held to be an offense against religion to begin a war at the time of the Saturnalia, and to punish a criminal during the days of the festival called for an act of atonement.» — Praetextatus consigna las prohibiciones de la fiesta: empezar una guerra ofendía a la religión y castigar a un reo exigía expiación

«Our ancestors restricted the Saturnalia to a single day, the fourteenth before the Kalends of January, but, after Gaius Caesar had added two days to December, the day on which the festival was held became the sixteenth before the Kalends of January, with the result that, since the exact day was not commonly known—some observing the addition which Caesar had made to the calendar and others following the old usage —the festival came to be regarded as lasting for more days than one.» — Praetextatus explica la incertidumbre sobre la duración: un solo día en el uso antiguo, corrido al añadir César dos días a diciembre, con unos siguiendo el cómputo nuevo y otros el viejo

«Mallius, however, says that the men who, as I have already related, had found protection in the name of Saturn and in the awe which he inspired, ordained a three-day festival in honor of the god, calling it the Saturnalia, and that it was on the authority of this belief that Augustus, in his laws for the administration of justice, ordered the three days to be kept as rest days.» — Praetextatus contrapone a Malio, que da la fiesta de tres días, y a Augusto, que ordenó tenerlos por días feriados

«On the twelfth day before the Kalends of January there is a rest day in honor of the goddess Angeronia, to whom the pontiffs offer sacrifice in the chapel of Volupia. According to Verrius Flaccus, this goddess is called Angeronia because, duly propitiated, she banishes anxiety (angores) and mental distress.» — Praetextatus explica el nombre de la diosa Angeronia por Verrio Flaco: aplacada, aleja la angustia y la aflicción del ánimo

«Masurius adds that an image of this goddess, with the mouth bound up and sealed, is placed on the altar of Volupia, because all who conceal their pain and care find, thanks to their endurance, great joy» — Praetextatus cita a Masurio sobre la imagen de la diosa con la boca atada y sellada, porque quien calla su dolor halla al fin gran gozo

«According to Julius Modestus, however, sacrifices are offered to Angeronia because, pursuant to the fulfillment of a vow, she delivered the Roman people from the disease known as the quinsy (angina).» — Praetextatus contrapone a Julio Modesto, que explica el culto porque la diosa libró al pueblo romano de la angina

«In the reign of Ancus, they say, a sacristan of the temple of Hercules, having nothing to do during the rest day challenged the god to a game of dice,” throwing for both players himself, and the stake for which they played was a dinner and the company of a courtesan.» — Praetextatus abre el relato del Larentinalia: el sacristán de Hércules retó al dios a los dados jugando por ambos, con una cena y una cortesana por apuesta

«And it is for this reason that the Phoenicians in their sacred rites have portrayed the god in the likeness of a serpent coiled and swallowing its own tail, as a visible image of the universe which feeds on itself and returns to» — Praetextatus cita el rito fenicio que figura al dios como serpiente enroscada que se traga la cola, imagen visible del universo que se alimenta de sí; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Moreover, in the ancient songs of the Salii he is hymned as the god of gods» — Praetextatus consigna que los antiguos cantos de los Salios celebran a Jano como dios de los dioses

«He it is who fashions all things and guides them; he it is who in the compass of the heavens has joined together water and earth—the force which is naturally heavy and tends to fall downward to the depths below —with fire and air, which are light by nature and tend to soar to the boundless heights above; and it is this mighty power of the heavens that has united two opposing forces.”» — El pasaje de Marco Mesala que Praetextatus cita: el dios que forma y guía todo y que en el ámbito del cielo junta agua y tierra con fuego y aire, uniendo dos fuerzas opuestas

«In the war which followed the capture of the Sabine maidens the enemy rushed to attack a certain gate (situated at the foot of the Viminal Hill and afterward, in consequence of what occurred, known as the gate of Janus) and the Romans hurried to shut it; but, after it had been shut, the gate then opened again of its own accord. This happened a second and yet a third time; and, since the gate could not be closed, a large body of armed men stood on guard before its threshold, while the fight went on fiercely elsewhere.» — Praetextatus refiere el prodigio de la puerta al pie del Viminal, que volvía a abrirse sola cada vez que la cerraban

«It was therefore resolved to keep the doors of the temple of Janus open in time of war, as though to indicate that the god had gone forth to help the city.» — Praetextatus deriva de ahí la costumbre de tener abiertas las puertas del templo de Jano en tiempo de guerra, como señal de que el dios salió en auxilio de la ciudad

«Masurius and others believed that the Saturnalia were held on one day, the fourteenth day before the Kalends of January, and» — Praetextatus contrapone a Masurio, que da la fiesta de un solo día; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«their opinion is corroborated by Fenestella when he says that the virgin Aemilia was condemned on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of January; for, had that day been a day on which the festival of the Saturnalia was being celebrated, she could not by any means have been called on to plead,» — Continuación: Fenestela apoya el cómputo de Masurio con el proceso de la virgen Emilia, que no habría podido alegar en día de fiesta

«Whereupon the men who were guarding the approach to the gate fled in terror, and the Sabines were just about to burst in through the open gate when (so the story goes) a great stream of water came gushing in a torrent through it from the temple of Janus» — Continuación del prodigio: al huir los guardias, un gran torrente de agua brotó del templo de Jano contra los sabinos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«that Saturn and Ops represent heaven and earth, the name Saturn being derived from the word for growth from seed (satus), since such growth is the gift of heaven, and the name Ops being identified with earth, either because it is by her bounty (ops) that life is nourished or because the name comes from the toil (opus) which is needed to bring forth the fruits of trees and fields.» — Praetextatus recoge la lectura física del par Saturno y Ops como cielo y tierra, con las etimologías de *satus*, *ops* y *opus*

«When men make prayer to Ops they sit and are careful to touch the earth, signifying thereby that the earth is the very mother of mortals and is to be approached as such.» — Praetextatus explica el gesto de sentarse y tocar la tierra al orar a Ops: la tierra es la madre misma de los mortales

«Philochorus says that Cecrops was the first to build, in Attica, an altar to Saturn and Ops, worshiping these deities as Jupiter and Earth, and to ordain that, when crops and fruits had been garnered, the head of a household everywhere should eat thereof in company with the slaves with whom he had borne the toil of cultivating the land, for it was well pleasing to the god that honor should be paid to the slaves in consideration of their labor. And that is why we follow the practice of a foreign land and offer sacrifice to Saturn with the head uncovered.» — Praetextatus cita a Filocoro sobre el altar ateniense a Saturno y Ops y sobre la comida del amo con sus esclavos, de donde dice venir el sacrificio a Saturno con la cabeza descubierta

«I think that we have now given abundant proof that the festival of the Saturnalia used to be celebrated on only one day, the fourteenth before the Kalends of January, but that it was afterward prolonged to last three days: first, in consequence of the days which Caesar added to the month of December, and then in pursuance of an edict of Augustus which prescribed a series of three rest days for the Saturnalia. The festival therefore begins on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of January and ends on the fourteenth, which used to be the only day of its celebration.» — Praetextatus cierra el cómputo: un día en el origen, tres tras los días que añadió César y el edicto de Augusto

«However, the addition of the feast of the Sigillaria has extended the time of general excitement and religious rejoicing to seven days.» — Praetextatus consigna que la fiesta de la Sigillaria alargó a siete días el tiempo de regocijo

«Oh, said Evangelus, this is something that I cannot stand any longer: that our friend Praetextatus, to parade his learning and show how well he can talk, alike chose a moment ago to ascribe the practice of slaves taking meals with their masters to the cult of some god—as if, indeed, the gods would take any account of slaves or as if any sensible man would disgrace his house by keeping such low company in it—and is seeking now to refer to a religious rite the festival of the Sigillaria, the festival at which we amuse infants in arms with little masks of clay. He is regarded as a leading authority on matters of religion, and he makes that an excuse for bringing in the element of superstition.» — Evangelus objeta que Praetextatus haga alarde de saber y remita a culto divino tanto la comida de los esclavos como la Sigillaria, y lo acusa de introducir la superstición

«I am quite willing, Evangelus, for you to regard me as superstitious and unworthy of credence, if I fail to give reasons to prove to you that both my statements are true.» — Praetextatus acepta el reto y condiciona la acusación a que no dé razones de sus dos afirmaciones

«Are you joking or in earnest when you suggest that there are human beings whom the immortal gods regard as beneath their divine care and providence? Or perhaps you refuse to reckon a slave a human being?» — Praetextatus devuelve la objeción en forma de pregunta: si hay seres humanos que los dioses tengan por debajo de su cuidado y providencia, o si Evangelus se niega a contar al esclavo por hombre

«In the four hundred and seventy-fourth year after the foundation of Rome a certain Autronius Maximus, after flogging one of his slaves, had him fastened to a gibbet and led through the Circus before the beginning of the Games.! This conduct angered Jupiter, and he ordered a certain Annius in a dream to inform the Senate of his displeasure at the brutal act.» — Praetextatus refiere el caso de Autronio Máximo, que azotó y exhibió a un esclavo, y la cólera de Júpiter que ordenó en sueños avisar al Senado

«You see, then, Evangelus, what grave concern the greatest of the gods felt for a slave. But how do you come to have this bitter and groundless contempt for slaves, as though they were not made of and nourished by the same elements as yourself, drawing the breath of life as you do, and that from the same first principle?» — Praetextatus saca del prodigio su tesis: los esclavos están hechos de los mismos elementos y respiran del mismo principio primero

«For reflect, I pray you, that those whom you call your chattels are born in the same way as you, enjoy the same sky, live like you, and die like you.» — Praetextatus enuncia la igualdad de nacimiento, cielo, vida y muerte entre amo y esclavo

«“They are slaves,” you say.? No, they are human beings. You repeat, “They are slaves.” Very well then, they are your fellow slaves, if you will but bear in mind that you are as much at the mercy of fortune as they are.» — Praetextatus replica al *son esclavos* con la reciprocidad de la fortuna: son compañeros de servidumbre

«You may live to see your slave a free man and he to see you a slave. How old was Hecuba when she became a slave? How old was Croesus? The mother of Darius? Diogenes? Plato himself?» — Praetextatus arma la serie de los que cayeron en esclavitud: Hécuba, Creso, la madre de Darío, Diógenes, el propio Platón

«And, after all, why do we shudder so at the word slavery? Of course a man may be a slave, but it was his destiny, and it may well be that, although he is a slave, his spirit is free.» — Praetextatus separa la condición del ánimo: puede uno ser esclavo por destino y tener el espíritu libre

«For one man is a slave to lust, another to greed, another to a desire for power; all men are slaves to hope and all to fear. Assuredly, no form of slavery is more shameful than that which is self-imposed, [9] and yet, while we spurn as a worthless wretch one bent beneath the yoke which fate has placed upon him, we refuse to tolerate any criticism of the yoke which we have put upon our own necks.» — Praetextatus extiende la esclavitud a las pasiones y llama a la autoimpuesta la más vergonzosa de todas

«No, my good Evangelus, it is not only in the Forum and Senate House that you should seek a friend; look carefully, and you will find one in your home as well. All that you have to do is to show kindness and courtesy to the slave with whom you live, conversing with him and sometimes taking counsel with him as with a friend.» — Praetextatus aconseja buscar amigo también en casa y tratar al esclavo con cortesía y consejo

«Certainly it was that the master might never be the object of ill will nor the slave of insult that our ancestors called the master the father of the household and the slaves its members.» — Praetextatus explica por qué los antepasados llamaron padre de familia al amo y miembros a los esclavos

«And so, take my advice; let your slaves feel respect for you rather than fear. Perhaps someone will say that I am now degrading the master and, so to speak, emancipating the slave, in asserting, as I have, that a slave should show respect rather than fear. But to think thus will be to forget that what is enough for the gods is not too little for the master. Moreover, an object of respect is also an object of affection, and affection cannot be coupled with fear.» — Praetextatus pide respeto y no miedo, y objeta de antemano el reproche de rebajar al amo: lo que basta a los dioses no es poco para el amo

«What do you suppose was the origin of that oft-quoted and arrogant proverb which says that in every slave we possess we have an enemy? They are not our natural enemies, but we make them our enemies by the inordinate pride, insolence, and cruelty that we show toward them, when luxurious living makes us so prone to anger that to be crossed in anything leads to an outburst of violent rage.» — Praetextatus niega el proverbio de que en cada esclavo se tiene un enemigo: no lo son por naturaleza, sino por el orgullo, la insolencia y la crueldad del amo

«Hear, then, first, the story of Urbinus. He had been condemned to death and was in hiding on his estate at Reate, but the hiding place was betrayed. Whereupon one of his slaves, to represent him, put on his master’s ring and garments, lay down in the bedroom into which the pursuers were forcing their way, offered his neck to the swords as the soldiers entered and received the blow intended for his master.» — Praetextatus abre la serie de ejemplos con el esclavo de Urbino, que se vistió de su amo y recibió el golpe destinado a él

«Antius Restio had been proscribed and was fleeing, alone and by night. But, while the other slaves were plundering the man’s goods, one who had been put in irons and branded on the forehead was set free, after his master’s condemnation, by a compassionate stranger. This slave went in search of his fugitive master, urged him to be of good courage—for he knew, he said, that it was not his master but his own fate that should be regarded as responsible for the outrage he had suffered—hid him, and ministered to his needs.» — Praetextatus trae el caso más fuerte: el esclavo marcado y encadenado que socorrió a Antio Restio proscrito, culpando de su castigo a su propia suerte y no al amo

«Thus, in the [second] Punic War, when there was a shortage of citizens for enlistment in the army, slaves who undertook to fight in place of their masters were given the citizenship and called volunteers (volones), because their undertaking was voluntary.» — Praetextatus pasa al servicio público: los esclavos que pelearon en lugar de sus amos recibieron la ciudadanía y el nombre de *volones*

«Moreover, after the defeat at Cannae eight thousand slaves were bought to serve in the army; and, although it would have cost less to ransom the prisoners, the Romans in that emergency chose rather to entrust the defense of the state to slaves.» — Praetextatus consigna que tras Cannas Roma prefirió comprar ocho mil esclavos para el ejército antes que rescatar a los prisioneros, aunque costara más

«It is common knowledge that the Nones of July is the Festival of the Handmaids, both the origin of and the reason for this celebration being well known, for on that day women, free and slaves together, offer sacrifice to Juno Caprotina under a wild fig tree, to commemorate the generous courage with which female slaves were inspired to save the honor of Rome.» — Praetextatus explica las Nonas Caprotinas por el valor de las esclavas que salvaron el honor de Roma

«The Senators hesitated in anxious debate, but a female slave named Tutela (or Philotis) promised that she and the rest of the maidservants would represent their mistresses and surrender in their place. They therefore assumed the dress of the matrons and their daughters and, followed by a company whose tears gave convincing evidence of grief, were delivered to the enemy.» — Praetextatus refiere el ofrecimiento de la esclava Tutela, o Filotis, de suplantar con sus compañeras a las matronas y entregarse en su lugar

«A sudden attack by the Romans was successful, and the Senate in gratitude ordered all the slaves to be manumitted, gave them dowries from the public funds, and allowed them to wear the style of dress which they had assumed. The day itself was named Nomae Caprotinae, after that wild fig tree (caprificus) from which the signal that led to the victory was received» — Praetextatus cierra el relato: el Senado manumitió a las esclavas, las dotó del erario y dio nombre al día por la higuera silvestre desde la que llegó la señal

«Nor is the intelligence of a slave unsuited to or incapable of the study of philosophy. Phaedo (one of the disciples of Socrates and so close a friend of both Socrates and Plato that the latter named after him his inspired book on the immortality of the soul) was a slave, although his person and his talents were those of a free man. Cebes, himself a follower of Socrates, is said to have bought him, at the latter’s instigation, and to have had him trained in philosophy.» — Praetextatus niega que la inteligencia del esclavo sea inepta para la filosofía y pone por caso a Fedón, discípulo de Sócrates y título del libro de Platón sobre la inmortalidad del alma

«There were not a, few other slaves, too, who afterward became distinguished philosophers, and among them the well-known Menippus whose books Marcus Varro has sought to rival in the satires which he calls “Menippean,” although others call them “Cynic.” Furthermore, Pompylus, a slave of Theophrastus the Peripatetic, a slave of Zeno the Stoic called Perseus, and a slave of Epicurus whose. name was Mys were philosophers of note who lived at that time. Diogenes the Cynic was also a slave, although he was in fact a free man who had been sold into slavery.» — Praetextatus enumera esclavos vueltos filósofos célebres: Menipo, Pompilo, Perseo, Mis y el propio Diógenes el cínico

«As for the famous philosopher Epictetus, he is too fresh in our memories for the fact that he also was a slave to be reckoned among things forgotten and unknown.» — Praetextatus cierra la serie con Epicteto, demasiado reciente para contarlo entre lo olvidado

«You now have a case made out, I think, to prove that the name of slave is not to be regarded with aversion and contempt, since even Jupiter has been moved to take thought for a slave; and it has been established that many slaves have shown themselves to be loyal, prudent, brave—and even philosophers.» — Praetextatus recapitula su alegato: el nombre de esclavo no merece aversión ni desprecio, y muchos esclavos se mostraron leales, prudentes, valientes y aun filósofos

«Epicadus relates that Hercules after killing Geryon drove his herds in triumph through Italy and from a bridge (now known as the Sublician Bridge), which had been built for the occasion, cast into the river a number of human figures equal to the number of the comrades he had chanced to lose on his journey, his object being to ensure that these figures might be carried by the current to the sea and so, as it were, to restore to their ancestral homes the bodies of the dead.» — Praetextatus da la versión de Epicado sobre el origen de la Sigillaria: las figuras humanas arrojadas al río desde el puente Sublicio por los compañeros perdidos

«In my opinion, however, a truer account of the origin of this practice is that which, I remember, I recently recalled,® namely, that, when the Pelasgians learned, by a happier interpretation of the words, that “heads” meant heads of clay not heads of living men and came to understand that QOTOS meant “of a light” as well as “of a man,” they began to kindle wax tapers in honor of Saturn, in preference to their former ritual, and to carry little masks to the chapel of Dis, which adjoins the altar of Saturn, instead of human heads.» — Praetextatus prefiere la explicación pelasga por el doble sentido de la palabra griega, y con ella las velas y las máscaras en lugar de cabezas humanas

«These days, in consequence, are only rest days (feriatos), not all of them are festivals.» — Praetextatus distingue días feriados de días festivos dentro de los siete

«Thus, in Arcadia the year was arranged into three months; in Acarnania into six; and the rest of the Greeks reckoned that their own year properly consisted of three hundred and fifty-four days.» — Praetextatus contrapone los cómputos griegos: tres meses en Arcadia, seis en Acarnania y trescientos cincuenta y cuatro días en el resto

«With these variations it is not surprising that of old Rome too had its own year, arranged—on the authority of Romulus—in a series of ten months. The year used to begin in March and to consist of three hundred and four days» — Praetextatus data el año romuleo de diez meses y trescientos cuatro días, comenzado en marzo

«Such was the arrangement made by Romulus; and he dedicated the first month of the year to his father, Mars. That March was the first month of the year is shown most clearly by the fact that Quintilis is the fifth month after it and that thereafter the months took their names from their numerical order.» — Praetextatus liga el primer mes a Marte, padre de Rómulo, y prueba la primacía de marzo por el orden numérico de los meses siguientes

«Moreover, on the first day of March a new fire was kindled on the altars of Vesta, that the charge to keep a new fire alight might begin with the beginning of the year. At the beginning of March, too, new laurel wreaths replaced the old in the Royal Palace (Regia) and also in the meeting places of the Tribes and in the houses of the flamens; and in the same month people went to Anna Perenna to offer public and private sacrifices for prosperity throughout the year and for years to come.» — Praetextatus enumera los ritos del primero de marzo: fuego nuevo en los altares de Vesta, laureles nuevos en la Regia y sacrificios a Anna Perenna

«In March schoolmasters were paid their dues for the year that had been completed; the Assemblies held their first meeting; the taxes were put out to farm; and matrons would wait on their slaves at dinner, just as the masters of the household did at the Saturnalia—the women by this compliment calling on the slaves at the beginning of the year to give ready obedience, the men rendering thanks for service done.» — Praetextatus consigna que en marzo las matronas servían a sus esclavas como los amos en los Saturnales, y da la razón de cada gesto

«Certainly in the twelve signs of the Zodiac as well, each of which is held to be the appointed abode of an appointed deity, the first sign, the Ram, has been allotted to Mars and thereafter the next in order, the Bull, to Venus.» — Praetextatus asigna cada signo del zodíaco a una divinidad y da el Carnero a Marte y el Toro a Venus

«Again, the Scorpion, which is placed over against these two signs, is so divided as to be common to Mars and Venus. And in this division there is held to be evidence of a divine plan, for the hinder part of the Scorpion, which is armed with a sting as with a powerful dart, is the house of Mars, and the part in front, which the Greeks call “the Yoke” and we call “the Balance,” belongs to Venus, who (as it were with a yoke of harmony) joins in marriage and unites in friendship.» — Praetextatus reparte el Escorpión entre Marte y Venus: la cola armada de aguijón para Marte y la parte delantera, la Balanza, para Venus, que une en matrimonio y en amistad

«Cingius, however, in the treatise on the calendar which he has left us, says that certain writers show their ignorance in supposing that the ancients named the month of April after Venus, since in the course of this month no festival, no notable sacrifice, was appointed in her honor by our ancestors, nor are her praises sung, as are those of the other deities, even in the hymns of the Salii.» — Praetextatus trae la objeción de Cingio: nadie dedicó a Venus fiesta ni sacrificio en abril, ni la cantan los himnos de los Salios

«Varro, too, agrees with Cingius, stating that even in the time of the kings the name of Venus, in either its Latin or its Greek form, was unknown at Rome, so that the month of April could not have been named after her.» — Praetextatus suma a Varrón contra la etimología de abril por Venus: el nombre de la diosa era desconocido en Roma en tiempo de los reyes

«But, whereas before the vernal equinox the sky is generally dull and overcast, the sea closed to shipping, and the land itself covered with water, frost, or snow, and whereas in the spring, that is to say in the month of April, ail the above become open (aperiantur), and the trees too, and everything else that the earth holds, begin to open out into buds, we must understand that it is from all these signs of opening that the month is deservedly called Aprilis, as though for Aperilis—just as at Athens the corresponding month is called Anthesterion, because everything is then in flower.» — Praetextatus da la etimología alternativa de abril por *aperire*, el abrirse del cielo, del mar y de los brotes, con el paralelo ateniense del mes de las flores

«Fulvius Nobilior, in the calendar which he deposited in the temple of Hercules “Leader of the Muses,” says that Romulus, after dividing the people into “older” (maiores) and “younger” (iuniores)—to the end that the former should protect the state by counsel and the latter by arms—honored each class by calling this month May (Maius) and the month that followed, June» — Praetextatus recoge la explicación de Fulvio Nobilior: mayo y junio nombrados por las dos clases de edad en que Rómulo dividió al pueblo

«Some assert (and Cornelius Labeo agrees with them) that the Maia to whom sacrifice is offered in the month of May is the earth, and that Earth received the name Maia from its great size (magnitudine)—just as in the course of her rites Maia is also called the Great Mother—and they, further, infer the truth of this opinion of theirs from the practice of sacrificing to the goddess a pregnant sow, which is the victim properly offered to Earth. They say too that Mercury is associated with the goddess in the rites because a human being receives the power of utterance at birth by contact with the earth, and, as we know, Mercury is the god of utterance and speech.» — Praetextatus recoge con Cornelio Labeón la identificación de Maia con la Tierra y explica por qué se le une Mercurio: el recién nacido recibe el habla al tocar la tierra

«Cornelius Labeo is the authority for the statement that it was on the Kalends of May that a temple was dedicated to Maia, as the Earth, under the name of the Good Goddess, and he affirms that it can be shown from the more secret ritual itself of the sacrifice that the Good Goddess and Earth are identical. He adds that in the books of the pontiffs this same goddess is invoked as the Good Goddess and as Fauna, Ops,» — Praetextatus cita a Cornelio Labeón para identificar a la Buena Diosa con la Tierra y enumera los nombres con que los libros pontificales la invocan

«as Good, because she is the source of all that is good for the maintenance of our life; as Fauna, because she is favorable (favet) to everything that serves the needs of living creatures; as Ops [help], because it is on her help that life depends; and as Fatua, from fando (speech), since, as we have just said, infants at birth cannot utter a sound until they have touched the earth.» — Praetextatus glosa uno a uno los nombres de la diosa: Buena, Fauna, Ops y Fatua

«There are those who say that this goddess has the power of Juno and for that reason bears a royal scepter in her left hand. Others believe that she is to be identified with Proserpine and say that sacrifice is made to her with a sow, because a sow devoured the crops which Ceres gave to mortals. Others again hold that she is “Hecate of the Nether World,” and the Boeotians, that she is Semele.» — Praetextatus alinea sin arbitrar las identificaciones rivales de la diosa: Juno, Prosérpina, Hécate de los infiernos y, para los beocios, Sémele

«In Greece she is called the “Goddess of Women,” and Varro (who says that she was the daughter of Faunus) adds that she was so modest that she never went outside the women’s quarters, that her name was never heard in public, and that she never saw, or was seen by, a man—this being the reason why no man enters her temple.» — Praetextatus cita a Varrón sobre la modestia de la diosa, que nunca salió del gineceo ni fue vista por varón, como razón de que ningún hombre entre en su templo

«Carna is believed to be the goddess concerned with the care of man’s vital organs, and it is to her that one prays for the good preservation of the liver and heart and all the inward parts; and, since it was thanks to his heart that Brutus practiced the deception which won him a reputation for stupidity ® and so enabled him to come forward and reform the state, he honored with a temple the goddess who has the care of these vital organs.» — Praetextatus explica el templo de Carna por su oficio sobre las vísceras y liga el voto de Junio Bruto a que fue su corazón el que le permitió fingir estupidez

«I shall judge my fellow men, then, not by their lot in life but by their character, since a man’s character is» — Praetextatus fija su criterio: juzgar por el carácter y no por la suerte; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«his gift to himself, but his status is assigned to him by chance. For just as a man is a fool who in buying a horse looks at its saddlecloth and bridle instead of at the animal’s points, so the biggest of fools is the man who thinks that a fellow man should be judged by his clothing or by his rank (which is no more than a garment to clothe us» — Continuación: el carácter es don de uno mismo y la condición se la asigna el azar, como es necio quien compra un caballo mirando la gualdrapa

«That is why these slaves who may not speak before their master speak of him behind his back. But those who were free to speak not only» — Praetextatus contrapone los esclavos amordazados, que hablan a espaldas del amo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«in their master’s presence but also with him, whose mouths were not, so to speak, sewn up, they were found ready to lay down their lives for their master and to bring on their own heads the danger which threatened him; they would speak at table, but under torture they would hold their tongues.» — Continuación: los que podían hablar con el amo daban la vida por él y bajo tortura callaban

«cordance with an agreed plan, attacked their house and dragged the woman out with every appearance of threatening to wreak vengeance on her, crying out to all that met them that at last they had the chance to punish a cruel mistress. But after carrying their mistress away as though to kill her, they protected her with the greatest respect and loyalty.» — Continuación: fingieron arrastrar a su ama para vengarse de ella y la protegieron con el mayor respeto y lealtad

«The Egyptians,? he said, are the only people who have always had an exact method of determining the measurement of the year. With other nations the methods varied; and, although the numbering might be different, all alike were in error.» — Praetextatus concede solo a los egipcios un método exacto de medir el año y dice que los demás pueblos erraban aunque numeraran distinto

«June? follows May, and the name of the month is derived either (as I have already said) from the name given to a section of the people or (as Cingius thinks) from the fact that it was previously called Junonius in Latium and for long appeared under this name in the calendars of Aricia and Praeneste. Indeed, as Nisus says in his Commentaries on the Calendar, our ancestors for long continued to use this name for the month, but later certain letters dropped out and from Junonius the month came to be called Junius.» — Praetextatus da las dos etimologías de junio: la clase de edad y el antiguo *Junonius* del Lacio, conservado en los calendarios de Aricia y Preneste

«At the siege of Grumentum certain slaves left their mistress and went over to the enemy. When the town had fallen, these slaves, in ac» — Praetextatus refiere la estratagema de los esclavos de Grumento; el tramo se corta en el límite de chunk

«Whereas it is in the month of Sextilis that the Emperor Caesar Augustus has assumed his first consulate and has thrice® entered the city in triumph and that the legions have marched down from the Janiculum faithfully following his leadership; and whereas it is in this month that Egypt has been brought under the power of the Roman people and it is in this month that civil wars have been ended; and whereas for these reasons this month is and has been the happiest of months for this Empire: resolved that this month be called Augustus.”» — El decreto del Senado que Praetextatus transcribe para el cambio de nombre de Sextilis a Augusto, con sus considerandos: primer consulado, tres triunfos, Egipto sometido y fin de las guerras civiles

«The month of September keeps its original name. Domitian indeed had imposed on it the name of Germanicus and had given his own to October.» — Praetextatus consigna que Domiciano impuso el nombre de Germánico a septiembre y el suyo a octubre

«But, when it was resolved to erase an ill-omened name from every monument of bronze or stone that bore it, these months too were divested of the titles which a tyrant had compelled them to bear. All subsequent emperors were careful to avoid the unhappy consequences of an ill omen, and so the months from September to December retained their ancient names.» — Praetextatus explica la vuelta atrás: borrado el nombre de mal agüero de todo monumento, los meses recobraron sus nombres antiguos y los emperadores siguientes evitaron repetirlo

«But, since this method of reckoning agreed neither with the course of the sun nor the phases of the moon, it sometimes happened that the cold season fell in the summer months and, on the other hand, the hot season in the winter months; and, on these occasions, as many days were allowed to pass unassigned to any named month as were needed to make the current month fit the season of the year and the appearance of the sky.» — Praetextatus señala el defecto del año romuleo: ni concordaba con el sol ni con la luna, y se dejaban correr días sin mes para ajustar la estación

«Romulus was succeeded by Numa. From such knowledge as he could acquire with only his natural genius to teach him—living, as he did, in an unkindly climate and in an age that was still uncivilized—or perhaps learning something from the practice of the Greeks, Numa added fifty days to the year, to enlarge it to three hundred and fifty-four days, the period which he believed to correspond with the completion of twelve circuits of the moon.» — Praetextatus atribuye a Numa el año de trescientos cincuenta y cuatro días, por doce vueltas de la luna, y deja abierto si lo supo por genio propio o por los griegos

«The first of those two months he named January and made it the first month of the year, as the month of the two-faced god who looks back to the year that is past and forward to the beginnings of the year to come.» — Praetextatus explica enero por el dios de dos caras que mira al año pasado y al que viene

«The second month he dedicated to Februus, the god who is believed to have charge over ceremonies of purification; for it was necessary that the city should be purified in the month in which Numa ordained the payment of due rites to the departed spirits.» — Praetextatus explica febrero por Februus, dios de las purificaciones, y por los ritos a los difuntos que Numa fijó en ese mes

«Numa added a day to the year and assigned this day to January, in order that the principle of the odd number might be preserved and both the year and each month, with the sole exception of February, consist of an odd number of days. For, in a series. of twelve months, if each month contained either an even or an odd number of days, the total number of days would be an even number, but to give one of the months an even number of days made the total of the number of days in the year an odd number.» — Praetextatus explica el día añadido a enero por el culto del número impar, que la naturaleza había revelado aun antes de Pitágoras

«February alone kept its twenty-eight days, as though the shortness of the month and the even number of its days befitted the denizens of the world below.» — Praetextatus explica la excepción de febrero: su brevedad y su número par convenían a los habitantes del mundo de abajo

«For, when the Greeks noticed that they had been careless in fixing the number of days in a year at three hundred and fifty-four (since the sun takes three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days to complete its course through the zodiac, and it was therefore clear that their year was eleven and a quarter days too short) they devised a regular system of intercalation by which they inserted ninety days, arranged in three months of thirty days apiece, in each period of eight years.» — Praetextatus expone el ciclo griego de intercalación: noventa días en tres meses cada ocho años para cubrir los once y cuarto que faltaban

«The Romans resolved to follow this system too, but they were not successful, since they overlooked the fact that, as I have already reminded you, they had added one day to the Greek reckoning out of respect for the odd number, with the result that over the period of eight years there could be no conformity with the true position either in the number of the intercalated days or in their place in the calendar.» — Praetextatus explica por qué el sistema falló en Roma: el día añadido por el número impar rompía la conformidad del ciclo

«Intercalation was always made in the month of February, as the last month of the year;* and here too the Romans followed the example of the Greeks, who also used to insert the supernumerary days in the last month of their year, as Glaucippus tells us, the author of an account of the sacred rites of the Athenians.» — Praetextatus sitúa la intercalación en febrero como último mes del año y la remite al uso griego que refiere Glaucipo

«for, whereas the Greeks inserted these days at the end of the last month of the year, the Romans made the intercalation not at the end of February but after the twenty-third day of that month, that is to say, after the celebration of the festival of the Terminalia was over. They made the five remaining days of February follow the intercalation, in accordance, I take it, with their old religious custom, namely, to ensure that March should in any case come immediately after February.» — Praetextatus marca la diferencia romana: la intercalación no al final de febrero sino tras los Terminalia, para que marzo siguiera de inmediato

«Whenever the day with which a year began was a market day, the whole of that year was one of unhappy occurrences and full of sorrow» — Praetextatus consigna la creencia de que el año que empezaba en día de mercado era año de desgracias, y trae el disturbio de Lépido en apoyo

«As for the Nones, it was considered that a meeting of the whole population should be avoided on that day because the Roman people, even after the expulsion of the kings, paid particular honor to the Nones, which they believed to be the birthday of Servius Tullius. For, although the month of his birth was uncertain, it was generally agreed that he was born on the Nones, and noticeably large crowds used therefore to collect every month to celebrate that day; and, since those who had charge of the calendar were afraid that, if the whole population assembled for market on those days, regret for the monarchy might lead to an attempt at revolution» — Praetextatus explica el temor a que mercado y Nonas coincidieran: las Nonas se tenían por el natalicio de Servio Tulio y la multitud podía derivar en añoranza de la monarquía

«Different accounts are given of the beginning of the practice of intercalation.» — Praetextatus alinea sin arbitrar las atribuciones del origen de la intercalación: Licinio Macro a Rómulo, Ancias a Numa, Junio a Servio Tulio, Tuditano y Casio a los decemviros, Fulvio a Manio Acilio, y Varrón a una vieja ley en columna de bronce

«But, nevertheless, religious scruples at times led to the omission of all intercalation. And sometimes indeed the number of days in a year was increased or reduced through the influence of the priests, who deliberately lengthened or shortened the year in the interest of the tax collectors, with the result that a pretence of exactly observing the calendar in fact added to the confusion in it.» — Praetextatus consigna el abuso: los sacerdotes alargaban o acortaban el año en interés de los recaudadores, de modo que la pretensión de exactitud aumentaba la confusión

«Subsequently, however, since there was thus no consistency in the marking of the times and seasons but all was. still vague and uncertain, Gaius Caesar introduced a clearly defined arrangement of the calendar, with the help of a clerk named Marcus Flavius, who provided the dictator with a list of the several days so arranged that their order could be easily found and, that order once found, the position of each day would remain constant.» — Praetextatus atribuye a Cayo César la ordenación clara del calendario con ayuda del escribano Marco Flavio

«For just as the lunar cycle is the month, since the moon takes rather less than a month to make a circuit of the zodiac, so the solar cycle must be reckoned by the number of days which the sun takes to turn again to that sign of the zodiac from which it began its course.» — Praetextatus define el ciclo solar por el retorno del sol al signo desde el que partió

«Julius Caesar’ therefore added ten days to the old arrangement of the calendar, in order that the year might consist of the three hundred and sixty-five days which the sun takes to pass through the zodiac; and, to allow for the remaining quarter of a day, he ordained that the priest in charge of the months and days should insert one day every fourth year in that month, and in that part of it, in which of old an intercalary month used to be inserted, that is to say, immediately before the last five days of February. This intercalary day he ordered to be called bissextus» — Praetextatus detalla la reforma juliana: diez días añadidos y un día cada cuatro años antes de los últimos cinco de febrero, llamado *bissextus*

«No addition was made to the month of February, lest changes in connection with the worship of the gods below might result, and March, May, Quintilis, and October remained as they had been of old, because they already had the full complement of thirty-one days apiece.» — Praetextatus explica por qué febrero no recibió días: para no alterar el culto de los dioses de abajo

«Moreover, he caused these additional days to be marked in the calendar as fasti, so as to make more time available for legal business; and he not only arranged that all these days should be such days of legal business but also that none should be a day on which an assembly might be held, his intention being that this increase in the number of the days should not add to a magistrate’s power to exercise undue influence.» — Praetextatus consigna la intención política de la reforma: días de negocio judicial pero no de asamblea, para que el aumento no diera al magistrado más influencia indebida

«This error continued for thirty-six years, by which time twelve intercalary days had been inserted instead of the number actually due, namely, nine. But, when this error was at length recognized, it too was corrected, by an order of Augustus that twelve years should be allowed to pass without an intercalary day, since a sequence of twelve such years would account for those three days too many which, in the course of the thirty-six years, had been introduced by the premature action of the priests.» — Praetextatus refiere la corrección de Augusto: doce años sin día intercalar para compensar los tres de más

«This insertion of an intercalary day at the beginning of every fifth year, said Horus, agrees with the practice which obtains in Egypt, the mother of the arts. But there the arrangement of the months seems to present no difficulty: all the months have thirty days each, and at the end of the twelve months (that is to say, after three hundred and sixty days) the remaining five days of a year are then duly inserted between August and September, with an addition at the end of every fourth year of the intercalary day which represents the four quarter-days.» — Horus contrapone el uso egipcio: doce meses de treinta días, cinco epagómenos entre agosto y septiembre y el intercalar cada cuatro años

«Nor do I see any reason to be ashamed of my ignorance, for I am a foreigner, and even a citizen of Rome would feel it no shame to be taught by you, Praetextatus.» — Horus declara no avergonzarse de su ignorancia por ser extranjero, y añade que ni un ciudadano romano se avergonzaría de aprender de Praetextatus

«When Romulus was organizing his kingdom with an understanding keen indeed but-untrained, he reckoned the beginning of each month from the day on which the new moon had chanced to appear.» — Praetextatus deriva el mes romuleo de la aparición de la luna nueva

«In early times, then, before the clerk Gnaeus Flavius (against the wishes of the Senate) had published a calendar there used to be assigned to a minor priest the duty of watching for the first appearance of the new moon and reporting its appearance to the high priest.» — Praetextatus describe el oficio del pontífice menor que vigilaba la primera aparición de la luna nueva antes de que Gneo Flavio publicara el calendario contra la voluntad del Senado

«Moreover, as for the name “Ides,” it is borrowed from the Etruscans, who call the day “Itis,” meaning by the word “Pledge of Jupiter.” For since we take Jupiter to be the author of light— and that is why the Salii in their chants sing of him as “Bringer of Light” (Lucetius) and the Cretans call him “The Day” (Aia) —the Romans also address him as “Father of the Day”» — Praetextatus deriva los Idus del etrusco *Itis*, Prenda de Júpiter, y reúne los nombres de Júpiter como autor de la luz

«And that day is rightly called “Pledge of Jupiter” on which the light does not end with the setting of the sun but even through the night moonlight prolongs the brightness of the day, for the Ides always fall at the time of the full moon, that is to say, in the middle of the month. To the day therefore in which there is no darkness even at night men have given the Etruscan name of “Pledge of Jupiter”; and that is why ancient usage has ordained that all the Ides are to be kept as rest days sacred to Jupiter.» — Praetextatus explica el nombre por la noche sin oscuridad: los Idus caen en luna llena y la luz no acaba con el ocaso

«Others think that the Ides were called Vidus, from videndo [seeing], because the full moon is seen on that day; and that the letter “‘v” was afterward dropped, just as by a contrary operation we have added a “v” to the Greek word for “to see,” idsiv, and say videre. Again, some believe that the word “Ides” comes from the Greek word sidoc, “form,” because the shape of the moon is fully shown on that day;» — Praetextatus alinea las etimologías rivales de los Idus, por *videre* y por la palabra griega de forma, sin decidir entre ellas

«Caesar therefore began the new arrangement of the calendar by using up all the days which could still have caused confusion, with the result that the last of the years of uncertainty was prolonged to one of four hundred and forty-three days. Then, copying the Egyptians—the only people who fully understood the principles of astronomy— he endeavored to arrange the year to conform to the duration of the course of the sun, which it takes three hundred and sixty-five days and a quarter to complete.» — Praetextatus data el año de la confusión en cuatrocientos cuarenta y tres días y dice que César copió a los egipcios, únicos que entendían a fondo la astronomía

«for they proceeded to insert the intercalary day, which represented the four quarter-days, at the beginning of each fourth year instead of at its end, although the intercalation ought to have been made at the end of each fourth year and before the beginning of the fifth.» — Praetextatus consigna el error de los sacerdotes tras la reforma: intercalaban al principio del cuarto año y no al final

«meaning “I call,” and so it was decided that the first of the days thus “called” should be named the “Kalends.”» — Praetextatus deriva *Kalendae* del verbo griego de llamar, por la proclamación del pontífice menor

«In our opinion, however, a truer explanation of the name is that we call the day which “divides” the month the “Ides”; for in the Etruscan language iduare means “to divide”; so that the word for “widow” (vidua) would seem either to be an emphatic form of idua, that is to say, “utterly divided’? or else to mean “divided from a husband”» — Praetextatus prefiere la etimología de los Idus por el etrusco *iduare*, dividir, y la extiende a la palabra para viuda

«As all the Ides are assigned to Jupiter, so all the Kalends are Juno’s. We have this on the authority of both Varro and the priests. And, moreover, the Laurentines keep up this tradition in their ancestral observances, for from their ritual they have given the goddess a distinctive epithet, speaking of her as “Juno of the Kalends,” and, further, they make prayer to this goddess on the Kalends of every month from March to December.» — Praetextatus reparte el mes entre dos divinidades: los Idus de Júpiter y las Calendas de Juno, con el uso laurentino de Juno de las Calendas

«Indeed, since it was the custom of our ancestors to begin the month with the first appearance of the moon, they rightly assigned the Kalends to Juno, for they identified her with the moon.» — Praetextatus liga las Calendas a Juno por la identificación de la diosa con la luna

«Or else the explanation is to be found in the fact that the moon travels through the air (and this is why the Greeks called the moon Artemis, that is to say, Gepdtopic, because she “cleaves the air”), and Juno is the ruler of the air, so that the beginning of a month, the Kalends, was properly dedicated to her.» — Praetextatus da la explicación alternativa: Juno rige el aire, y por eso le toca el comienzo del mes

«I must not omit to mention that our ancestors held that marriages should not be joined on the Kalends, Nones, and Ides, since these days are under a religious ban and must therefore be avoided. With the exception of the Nones the days are in fact rest days, and atonement must be made for an act of violence done to anyone on such days. It would seem that in marriage an act of violence is done to a virgin, and the celebration of a marriage on a rest day is therefore eschewed.» — Praetextatus explica el veto a casarse en Calendas, Nonas e Idus: en el matrimonio se hace violencia a una virgen y en día feriado eso exige expiación

«Numa, having divided the year into months, went on to divide each month into days, all of which were known as “festivals” or “working days” or “half-festivals.” The festivals are days dedicated to the gods; on the working days men may transact their private and public business; and the half-festivals are days shared between gods and men.» — Praetextatus expone la división de los días en festivos, laborables y mitad y mitad, con la definición de cada clase

«Public rest days are of four kinds: they are either “fixed,” “movable,” “extraordinary,” or “market days.”» — Praetextatus clasifica los días feriados públicos en fijos, movibles, extraordinarios y de mercado

«Rest days are kept also by individuals, for example, on the occasion of a birthday, the fall of a thunderbolt, a funeral, or an act of atonement. Moreover, it was the custom of old that anyone who had mentioned by name the deities Salus, Semonia, Seia, Segetia, or Tutilina used to observe the day as a rest day. And, in the same way, whenever the wife of a flamen heard thunder, she kept a rest day until such time as she had appeased the gods.» — Praetextatus enumera los feriados privados, incluido el de quien hubiera nombrado a ciertas deidades y el de la mujer del flamen que oyera un trueno

«Scaevola, in fact, when asked what might be done on a rest day replied that anything might be done which it would be harmful to have left undone.» — Praetextatus cita la respuesta de Escévola sobre el día feriado: puede hacerse aquello que sería dañoso dejar sin hacer

«And that is why Vergil, who is aa authority in every branch of learning, knowing that sheep are washed either to clean the wool or to cure mange, declared that a sheep might be dipped on a rest day, if the intention was to effect some cure, as appears from the line: To dip the bleating flock into the health-giving stream? [Georgics 1.272] for the use of the adjective “health-giving” makes it clear that the action is permissible only if its aim is to prevent disease and if there is no ulterior motive of cleaning the wool to make a profit.» — Praetextatus usa a Virgilio como autoridad de derecho sacro: el adjetivo *saludable* del verso marca que bañar la oveja solo vale si busca curarla y no lucrar con la lana

«Court days, or “days of utterance” (fasti), are the days on which the praetor may pronounce the three prescribed formulas: “I grant, I pronounce, I adjudge”;? and opposed to these days are the days on which these words may not be uttered (nefasti).» — Praetextatus define los días de tribunal por las tres fórmulas que el pretor puede pronunciar, y los nefastos por lo contrario

«Now when the Latiar, that is, the celebration of the Latin Festival, is proclaimed, and during the days of the Saturnalia, and also when the entrance to the underworld is open,> religion forbids the joining of battle» — Praetextatus enumera los tiempos en que la religión veda trabar batalla: las Ferias Latinas, los Saturnales y los días en que está abierta la entrada del mundo de abajo

«during the festival of Saturn, because his reign is believed to have been free from any tumult of war; and when the entrance to the underworld is open, this being a sacred occasion dedicated to Father Dis and Proserpine, and men deemed it better to go out to battle when the jaws of Pluto are shut.» — Praetextatus da las razones de cada veto: el reinado de Saturno se tiene por libre de tumulto de guerra, y con las fauces de Plutón abiertas se juzgaba mejor no salir a pelear

«Nevertheless, one must bear in mind that it was only if the Romans were themselves declaring war that they recognized the need to choose a permissible day of battle; when they were being attacked, the nature of the day did not debar them from defending themselves and the honor of Rome. For what room is there for regarding a religious observance, if one has no choice in the matter?» — Praetextatus acota el veto: valía solo cuando Roma declaraba la guerra, no cuando era atacada, porque no hay observancia donde no hay elección

«The days after the Kalends, Nones, and Ides were regarded by our ancestors as days to be avoided for any undertaking; and they would seem to have shown their condemnation of those days by giving them the ill-omened style of “black” days, although some people, as though to modify such expression of disapproval, have called the days “common” days [as being unlucky for all alike» — Praetextatus consigna los días negros y la atenuación de quienes prefirieron llamarlos comunes

«In 363 a.u.c. the military tribunes Virginius, Manlius, Aemilius, Postumius, and their colleagues discussed in the Senate the reason for the many disasters which had befallen the state within the space of a few years; and by order of the senators the soothsayer Lucius Aquinius was summoned to the House to be questioned on matters relating to religious observances.» — Praetextatus data la consulta del Senado al arúspice Lucio Aquinio sobre la causa de los desastres de aquellos años

«Whereupon the Senate ordered the question of these religious observances to be referred to the college of pontiffs, who declared that the morrow of all Kalends, Nones, and Ides were to be regarded as “black” days; so that these days were neither days on which battle might be offered, nor days free from religious restrictions,’ nor days on which assemblies of the people might be held.» — Praetextatus refiere el dictamen del colegio pontifical: los días siguientes a Calendas, Nonas e Idus quedaron por negros y sin batalla, sin culto ni asamblea

«Varro, however, remarks that in military matters it is of no consequence at all whether a day be fastus or nefastus but that this distinction is concerned only with the acts of private persons.» — Praetextatus contrapone a Varrón, para quien la distinción entre fasto y nefasto no toca a lo militar sino solo a los actos de particulares

«Again, Julius Modestus declares that, when the augur Messala asked the pontiffs whether the Roman market days and Nones were to be included among the rest days, they replied that in their opinion market days were not rest days.» — Praetextatus suma la respuesta de los pontífices al augur Mesala, según Julio Modesto: los días de mercado no eran feriados

«On the other hand, however, Julius Caesar, in the sixteenth Book of his treatise on Auspices, says that a public meeting cannot be convened —that is, a matter cannot be referred to the people—on a market day, and so an assembly of the Roman people cannot be held on these days. Cornelius Labeo too, in the first Book of his Calendar, declares that market days are rest days.» — Praetextatus contrapone a Julio César y a Cornelio Labeón, que sí los tienen por feriados; el desacuerdo se consigna sin arbitrar

«A careful reader will find the explanation of this difference of opinion in the works of Granius Licinianus, in his second Book, where he says that market days are rest days sacred to Jupiter, since it is the custom for the wife of the flamen [of Jupiter] to sacrifice a ram to that god in the Royal Palace on every market day, but that the Hortensian Law made market days court days, in order that the country people, who used to come to Rome to market, might have an opportunity to settle their legal disputes; for the praetor might not pronounce the prescribed words on a day which was nefastus.» — Praetextatus resuelve la divergencia por Granio Liciniano: eran feriados de Júpiter hasta que la ley Hortensia los hizo días de tribunal para que los campesinos litigaran

«However, according to Rutilius, the Romans instituted market days in order that the country people, after working for eight [recte seven] days in the fields, should leave their work there on the ninth [recte eighth] day and come to Rome to sell their wares and to get information about the laws; and also that there might be a larger concourse of the people to hear the popular and senatorial decrees which might be brought before them, for matters published for a period of three market days!® would readily come to the knowledge of one and all.» — Praetextatus da la explicación de Rutilio: el mercado reunía a los campesinos para vender, informarse de las leyes y oír los decretos

«There is also a Roman goddess called Nundina, and she takes her name from the ninth day after the birth of a child. This day is called “the day of purification,” because on it an infant is purified and given a name: the day being for boys the ninth day after birth and for girls the eighth.» — Praetextatus consigna la diosa Nundina y el día lustral en que se purifica y se nombra al recién nacido, noveno para los niños y octavo para las niñas

«No one, interposed Eustathius, and certainly not Horus, who is a man of dignity and distinction—no one, in my opinion, could be so inept a judge as to fail to commend the arrangement of the Roman year, which has been corrected, as the saying is, to the fineness of a close-cut fingernail; and indeed one’s regard for that arrangement has been enhanced by the retentive memory and eloquent words of its exponent. Nor is it a matter for surprise that our system has escaped the tooth of censure, since Egypt was the authority for its latest reform.» — Eustathius elogia el calendario romano y remite su última reforma a la autoridad de Egipto

«For it was from Egyptian science that Julius Caesar drew his knowledge of the movements of the stars, a subject on which he has left some learned books; and it was from the Egyptian practice too that he borrowed the idea of increasing the length of the year to correspond to the complete course of the sun.» — Eustathius atribuye a la ciencia egipcia el saber astronómico de Julio César y la idea de ajustar el año al curso entero del sol

«I have asked myself earnestly and often how it is that we worship the sun sometimes as Apollo, sometimes as Liber, and at other times under a number of other different styles. And since, by the will of Heaven, you are the leading authority on all matters that have to do with religion, I beg you to go on and explain to me why one name should cover such a variety of other names.» — Avienus plantea a Praetextatus la cuestión que abre la teología solar: por qué se adora al sol ya como Apolo, ya como Líber, ya bajo otros nombres

«You must bear in mind, replied Vettius, that the company of poets in their stories about the gods usually borrow the elements of these stories from the secret places of philosophy; certainly it is not empty superstition but divine reason that makes them relate almost all the gods» — Praetextatus sienta el principio de su exposición: los poetas toman de los lugares secretos de la filosofía los elementos de sus relatos sobre los dioses, y no es superstición vacía sino razón divina lo que los mueve

«For if the sun, as men of old believed, “guides and directs the rest of the heavenly lights”! and alone presides over the planets in their courses, and if the movements of the planets themselves have power, as some think, to determine or (as it is agreed that Plotinus held) to foretell the sequence of human destinies, then we have to admit that the sun, as directing the powers that direct our affairs, is the author of all that goes on around us.» — Praetextatus deriva del gobierno solar sobre los planetas la conclusión de que el sol es autor de cuanto ocurre en torno nuestro, y remite a Plotino la opinión de que los movimientos planetarios predicen los destinos humanos

«And just as Vergil’s words “What divine power had been offended?”? although spoken of Juno alone, show that the various activities of a single deity are to be regarded as equivalent to as many various divinities, so the diverse powers of the sun have given names to as many gods. And this is the origin of the maxim proclaimed by the leading philosophers: that the Whole is One.» — Praetextatus enuncia la máxima que da forma a su exposición entera, que el Todo es Uno, apoyándola en que las diversas actividades de una sola divinidad valen por otras tantas divinidades

«Such is the origin of the names of the rest of the gods who are associated with the sun on a principle which is certain but mysterious. And since so great a mystery should be supported by something more than a bare statement, let us consult the old authorities for each of these names.» — Praetextatus declara el principio cierto pero misterioso que asocia a los demás dioses con el sol y anuncia que lo apoyará en los autores antiguos

«Thus Plato? writes that the sun is called Apollo because he hurls forth (&nondAAetv) his rays. Chrysippus says that the first letter of the name has a negative force‘ and that he is called Apollo as not being one of the many (moAA@v) paltry properties of fire; or because he is one and not many (noAAoi); for in Latin too the sun is called sol because he alone (solus) possesses such brilliance.» — Praetextatus alinea las etimologías de Apolo: la de Platón por el lanzar de los rayos y la de Crisipo por el alfa privativa, con el paralelo latino de *sol* por *solus*

«Others hold that the sun is called Apollo as destructive (anoAdbvta) of life; for it kills and destroys living creatures when it sends a pestilence among them in time of immoderate heat» — Praetextatus recoge la etimología que hace de Apolo el destructor de la vida, por la peste que el sol manda en el calor desmedido

«Varro indeed relates that Verrius Flaccus, a high authority on pontifical law, used to say that, since» — Praetextatus invoca a Verrio Flaco, autoridad en derecho pontifical; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«one might scour an old ditch on a rest day but might not dig a new one, it was more fitting for a widow than for a maid to be married on a rest day.» — Continuación del dicho: como se puede limpiar una acequia vieja y no cavar una nueva, conviene más que se case en día feriado una viuda que una doncella

«And that is why Varro writes: “When the entrance to the underworld is open, it is as if the door of the grim, infernal deities were open. A religious ban therefore forbids us not only to engage in battle but to levy troops and march to war, to weigh anchor, and to marry a wife for the raising of children.”» — El pasaje de Varrón que Praetextatus cita: abierta la entrada del mundo de abajo, la prohibición alcanza a pelear, reclutar, marchar, zarpar y tomar mujer

«did not count market days among them, but called market days only “customary”» — Continuación: Tito no los contaba entre los feriados y solo los llamaba acostumbrados

«The same poet, renowned as much for his sense of reverence as for his learning, aware that the Romans of old ordered the arrangement» — Eustathius introduce la lectura del verso virgiliano como respeto a las dos edades del calendario; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«of the year by the course of the moon and their successors by the course of the sun, showed his respect for the view of each age in the lines: You, who guide the passage of the gliding year through the heavens, Liber and kindly Ceres [Georgics 1. 5] for by this invocation he points to both the moon and the sun as the guides of the year.» — Continuación: la invocación a Líber y a Ceres señala a la luna y al sol como guías del año

«and, since speech is the expression of inward thoughts, this god is appropriately called Hermes, from the Greek word épynvevetv, to put into words.» — Continuación: el dios del habla se llama Hermes por el verbo griego de poner en palabras

«And then, men consumed by a fever are said to be “smitten by Apollo” and “smitten by the sun”; and, since the moon’s effects are similar to those of the sun, both to help and to harm, women suffering from certain diseases are described as “smitten by the moon” and “smitten by Artemis.”» — Praetextatus empareja los efectos del sol y de la luna en el cuerpo: la fiebre del varón se dice golpe de Apolo y ciertas dolencias de la mujer, golpe de Ártemis

«This is why statues of Apollo are equipped with a bow and arrows, the arrows being understood to represent the force of the sun’s rays» — Praetextatus lee el arco y las flechas de las estatuas de Apolo como la fuerza de los rayos solares

«But since it is constantly a source of health and sends pestilence more rarely, statues of Apollo represent the god with the Graces in his right hand and a bow and arrows in his left, because his hand is slower to harm and swifter to save.» — Praetextatus lee la iconografía por la frecuencia del efecto: las Gracias en la derecha y el arco en la izquierda porque la mano del dios es más lenta para dañar y más rápida para salvar

«It is not surprising that men pay honor to the god’s twofold activities under different names, for we find other gods, too, with double powers and double names, contrary in meaning but relating to the same object.» — Praetextatus generaliza la regla de los nombres dobles con Neptuno, que sacude y afirma la tierra, y con Mercurio, que adormece y despierta

«Thus it is that we worship Apollo, the sun, sometimes under names which signify health and sometimes under names which signify pestilence, although, nevertheless, the pestilence which he sends on the wicked indicates clearly that the god is the defender of the righteous.» — Praetextatus resuelve la doble advocación: la peste que el dios manda sobre los malvados lo muestra defensor de los justos

«It is clear from this story that it was a battle and not, as some think, a plague that led to the institution of these games.» — Praetextatus adjudica el origen de los Juegos Apolinares a una batalla y no a una peste, contra lo que algunos suponen

«Romans, if ye would drive from your land the enemy, the plague which comes from peoples afar, I advise that games be vowed to Apollo, to be celebrated joyfully in his honor every year. Over the celebration of these games let the praetor preside who shall have the administration of supreme justice to the People and the Commons. Let ten men offer sacrifice with victims according to the Greek use. If this shall be rightly done by you, ye shall be glad for evermore and the State shall become more prosperous; for this god shall destroy your foes who are eating up your fields undisturbed.”» — La profecía del vate Marcio que Praetextatus transcribe: votar juegos anuales a Apolo, con el pretor presidiendo y diez varones sacrificando al uso griego

«The inhabitants of Camirus,!3 who inhabit an island sacred to the sun, sacrifice to Apollo “the Ever-begotten and Ever-begetting” (Aevyevétnc), because the sun always comes into being at its rising and is itself the source of all life by its gifts of fertilization, warmth, growth, nourishment, and increase.» — Praetextatus explica el culto camireo al sol siempre engendrado y siempre engendrador: nace cada día al salir y es fuente de toda vida

«There are several explanations of the style “Lycian Apollo.” Antipater the Stoic writes that Apollo has received the name “Lycius” because all things become bright (AevkaiveoGat) in the light of the sun. Cleanthes observes that he is so called because with his rays he carries off moisture as wolves» — Praetextatus contrapone dos explicaciones del epíteto licio: la de Antípatro el estoico por el blanquear de las cosas y la de Cleantes por el sol que arrebata la humedad; el tramo se corta ante la palabra griega

«Apollo has been called “Father of the People,” not as worshiped according to the particular religious usage of a single race or state but as the generating cause of all things, since the sun, by drying up moisture, is the universal cause of generation» — Praetextatus niega que el epíteto venga del culto de una raza o ciudad y lo funda en que el sol, al secar la humedad, es causa universal de la generación

«Apollo has been called “the God of Shepherds,” not from having served as a shepherd and (as the story goes) from having fed the flocks of King Admetus, but because the sun feeds all that the earth brings forth» — Praetextatus niega la explicación mítica del epíteto pastoril, el rebaño de Admeto, y la sustituye por la física: el sol alimenta cuanto la tierra produce

«The name “Golden-haired” is given to Apollo on account of the brightness of the sun’s rays, which are commonly called its “golden locks”; and for this reason the god is also styled “Unshorn,” because the sun’s rays can never be severed from the source of the light.» — Praetextatus explica los epítetos de cabellera de oro y de intonso: los rayos son las guedejas y no pueden cortarse de la fuente de la luz

«When Latona was about to give birth to Apollo and Diana, Juno is said to have sought to hinder her confinement. However, the story goes that, when at length the divine children had been born, a serpent, called Python, attacked their cradle and the infant Apollo killed the monster with arrows.» — El mito que Praetextatus va a interpretar: Juno estorba el parto de Latona y el niño Apolo mata con flechas a la serpiente Pitón

«Now by Latona the physicists understand the earth, and this earth was for long opposed by Juno (to prevent the birth of the deities of which we have spoken)—Juno being, that is to say, the air, which at that time was still moist and heavy and was standing in the way of the heavens to prevent the brightness of the two lights (the sun and the moon) from shining through the dense moist air as though after a process of childbirth.» — Praetextatus traduce los nombres del mito: Latona es la tierra y Juno el aire húmedo y denso que estorbaba el paso de la luz de los dos astros

«Moreover, Apollo and Diana are said to have been born on an island because they seem to us to rise out of the sea; and this island is called Delos because the rising and, as it were, the birth of these two lights make all things clear and visible» — Praetextatus explica el nacimiento en isla porque los dos astros parecen salir del mar, y el nombre de Delos porque su salida lo hace todo claro y visible

«The reference to the arrows of the sun simply indicates the emission of its rays. These rays are seen to be longest at the time when the sun is putting an end to its yearly course at the summer solstice (it being then at its highest point in the sky and the days at their longest) ; and so the sun-god is called “Far-darter” as “shooting his rays from afar,” that is to say, continually sending down rays to the earth from the most distant and highest point.» — Praetextatus reduce las flechas del dios a la emisión de los rayos, más largos en el solsticio de verano, de donde el epíteto de Flechador de Lejos

«Moreover, of these two signs, Cancer and Capricorn, which are known as the Gates of the Sun, each is so called because, just as the crab is a creature that goes backward and sideways, so on the same principle the sun always begins its sideways, backward path when it is in that sign. And again, just as it appears to be the habit of the goat at pasture always to make for high ground as it feeds,?° so too the sun in Capricorn begins to make its way back from the lowest point in the sky to its height.» — Praetextatus explica las Puertas del Sol: el cangrejo que anda de lado y hacia atrás y la cabra que pace hacia lo alto figuran los dos movimientos del sol en esos signos

«Men call Apolio “the Twin God” (AvSvpatoc)"* because he presents a twin form of his own divinity, by himself giving light and shape to the moon, for, as a twofold star giving light from a single source, he illumines the periods of day and night.» — Praetextatus explica el epíteto gemelo porque el dios da luz y forma a la luna: astro doble que alumbra de una sola fuente el día y la noche

«Apollo is called “Delphian” as making clear things that are invisible (SnXAotv &gavij), that is, because the brightness of his light makes clear what is dark; or, in the opinion of Numenius, because the god is, as it were, one and alone; for, according to Numenius, déhpoc in the language of ancient. Greece meant “a single one,” and this, he says, is why the Greek word for a brother is Gd5EXQ6c, as though to say, “one who is no longer a single one.”» — Praetextatus contrapone dos explicaciones de Delfio: la del hacer claro lo invisible y la de Numenio, que lo entiende como el uno y solo

«Furthermore, the inhabitants of Hierapolis, who are Assyrians by race, embody all the activities and powers of the sun in the form of a single, bearded statue which they call Apollo.» — Praetextatus presenta la estatua de Hierápolis como cifra de todas las actividades y potencias del sol en una sola figura barbada

«Its face is represented with a long pointed beard; the statue has a tall basket on its head and it is protected by a breastplate; the right hand holds upright a spear on which is a little figure of Victory; the left hand offers the likeness of a flower; and a gorgonlike cloak with a fringe of serpents hangs from the top of the shoulders and covers the back. By the side of the statue are representations of eagles in flight.» — La descripción de la estatua de Hierápolis que Praetextatus da, elemento por elemento

«The downward-pointing beard represents the rays which shoot from above to the earth. The golden basket rising high above the head denotes the height of heaven, whence the essence of the sun is believed to come.» — Praetextatus descifra la estatua: la barba apuntando abajo son los rayos que bajan a la tierra y el canasto alto es la altura del cielo de donde se cree venir la esencia del sol

«The likeness of a woman is a representation of the earth, to which the sun gives light from above; and in like manner the two female figures on each side represent matter and nature, which together serve the earth. The representation of a serpent points to the serpentine course of the sun. The eagles, by the great speed and height of their flight, indicate the great height of the sun.» — Continuación del desciframiento: la mujer es la tierra, las dos figuras laterales la materia y la naturaleza, la serpiente el curso sinuoso y las águilas la altura del sol

«What we have said of Apollo may be taken to apply to Liber also. Certainly Aristotle, writing in his Inquiries into the Nature of the Divine, states that Apollo and Liber Pater are one and the same god» — Praetextatus extiende a Líber lo dicho de Apolo y se apoya en Aristóteles, que los tiene por un mismo dios

«In this shrine the soothsayers drink large draughts of wine before delivering their prophecies, just as in the temple of Apollo at Claros water is drunk before the oracles are pronounced.» — Praetextatus contrapone las dos prácticas oraculares, el vino en el santuario de Líber y el agua en el Apolo de Claros, como prueba de la identidad

«Likewise the Boeotians, although they speak of Mount Parnassus as sacred to Apollo, nevertheless pay honor there both to the Delphic oracle and to the caves of Bacchus as dedicated to a single god, so that both Apollo and Liber Pater are worshiped on the same mountain.» — Praetextatus argumenta por el Parnaso, donde el oráculo délfico y las cuevas báquicas se honran como de un solo dios

«I first maintained that Apollo is to be indentified with the sun, and I afterward explained that Liber Pater is himself Apollo; and so there can be no doubt but that the sun and Liber Pater are to be regarded as manifestations of the same deity.» — Praetextatus encadena las dos identificaciones: si Apolo es el sol y Líber es Apolo, el sol y Líber Padre son manifestaciones de una misma divinidad; el troceo imprime *indentified*

«In the performance of sacred rites a mysterious rule of religion ordains that the sun shall be called Apollo when it is in the upper hemisphere, that is to say, by day, and be held to be Dionysus, or Liber Pater, when it is in the lower hemisphere, that is to say, at night.» — Praetextatus consigna la regla ritual que reparte los dos nombres por hemisferios: Apolo en el de arriba y Dioniso o Líber Padre en el de abajo

«Since, then, the chief activities of this star, the sun, are two—it being, on the one hand, helpful to mortal life when its heat is temperate, but, on the other hand, sometimes sending a deadly pestilence by its darting rays—men use two names to mark at the» — Praetextatus reduce a dos las actividades principales del astro, la salud por el calor templado y la peste por el rayo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«or because (as Cleanthes writes) he moves in spirals and these are oblique—that is to say, because his path is winding; or because, since he is to the south of us and we are to the north of him, his rays strike us obliquely.» — Continuación: las otras dos explicaciones, la espiral de Cleantes y la oblicuidad de los rayos por la latitud

«As for the epithet “Pythian,” as applied to Apollo, in the opinion of the physicists the derivation is not from “inquiry” (nedoicg)—that is to say, not from the consulting of oracles—but from a word which means “to make rotten” (n09e1v = onnetv), a process which is always the result of great heat.» — Praetextatus contrapone la etimología de los físicos para Pitio, por el pudrir que trae el gran calor, a la de la consulta oracular

«It is for this reason, then, that they consider that the god is called “Pythian,” although Greek mythologists say that the name was given to him after the slaying of the serpent [Python]. Nevertheless the myth is not inconsistent with the true understanding of a secret of nature, as will appear if one runs through the series of events which comprise the tale of the birth of Apollo.» — Praetextatus declara que el mito no riñe con la comprensión verdadera de un secreto de la naturaleza y anuncia su lectura física del nacimiento de Apolo

«At first all was chaos; but, afterward, from a confused and amorphous mass there began to emerge into light the shapes of things and the elements. The earth was still moist in substance and tottering on a soft and unstable foundation» — Praetextatus abre la lectura física del nacimiento: del caos emergen a la luz las formas de las cosas y los elementos, con la tierra aún húmeda y vacilante

«but it is believed that, as the heat of the heavens gradually increased in strength and fiery seeds flowed down from it into the earth, these two stars—the sun and the moon—were born, the sun being carried up by a mighty force of heat to the parts above, but the moon (weighed down by a kind of warmth peculiar to its nature, and moister, and as it were of the feminine sex) occupying the parts below—as if the sun consisted of the substance of a father and the moon of the substance of a mother.» — Continuación: del calor celeste que baja en simientes ígneas nacen el sol, llevado a lo alto, y la luna, más húmeda y como femenina, que ocupa lo bajo

«The following is the natural explanation of the killing of the serpent, as given in the writings of Antipater the Stoic. Vapor rising from the still moist earth moved rapidly in spirals to the parts above and, after it had become heated, rolled back thence, like a deadly serpent, to the parts below, where it infected all things with the potency of the corruption which only heat and moisture can generate.» — Praetextatus da la explicación física de Antípatro el estoico: el vapor que sube en espiral de la tierra húmeda vuelve abajo como serpiente mortífera e infecta todo con la corrupción

«The density and darkness of the vapor veiled the very sun and seemed as it were to take away its light; but at length the vapor was dissipated, dried up, and destroyed by the divine heat of the sun’s rays falling upon it like arrows, and this gave rise to the myth of the killing of a serpent by Apollo.» — Continuación: disipado y secado el vapor por el calor divino de los rayos como por flechas, nació el mito de la serpiente muerta por Apolo

«The statute has also a gorgonlike vesture, because Minerva, to whom we know this vesture belongs, is a power of the sun» — Praetextatus hace de Minerva una potencia del sol y explica así el manto gorgóneo de la estatua; el troceo imprime *statute* por *statue*

«These differences in age have reference to the sun, for at the winter solstice the sun would seem to be a little child, like that which the Egyptians bring forth from a shrine on an appointed day, since the day is then at its shortest and the god is accordingly shown as a tiny infant.» — Praetextatus lee las edades de las estatuas de Líber como estaciones del sol, empezando por el niño del solsticio de invierno que los egipcios sacan de un santuario en día señalado

«Afterward, however, as the days go on and lengthen, the sun at the spring equinox acquires strength in a way comparable to growth to adolescence, and so the god is given the appearance of a young man. Subsequently, he is represented in full maturity, with a beard, at the summer solstice, when the sun’s growth is completed. After that, the days shorten, as though with the approach of his old age—hence the fourth of the figures by which the god is portrayed.» — Continuación de la serie: adolescente en el equinoccio de primavera, barbado en el solsticio de verano y anciano cuando los días menguan

«The round shape of the temple represents the appearance of this star, and the admission of light at the top of the roof symbolizes the fact that the sun, by sending in its light from the highest part of the heavens, illumines the whole world and that at its rising all things become visible.» — Praetextatus descifra el templo redondo con abertura en el techo como figura del astro y de la luz que entra desde lo más alto del cielo

«Melting the divine ether which aforetime was without motion, he [the Creator] brought up and displayed a most beautiful sight to the Gods; him, whom men now call by the names of Phanes and Dionysus and the lord Eubouleus and Antauges seen afar (for on earth some men give him one name and some another). He was the first to come forth into light, and he was called Dionysus, because he wheels (Sivettar) throughout the boundless length of Olympus; but with change he took another name, having titles manifold to fit each change according to the seasons of changing time.» — Los versos órficos que Praetextatus cita: el dios primero en salir a la luz, llamado Fanes, Dioniso, Eubuleo y Antauges, con títulos múltiples que siguen el cambio de las estaciones

«Orpheus here has called the sun “Phanes” (pavepdc), from its light and enlightening, for the sun sees all and is seen by all. The name Dionysus is derived, as the soothsayer himself says, from the fact that the sun wheels round in an orbit.» — Praetextatus glosa los dos nombres órficos: Fanes por la luz, pues el sol lo ve todo y de todos es visto, y Dioniso por el girar en órbita

«For the physicists Dionysus is “the mind of Zeus” (V1d¢ votc), since they hold that the sun is the mind of the universe, and by the universe they mean the heavens— which they call Jupiter» — Praetextatus consigna la fórmula de los físicos: el sol es la mente del universo, y el universo que llaman Júpiter son los cielos

«Those who have learned the mysteries should hide the unsearchable secrets, but, if the understanding is small and the mind weak, then ponder this: that Iao is the supreme god of all gods; in winter, Hades; at spring’s beginning, Zeus; the Sun in summer; and in autumn, the splendid Iao.» — El oráculo de Apolo de Claros que Praetextatus transcribe: Iao como dios supremo, Hades en invierno, Zeus al abrirse la primavera, el Sol en verano y el espléndido Iao en otoño

«For the meaning of this oracle and for the explanation, of the deity and his name, which identifies Jao with Liber Pater and the sun, our authority is Cornelius Labeo in his book entitled On the Oracle of Apollo of Claros.» — Praetextatus declara su fuente para el oráculo: Cornelio Labeón, que identifica a Iao con Líber Padre y con el sol

«All these things duly perform right early, having arrayed the body of the god with his apparel, in imitation of the renowed sun.» — Los versos órficos sobre el atavío ritual de Líber que Praetextatus cita para probar que el dios y el sol son uno; el troceo imprime *renowed* por *renowned*

«Hence Vergil, too, knowing that Liber Pater is the sun and Ceres the moon, (the one by its gentle warmth.at night,® the other by its heat by day) together control the richness of the soil and the ripening of the crops» — Praetextatus lee a Virgilio desde su propia clave: Líber es el sol y Ceres la luna, y entre los dos gobiernan la fertilidad del suelo y la maduración de las mieses

«What we have said of Liber Pater goes to identify Mars with the sun, for we commonly associate Liber with Mars, suggesting thereby that they are one god.» — Praetextatus encadena la identificación siguiente y hace de Marte el sol por la vía de Líber

«Moreover, in a statue of Liber Pater worshiped by the Lacedaemonians the distinguishing emblem is not a thyrsus but a spear; and indeed the thyrsus which Liber carries is in fact a veiled weapon, its point being hidden by the encircling ivy, thus showing that any impulse to war should be restrained by the bonds, as it were, of patience, since it is the nature of ivy to bind and to restrain.» — Praetextatus lee el tirso como arma velada por la hiedra: el impulso de guerra ha de contenerse con los lazos de la paciencia

«The affinity, then, between the heat of wine and the heat of battle has led us to regard Mars and Liber as one and the same god. The Romans certainly pay reverence to each deity under the style of “Father,” calling the one Liber Pater and the other Marspiter or Mars Pater.» — Praetextatus funda la identidad de Marte y Líber en la afinidad entre el calor del vino y el de la batalla, y en el título de Padre que Roma da a los dos

«Now a natural explanation unquestionably requires that the gods from whom springs the heat of heaven should differ in their names rather than in their real essence.» — Praetextatus enuncia el principio que gobierna toda su exposición: los dioses de los que viene el calor del cielo difieren en los nombres y no en la esencia real

«To prove that Mercury is the sun we have the support of our previous exposition, for the identification of Apollo with Mercury is clear from the fact that among many peoples the star Mercury is called Apollo and that, as Apollo presides over the Muses,! so speech, a function of the Muses, is bestowed by Mercu» — Praetextatus liga a Mercurio con Apolo por el nombre del astro y por el habla, función de las Musas; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«In the first place there is the fact that statues of Mercury are adorned with wings, a symbol of the swift move» — Praetextatus lee las alas de las estatuas de Mercurio como símbolo del rápido movimiento del sol; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Then a yet clearer statement of this proof comes from the Egyptians, for they give wings to their statues of the sun itself. These statues differ in color, one kind being dark and the other bright in appearance. The bright they call the sun “above” and the dark the sun “below,” describing the sun as “below” when it is on its course in the lower hemisphere, that is to say, in the winter signs, and as “above” when it is moving round the summer sector of the zodiac.» — Praetextatus aduce las estatuas aladas egipcias del sol, oscuras y claras, y la distinción entre el sol de abajo y el de arriba según el hemisferio

«The expanse of the sky, therefore, with its ornament of bright stars, is thought to have been killed by Mercury when, with the coming of the day, the sun dims the stars and takes them from the sight of men and thus seems to kill them by the power of its light.» — Praetextatus completa la lectura: al venir el día el sol apaga las estrellas y así parece matarlas, que es la muerte de Argos

«Statues of Mercury, too, commonly have the form of a square block, the only features being the head and the male member erect, this figure indicating that the sun is the head of the universe and the father of the world and that the whole power of the sun lies not in the services, so to speak, of the several limbs but in the mind alone, which has its seat in the head.» — Praetextatus descifra el hermes cuadrado: el sol es la cabeza del universo y el padre del mundo, y toda su potencia está en la mente, que tiene su asiento en la cabeza

«The block is made with four sides for the same reason that the four-stringed lyre also is believed to be an attribute of Mercury, the number four symbolizing either the four quarters of the world or the four seasons of the year or the arrangement of the zodiac into two equinoxes and two solstices—just as in the seven strings of Apollo’s lyre we may see a reference to the movements of the seven celestial spheres, which nature has placed under the control of the sun.» — Praetextatus lee el número cuatro del bloque y de la lira de Mercurio, y las siete cuerdas de la lira de Apolo como las siete esferas celestes que la naturaleza puso bajo el gobierno del sol

«Another clear proof that it is the sun that we worship under the name of Mercury is the caduceus, which the Egyptians have designed as the sacred staff of Mercury. It shows a pair of serpents, male and female, intertwined; the middle parts of the serpents’ coils are joined together as in a knot, called the knot of Hercules; their upper parts are bent into a circle and complete the circle as they meet in a kiss; below the knot their tails rejoin the staff at the point at which it is held, and at that point appear the wings with which they are provided.» — Praetextatus describe el caduceo egipcio: dos serpientes, macho y hembra, entrelazadas, anudadas por el nudo de Hércules y unidas arriba en un beso

«The Egyptians also maintain that the attributes of the caduceus illustrate the generation, or “genesis” as it is called, of mankind; for they say that four deities are present to preside over a man’s birth: his Genius, Fortune, Love, and Neces» — Praetextatus hace del caduceo la figura de la génesis del hombre, con cuatro deidades presidiendo el nacimiento; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«the sun, as the source of the breath of life and of heat and of light, is the creator and the guardian of a man’s life and is therefore believed to be the Genius, or god, of a newborn child; the moon is Fortune, since she has charge of the body, and the body is at the mercy of the fickleness of change; the kiss of: the serpents is the symbol of Love; and the knot is the symbol of Necessity.» — Praetextatus reparte los cuatro: el sol es el Genio, la luna la Fortuna, el beso de las serpientes el Amor y el nudo la Necesidad

«The association of a serpent with the statues of Aesculapius and Salus points to the relation of these deities with the nature of the sun and the moon, for Aesculapius is the healthful power which comes from the essence of the sun to give help to mortal minds and bodies, and Salus is the activity proper to the nature of the moon, which aids the bodies of living creatures and strengthens them by its health-giving disposition.» — Praetextatus reparte Esculapio y Salus entre el sol y la luna: la potencia saludable que viene de la esencia del sol y la actividad propia de la naturaleza lunar

«Statues of Aesculapius and Salus, then, have figures of serpents in attendance because these two deities enable human bodies, as it were, to slough off the skin of weakness and to recover the bloom of their former strength, just as serpents each year shed the skin of old age and renew their youth.» — Praetextatus explica las serpientes de esas estatuas por la muda anual de la piel, imagen del cuerpo que recobra el vigor perdido

«Moreover, since a serpent is called draco from the Greek word meaning “to see” (Sépxetv), the form of the name also explains why a serpent is one of the chief attributes which symbolize the sun, for with its keen and watchful eyesight the serpent is said to resemble the nature of the sunand for that reason to be entrusted with the charge of protecting temples, ishrines, oracles, and treasuries.» — Praetextatus deriva el nombre de la serpiente del verbo griego de ver y explica por su vista aguda la guarda de templos, santuarios, oráculos y tesoros

«As for Hercules, he does not differ in essence from the sun, for he is that power of the sun which gives to the human race a valor after the likeness of that of the gods.» — Praetextatus define a Hércules como la potencia del sol que da al género humano un valor a semejanza del de los dioses

«As for the Giants, we must understand them to have been an impious breed of men who refused to recognize the existence of the gods and so were thought to have wished to drive them from their seat in heaven. [9] The serpents’ coils at the end of the Giants’ feet? are a sign of their lack of upright and noble thought and of the downward tendency of the whole way and tenor of their life;» — Praetextatus lee a los Gigantes como una estirpe impía que negaba la existencia de los dioses, y sus pies de serpiente como la falta de pensamiento recto

«In the city on the borders of Egypt which boasts Alexander of Macedon as its founder, Sarapis and Isis are worshiped with a reverence that is almost fanatical. Evidence that the sun, under the name of Sarapis, is the object of all this reverence is either the basket set on the head of the god or the figure of a three-headed creature placed by his statue. The middle head of this figure, which is also the largest, represents a lion’s; [14] on the right a dog raises its head with a gentle and fawning air; and on the left the neck ends in the head of a ravening wolf.» — Praetextatus describe la figura tricéfala junto a la estatua de Serapis: león en medio, perro a la derecha y lobo a la izquierda

«The lion’s head, then, is a symbol of time present, which, midway between the past and the future, has the strength and ardor of immediate action, time past is represented by the head of the wolf, because the memory of things that are over and done is swiftly borne away; so too the likeness of a fawning dog indicates the issue of time to come, the object of our hopes, which are uncertain but flatter us.» — Praetextatus descifra los tres animales como los tres tiempos: el león el presente, el lobo el pasado que se lleva veloz la memoria y el perro halagüeño el porvenir de nuestras esperanzas

«Learn that the nature of my godhead is such as I may tell thee: the firmament of heaven is my head; my belly the sea; the earth my feet; my ears are in the air; and the bright light of the sun is my far-flashing eye.» — El oráculo de Serapis a Nicocreonte que Praetextatus transcribe: el firmamento por cabeza, el mar por vientre, la tierra por pies, los oídos en el aire y el sol por ojo

«Isis is worshiped together with Sarapis; for Isis is the earth, or the world of nature, that lies beneath the sun; and so the whole body of the goddess is thickly covered with a series of breasts, because everything that exists draws its sustenance and nourishment from the earth or world of nature.» — Praetextatus hace de Isis la tierra o naturaleza bajo el sol y explica por eso los muchos pechos que cubren el cuerpo de la diosa

«Physicists have given to the earth’s upper hemisphere (part of which we inhabit) the revered name of Venus, and they have called the earth’s lower hemisphere Proserpine.» — Praetextatus reparte los dos hemisferios entre Venus y Prosérpina siguiendo a los físicos

«For when the sun is among the lower signs, and therefore makes the days shorter, it is as if it had been carried off for a time by death and had been lost and had passed into the power of Proserpine, who, as we have said, is the deity that presides over the lower circle of the earth and the antipodes; so that Venus is believed to be in mourning then, just as Adonis is believed to have been restored to her when the sun, after passing completely through the six signs of the lower series, begins again to traverse the circle of our hemisphere, with brighter light and longer days.» — Praetextatus lee el duelo de Venus y el retorno de Adonis como el paso del sol por los seis signos bajos y su vuelta al hemisferio de arriba

«In the story which they tell of Adonis killed by a boar the animal is intended to represent winter, for the boar is an unkempt and rude creature delighting in damp, muddy, and frost-covered places and feeding on the acorn, which is especially a winter fruit. And so winter, as it were, inflicts a wound on the sun, for in winter we find the sun’s light and heat ebbing, and it is an ebbing of light and heat that befalls all living creatures at death.» — Praetextatus lee el jabalí que mata a Adonis como el invierno, animal de lugares húmedos y helados que se alimenta de bellota

«In Egypt too, although the names of the deities are different, there is a similar religious ceremony, in which Isis mourns for Osiris; for it is no secret that Osiris is none other than the sun and Isis, as we have said, none other than the earth or world of nature, and the explanation which applies to the rites of Adonis and Attis is applicable also to the Egyptian rites, to account for the alternations of sorrow and joy which accompany in turn the phases of the year.» — Praetextatus aplica la misma clave a Isis y Osiris: la alternancia de duelo y gozo acompaña las fases del año

«That is why, among the signs of the zodiac, the Egyptians have dedicated an animal, the lion, in that part of the heavens where in its yearly course the sun’s powerful heat is hottest. And the Sign of the Lion there they call “The House of the Sun,”? because a lion seems to derive its essential qualities from the natural properties of the sun.» — Praetextatus explica la Casa del Sol en el signo del León por las cualidades que el animal toma de la naturaleza solar

«Again, not only the Lion, but every one of the signs of the zodiac as well, may properly be related to natural attributes of the sun. To begin with the Ram: the affinity here is well marked, for throughout the six winter months a ram lies on its left side and after the spring equinox on its right,? just as the sun too from that same time traverses the right [or summer ] hemisphere and then, for the rest of the year, the left [or winter] hemisphere.» — Praetextatus anuncia que recorrerá los doce signos como atributos del sol y empieza por el Carnero, que se echa sobre un flanco en invierno y sobre el otro tras el equinoccio

«The Twins, who are believed to die and to come to life again in turn, surely represent the sun which, ever one and the same, now descends to the lowest parts of the world and now rises again to the highest.» — Praetextatus lee los Gemelos, que mueren y reviven por turnos, como el sol que baja a lo más hondo del mundo y vuelve a subir

«The Virgin, with an ear of corn in her hand, certainly represents that power of the sun which has the fruits of the earth in its care. And she is on that account regarded as a symbol of Justice, by which alone these fruits as they come to birth are preserved for the use of men.» — Praetextatus lee la Virgen con la espiga como la potencia solar que cuida los frutos, y de ahí su valor de símbolo de la Justicia

«The Water-Bearer indicates the essential force of the sun, for assuredly rain would not fall upon the earth unless the heat of the sun first drew the moisture up on high, to pour it down again in abundant showers.» — Praetextatus lee al Aguador como la fuerza esencial del sol, que primero levanta la humedad para verterla después en lluvias

«To return to our discussion of the manifold power of the sun, Nemesis, which we worship to keep us from pride, is none other than that power of the sun whose nature it is to make dark the things that are bright and withdraw them from our sight and to give light to things that are in darkness and bring them before our eyes» — Praetextatus hace de Némesis la potencia del sol que oscurece lo brillante y alumbra lo que está en tinieblas

«The Arcadians in their worship of him call him “the Lord of the 6\.”! meaning to indicate, not that he is the lord of the forest but the ruler of all material substance; and the power of this matter is the essential component of all bodies that exist, whether celestial bodies or bodies terrestrial.» — Praetextatus lee el título arcadio de Pan no como señor del bosque sino como señor de toda sustancia material, componente esencial de los cuerpos celestes y terrestres

«The Orphic verses, too, by calling the sun “Eubouleus,” indicate that he is the patron of “good counsel”; for, if counsel is the» — Praetextatus enlaza el nombre órfico de Eubuleo con el buen consejo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«offspring of the mind and if, in the opinion of our authorities, the sun is the mind of the universe from which the first beginning of intelligence is diffused among mankind, then the sun is rightly believed to preside over good counsel.» — Continuación: si el sol es la mente del universo de la que se difunde entre los hombres el principio de la inteligencia, con razón se le tiene por patrono del buen consejo

«but because in this myth Argus is the sky, stippled with shining stars which have the appearance of being, as it were, the eyes of heaven.» — Continuación: Argos es el cielo moteado de estrellas brillantes, que son como los ojos del firmamento

«And one must not suppose that Alcmena’s son, born at Thebes in Boeotia, was the only one, or even the first one, to be called Hercules» — Praetextatus niega que el hijo de Alcmena fuese el único ni el primero en llevar el nombre; el tramo se corta antes de la llamada de nota que el troceo pega a la palabra

«On the contrary, he had many predecessors and was the last to be deemed worthy of the honor of the name, having earned by his outstanding endurance the right to bear the style of the patron god of valor.» — Continuación: tuvo muchos predecesores y fue el último en merecer el nombre por su resistencia sobresaliente

«This statue not only represents the mourning goddess of whom we have been speaking but is also a symbol of the earth in winter; for at that time the earth is veiled in clouds, deprived of the companionship of the sun, and benumbed, its springs of water (which are, as it were, its eyes) flowing more freely and the fields meanwhile stripped of their finery—a sorry sight.» — Continuación: la estatua figura la tierra en invierno, velada de nubes, privada de la compañía del sol y con sus fuentes por ojos

«This is their sign for Osiris, and by it they indicate that this god is the sun, which with royal power looks down upon the world from on high. And indeed in ancient usage the sun is called the eye of Jupiter.» — Continuación: el signo indica que el dios es el sol, que mira el mundo desde lo alto con poder real, y de ahí que el uso antiguo llame al sol ojo de Júpiter

«For, in the first place, the lion by its energy and ardor surpasses other animals as the sun surpasses the rest of the stars» — Praetextatus abre la semejanza del león con el sol por la energía y el ardor; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«of the sun grows more powerful from the first part of the day up to noon or from the first part of the year, that is from the spring, to summer; but afterward the sun grows weaker, as it declines to its setting (which would seem to be the hinder part of the day) or to the winter (the hinder part of the year). And the lion, too, always gazes with open fiery eyes, just as the sun regards the earth with the continuous and unwearied. gaze of its open fiery eye.» — Continuación: el león fuerte en la delantera y débil en los cuartos traseros figura el sol que crece hasta el mediodía y decae hacia el ocaso, con el ojo siempre abierto y ardiente

«Echo is believed to be the darling of Inuus and the object of his love—Echo beheld by no man’s eyes but the symbol of the harmony of the heavens—and this harmony is dear to the sun as the ruler of all the spheres whence the harmony is born—a harmony, however, which can never be perceived by our senses.» — Praetextatus lee a Eco, a quien ningún ojo ve, como símbolo de la armonía de los cielos, cara al sol que rige las esferas de donde nace y que nuestros sentidos nunca perciben

«And Saturn himself, the author of times and seasons (and therefore, by the change of a letter, called Kpévocg by the Greeks as though for ypévoc, time*), must assuredly be understood to be the sun; since there is handed down a regular succession of first principles, a succession separated by the multitude of times and seasons, made visible by light, bound together in an everlasting bond, and distinguished by our sense of sight, wherein we see everywhere the action of the sun.» — Praetextatus cierra la serie incorporando a Saturno: autor de los tiempos, se le entiende como el sol por la sucesión de principios primeros que la luz hace visibles

«Even Jupiter himseif, the king of the gods, does not, it seems, rank higher than the sun, but there are clear signs that he and the sun are, in their nature, one and the same» — Praetextatus lleva la identificación hasta su extremo: ni Júpiter, rey de los dioses, aventaja al sol, y hay señales claras de que uno y otro son de una misma naturaleza; el troceo imprime *himseif*

«For, as Posidonius and Cleanthes affirm, the sun in its course does not leave the so-called “torrid” zone, because Ocean, which encircles and divides the earth, flows beneath that zone; and, moreover, it is well known, on the authority of all the physicists, that heat draws its sustenance from moisture.» — Praetextatus apoya en Posidonio y Cleantes que el sol no deja la zona tórrida por donde corre el Océano, y en todos los físicos que el calor se sustenta de la humedad

«For the constellations and the stars are called “gods” because the word 0gd¢ is derived from @éetv,1 that is “to run,” since they are always in motion, or else from OewpsicOa, since they are the objects of “contemplation.”» — Praetextatus da las dos etimologías del nombre griego de los dioses aplicadas a los astros: los que corren y los que son contemplados

«The great leader in heaven, Zeus, driving a winged chariot, goes first, setting all things in order and providing for them. He is followed by a host of gods and spirits, marshaled in eleven squadrons; and Hestia alone remains in the house of the gods.”» — El pasaje de Platón que Praetextatus cita y lee en clave solar: el gran caudillo del cielo con su carro alado, seguido de once escuadrones, mientras Hestia sola queda en casa

«And since the sun, in whatever sign it happens to be, is supreme over all the signs and constellations and the gods that preside over the signs, it seems therefore to precede and lead all the gods, ordering and providing for all things; so that the rest of the gods, forming at it were its army, are held to be disposed among eleven of the signs, because the sun itself, in whatever sign it be, occupies the place of the twelfth.» — Praetextatus descifra los once escuadrones por los signos: el sol ocupa siempre el lugar del duodécimo y por eso precede y conduce a los demás dioses

«Plato refers to spirits (daemones: S5aipoves) and gods, jointly by name, either because gods are Sarpovec, * that is to say “gifted with knowledge of the future,” or, as Posidonius writes in his work On Heroes and Spirits, because their nature springs from and shares in the heavenly substance—this word for spirits being then derived from Sa1dpevoc, which may mean either “burning” or “sharing.”» — Praetextatus da dos etimologías del nombre de los *daimones*: los que saben el porvenir, y, según Posidonio, los que arden o participan de la sustancia celeste

«The statue, a figure of gold in the likeness of a beardless man, presses forward with the right hand raised and holding a whip, after the manner of a charioteer; in the left hand are a thunderbolt and ears of corn; and all these attributes symbolize the conjoined power of Jupiter and the sun.» — Praetextatus descifra la estatua del Zeus de Heliópolis: el látigo de auriga en la derecha y el rayo con espigas en la izquierda cifran el poder conjunto de Júpiter y del sol

«For the statue of the god of Heliopolis is borne in a litter, as the images of the gods are carried in the procession at the Circensian Games, and the bearers are generally the leading men of the province. These men, with their heads shaved, and purified by a long period of abstinence, go as the spirit of the god moves them and carry the statue not of their own will but whithersoever the god directs them» — Praetextatus describe el oráculo por litera: los portadores, rapados y purificados por larga abstinencia, no llevan la estatua a su voluntad sino adonde el dios los dirige

«The god is also consulted from a distance, by the sending of sealed letters, and he replies, in order, to the matters contained in the question put to him.» — Praetextatus consigna la consulta a distancia por cartas selladas, a las que el dios responde en orden

«With typically Roman prudence the emperor, by a preliminary test of the trustworthiness of the oracle, took steps to thwart the possibility of hidden human trickery,’ and began by sending sealed tablets with a request for a written reply.» — Praetextatus refiere la prueba de Trajano, que antes de fiarse del oráculo quiso descartar el engaño humano oculto mandando tablillas selladas

«To the surprise of the priests, who were, of course, unaware of the nature of the emperor’s tablets, the god bade a sheet of papyrus be brought and ordered it to be sealed, without any writing on it, and dispatched.» — Continuación del caso: el dios mandó enviar una hoja de papiro sellada y sin escribir, igual que las tablillas en blanco del emperador

«The god thereupon bade a centurion’s vine branch be brought from among the dedicated offerings in the temple, broken in pieces, and the pieces wrapped in a napkin and sent thus to the emperor. When Trajan’s bones were brought back to Rome after his death the meaning of the oracle’s response was clear, for the emperor’s remains resembled the pieces of the vine branch, and the vine branch itself [as a centurion’s staff] indicated the time of the event which would befall [namely, in time of war» — Cierre del caso: la vara de centurión rota y envuelta se leyó después, al volver los huesos de Trajano, como anuncio de su muerte en guerra

«To the god whom they revere as highest and greatest of the gods they have given the name of Adad, a name which, being interpreted, means “One One.”» — Praetextatus consigna el nombre asirio del dios supremo, Adad, que dice significar Uno Uno

«Him, then, they worship as the most powerful god, but they associate with him a goddess called Adargatis,8 and to these two deities, by whom they understand the sun and the earth, they ascribe full power over all things. And, instead of using a number of names to express the power shared by these deities in all its forms, they indicate the manifold pre-eminence of this twofold godhead by the attributes which each deity bears.» — Praetextatus explica la pareja de Adad y Adargatis como el sol y la tierra, cuyo poder no se dice con muchos nombres sino con los atributos de cada figura

«Finally, the theologians point out that the sovereignty of the sun answers to the sum of all the powers that be, and this is shown by the short prayer which they use in their ritual, saying: O Sun, Ruler of all, Spirit of the world, Might of the world, Light of the world.» — La plegaria ritual que Praetextatus transcribe: Sol, Señor de todo, Espíritu del mundo, Poder del mundo, Luz del mundo

«Hear, O Thou who dost, wheeling afar, ever make the turning circle of thy rays to revolve in its heavenly orbits, bright Zeus Dionysus, Father of sea, Father of land, Sun, source of all life, all-gleaming with thy golden light.» — Los versos órficos con que Praetextatus cierra su exposición: Zeus Dioniso brillante, Padre del mar y de la tierra, Sol, fuente de toda vida

«But Evangelus interrupted, saying: I am certainly full of admiration for a Capacity to understand the powers of all those mighty deities, but to call on our poet of Mantua to corroborate every statement in a theological exposition would seem to suggest partiality rather than a reasoned judgment.» — Evangelus objeta el método entero: llamar al poeta de Mantua a respaldar cada afirmación de una exposición teológica le parece parcialidad y no juicio razonado

«For my part, should I not take it that Vergil was imitating some other poet when he referred to the sun and moon as “Liber and kindly Ceres,” hearing the names so used but not knowing why?» — Evangelus propone la explicación rebajada: Virgilio imitaba a otro poeta al llamar Líber y Ceres al sol y a la luna, oyendo los nombres sin saber por qué

«When we were boys we had an uncritical admiration for Vergil, because our masters, as well as the inexperience of our youth, did not allow us to see his faults. That he had faults no one can honestly deny. In fact he admitted as much himself, for on his deathbed he bequeathed his Aeneid to the flames; and why should he have done this unless he was anxious to keep from posterity something which he knew would damage his reputation?» — Evangelus funda su reproche en el legado testamentario: el poeta mandó quemar la Eneida, y solo se hace eso por ocultar a la posteridad lo que dañaría la propia fama

«Vergil’s renown, Evangelus, is such that no one can add to it by praise or detract from it by disparagement.» — Symmachus replica que la fama de Virgilio no crece con el elogio ni mengua con el desprecio

«What Vergil says here is consistent with that wealth of material which almost all the literary critics carelessly pass by with (as the proverb says) “dusty feet” *—as though a grammarian were permitted to understand nothing beyond the meanings of words.» — Symmachus reprocha a los críticos literarios pasar de largo por esa riqueza, como si al gramático no le tocara entender más que el sentido de las palabras

«But we, who claim to have a finer taste, shall not suffer the secret places of this sacred poem to remain concealed, but we shall examine the approaches to its hidden meanings and throw open its inmost shrine for the worship of the learned.» — Symmachus enuncia el programa de lectura de los libros siguientes: examinar los accesos a los sentidos ocultos del poema sagrado y abrir su santuario más íntimo

«The additional words: “Hestia alone remains in the house of the gods,” mean that she (whom we understand to be the earth) alone remains motionless within the house of the gods, that is to say, in the midst of the universe» — Praetextatus identifica a Hestia con la tierra, inmóvil en medio del universo; el tramo se corta antes de la llamada de nota que el troceo pega a la palabra

«Cicero, replied Symmachus, is proof against your criticism, Evangelus, but we shall consider him later» — Symmachus deja en suspenso el reproche a Cicerón; el tramo se corta antes de la llamada de nota pegada a la palabra

«At present we are concerned with Vergil, and I should be glad if you would tell us whether, in your judgment, his works are fit only for the instruction of schoolboys, or whether you would admit that their contents can serve higher ends;» — Symmachus reencauza la disputa hacia Virgilio y pregunta si su obra sirve solo para instruir escolares o puede servir a fines más altos

«but the subject on which I have embarked is so vast that I think I must have been almost mad to have entered upon it; all the more so since, as you know, there are other and much more important studies which claim from me a share in the work.”» — Continuación de la carta: la materia emprendida es tan vasta que el poeta se juzga casi loco por haberla acometido, y hay otros estudios más importantes que le reclaman parte del trabajo

«Of all the high qualities for which Vergil is praised, said Vettius, my constant reading of his poems leads me, for my part, to admire the great learning with which he has observed the rules of the pontifical law in many different parts of his work. One might well suppose that he had made a special study of this law, and if my discourse does not prove unequal to so lofty a topic, I undertake to show that our Vergil may fairly be regarded as a Pontifex Maximus.» — Praetextatus declara lo que él se propone mostrar del poeta: tal observancia del derecho pontifical que cabría tenerlo por Pontífice Máximo

«I find in our poet, he said, such knowledge of augural law8 that, even if he were unskilled in all other branches of learning, the exhibition of this knowledge alone would win him high esteem.» — Flavianus reclama para sí el derecho augural y dice que ese solo saber bastaría para estimar al poeta aunque le faltaran los demás

«I, added Eustathius, should give the highest praise to his use of Greek models*—a cautious use and one which may even have the appearance of being accidental, since he sometimes skillfully conceals the debt, although at other times he imitates openly—did I not admire even more his knowledge of astronomy and of the whole field of philosophy,® and the sparing and restrained way in which he makes occasional, and everywhere praiseworthy, use of this knowledge in his poems.» — Eustathius reparte su elogio entre el uso cauto de los modelos griegos, a veces disimulado y a veces abierto, y el saber astronómico y filosófico usado con parquedad

«I shall not take it upon myself to dare to praise any single virtue in Vergil’s work, but I shall listen to what the rest of you have to say, and, if any remark of yours or anything in my long reading of the poet suggests an observation, I shall make it, as the occasion for it may arise. But bear in mind that it is to our friend Servius that we must go for an explanation of any obscurity, since of all literary critics he is far the greatest.» — Avienus declina el elogio y se reserva el papel de oyente, remitiendo a Servius toda oscuridad

«for in houses where religious usages are observed it is the practice at the Saturnalia to compliment the slaves by first providing for them a dinner prepared as though for the master, and it is not until this meal is over that the table is spread again for the head of the household.» — El uso doméstico que la obra consigna: en casas observantes, en los Saturnales se sirve primero a los esclavos una cena preparada como para el amo, y solo después se pone la mesa del dueño

«This dinner of ours has combined the moderation of the heroic age with the good taste of our own; it is sober yet elegant, carefully planned without being lavish. And for all Plato’s eloquence I have no hesitation in comparing it with—nay, in preferring it to— Agathon’s banquet» — Avienus caracteriza la cena y la prefiere al banquete de Agatón: sobria y elegante, planeada con cuidado y sin dispendio

«The purpose on'that occasion was to celebrate Agathon’s success in the theater; but we, for our part, are failing to introduce any pleasurable relaxation in doing honor to the god whose festival this is.» — Avienus objeta la austeridad de la reunión: no se introduce esparcimiento alguno en honor del dios cuya fiesta se celebra

«At the Saturnalia, best of days,”? as the poet of Verona says, I take it that we should neither imitate the Stoics and repel pleasure as a foe nor follow the Epicureans and make pleasure the highest good.» — Symmachus sitúa el punto medio de la fiesta: ni repeler el placer como enemigo al modo estoico ni hacerlo sumo bien al modo epicúreo

«Let us then make humor without impropriety our aim; and, unless I am mistaken, I think I have found out how to do this. I suggest that we relate to one another a selection of the jests of famous men of old—there are a number of books of these bons mots? —[g] and let such literary delights and learned badinage take the place of the improper and indecent jokes which the mummer and buffoon hide under a veil of seemliness and decency.» — Symmachus propone el programa del libro segundo: repetirse unos a otros los dichos ingeniosos de los antiguos en lugar de las chanzas indecentes del mimo y del bufón

«Our ancestors regarded a jest as something worth taking care and thought over; and I should like to begin by reminding you that two of the lords of language in those old days, the comic poet Plautus and the orator Cicero, were both outstanding for their witty jests.» — Symmachus consigna que los antepasados tenían el chiste por cosa digna de cuidado y de estudio, y nombra a Plauto y a Cicerón como los dos señores de la lengua en ese arte

«Plautus indeed was so famous on this account that after his death comedies of uncertain authorship were attributed to him simply by reason of the wealth of jokes which they contained.» — Symmachus mide la fama de Plauto por un efecto: tras su muerte se le atribuyeron comedias de autor incierto solo por la abundancia de chistes

«My use of the term “sayings” (dicta) is not accidental but deliberate, since it is the expression used by our predecessors to describe such jokes. And Cicero, too, bears me out; for in the second Book of his letters to Cornelius Nepos he says: “And so, although every spoken word would have been properly described as a ‘saying,’ it was the custom with us to confine the use of the word to a witty, brief, and pointed remark.”» — Symmachus apoya en una carta de Cicerón a Cornelio Nepote el uso técnico de *dicta* para el dicho ingenioso, breve y agudo

«Antiochus was holding a review, on some open ground, to display the huge forces which he had mustered for war against the Roman people, and the troops were marching past, gleaming with accoutrements of silver and gold. Chariots, too, fitted with scythes were brought on to the field, elephants with towers on their backs, and cavalry with glittering reins, housings, neck chains, and trappings. Glorying in the sight of his large and well-equipped army, the king then turned to Hannibal and said: “Do you think that all these will do for the Romans?”» — Praetextatus abre la serie con la anécdota de Aníbal exiliado en la corte de Antíoco, ante el desfile del ejército del rey

«The Carthaginian, in mockery of the king’s troops, who for all their costly equipment were cowardly and unwarlike, replied: “Yes, I think they will certainly do for the Romans—although the Romans can do with quite a lot.” There could not have been a neater or more pungent remark. The king’s question had referred, of course, to the size of his army, and he had asked if it could be regarded as a match for the Romans, but Hannibal’s reply referred to the booty it would provide.» — El dicho de Aníbal y su explicación: la pregunta del rey iba por el tamaño del ejército y la respuesta, por el botín que daría

«When Caesar, he said, was selling by auction the property of certain citizens, Servilia (the mother of Marcus Brutus) bought a valuable estate quite cheaply and so became the victim of a jest of Cicero’s, who said: “Of course you will the better understand Servilia’s bargain if you realize that a third was knocked off the purchase price of the estate” (tertia deducta).? For Servilia had a daughter, Junia Tertia (the wife of Gaius Cassius), whose favors—as well as her mother’s—the dictator was then enjoying.» — Symmachus refiere el retruécano de Cicerón sobre la compra de Servilia, que juega con el nombre de su hija Junia Tertia

«Plancus happened to be in court as counsel for a friend and, wishing to discredit a hostile witness, whom he knew to be a cobbler, asked him how he made his living. The man neatly replied: “Grinding gall” (gallam subigo), for cobblers make such use of gallnuts for their work, and by the double entendre® cleverly turned the question so as to charge Plancus with adultery, for stories were going round of his association with one Maevia Galla, a married woman.» — Caecina Albinus refiere la réplica del zapatero a Planco, que con un doble sentido devolvió la pregunta como acusación de adulterio

«Servilius Geminus happened to be dining at the house of Lucius Mallius, who was held to be the best portrait painter in Rome and, noticing how misshapen his host’s sons were, observed: “Your modeling, Mallius, does not come up to your painting.” “Naturally,” replied Mallius, “for the modeling is done in the dark but the painting by daylight.”» — Evangelus refiere el intercambio entre Servilio Gémino y el pintor Lucio Malio sobre sus hijos malhechos

«It was now the turn of Servius to take part in these exchanges, but his modersty kept him silent. If, said Evangelus, your refusal to repeat such jests is intended to protect a reputation for propriety, you are in effect charging all the rest of us with impropriety. How like a schoolmaster! But unless you, and Disarius and Horus too, are content to follow the example of Praetextatus and the rest of us, your assumption of superiority will certainly incur the reproach of arrogance.» — Evangelus fuerza a hablar a Servius y le reprocha que su silencio acuse de impropiedad a los demás

«My soul was on my lips as I was kissing Agathon. Poor soul! She came hoping to cross over to him.» — El dístico que Horus atribuye al joven Platón, de cuando también escribía tragedias

«As for those verses of Plato’s it is hard to say which is the more remarkable, the charm or the conciseness of expression. I remember having read a Latin version—it is of course longer than the original, since the resources of our language are usually held to be smaller and more restricted than those of the Greek tongue» — Symmachus compara las dos lenguas al presentar la versión latina del dístico: más larga que el original porque los recursos del latín se tienen por menores y más restringidos que los del griego

«Demosthenes, said Eusebius, who was the next to speak, attracted by the fame of Lais, whose beauty at that time was the» — Eusebius refiere el dicho de Demóstenes ante Lais; el tramo se corta en el límite de chunk

«But I am surprised, continued Symmachus, that none of you have said anything of Cicero’s jests, for here, as in everything else, he had the readiest of tongues. If it is your pleasure, then, I shall play the part of the mouthpiece of an oracle and repeat as many of his sayings as I can remember.» — Symmachus se ofrece como portavoz de los dichos de Cicerón, a quien tiene por el de lengua más pronta en esto como en todo

«When he was dining at the house of Damasippus, his host produced a very ordinary wine, saying, “Try this Falernian; it is forty years old.” “Young for its age,” replied Cicero.» — El dicho de Cicerón sobre el falerno de cuarenta años de Damasipo, que juzga joven para su edad

«The consulship of Vatinius which lasted for only a few days gave Cicero an opportunity for some humorous sayings which had wide currency. “Vatinius’s term of office,” he said, “has presented a remarkable portent, for in his consulship there has been neither winter, spring, summer, nor autumn.”» — El dicho de Cicerón sobre el consulado brevísimo de Vatinio, en el que no hubo invierno, primavera, verano ni otoño

«Pompey found Cicero’s witticisms tiresome, and the following sayings of Cicero were current: “I know whom to avoid, but I do not know whom to follow.”» — Symmachus consigna que a Pompeyo le cansaban los chistes de Cicerón, y cita el de saber a quién evitar y no a quién seguir

«Here, however, Cicero got as good as he gave, for Laberius replied: “I am surprised that you of all people should be pressed for room, seeing that you make a habit of sitting on two seats at once,” thus reproaching Cicero with the fickleness of which that excellent and loyal citizen was unfairly accused.» — La réplica de Laberio a Cicerón sobre sentarse en dos asientos a la vez, que le reprochaba una veleidad de la que se le acusaba injustamente

«He had written a tragedy entitled Ajax but, dissatisfied with it, had rubbed it out. And, when the tragedian Lucius Varius asked him afterward how his Ajax was getting on, he replied: “He has fallen on his sponge.”» — El dicho de Augusto sobre su propia tragedia borrada: Áyax cayó sobre su esponja

«When he heard that Herod king of the Jews had ordered boys in Syria under the age of two years to be put to death and that the king’s son was among those killed, he said: “I’d rather be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son.”» — El dicho de Augusto sobre Herodes, que la obra consigna tal cual: preferiría ser el cerdo de Herodes antes que su hijo

«I must not omit to mention his commendation of Cato. He happened to visit a house in which Cato had lived, and, when Strabo to flatter Augustus spoke slightingly of Cato’s obstinacy, he replied: “To seek to keep the established constitution unchanged argues a good citizen and a good man.” And he meant what he said, for in thus praising Cato he also in his own interest discouraged any attempt to change the form of government.» — El elogio de Augusto a Catón y la lectura que la obra le pone al lado: alabar al que quiso mantener sin cambios la constitución heredada desalentaba de paso todo intento de cambiar el gobierno

«I always think more of his acceptance of jests made against him than of the jests which he made himself—for the ability to take a joke against oneself is more creditable than a ready wit—especially since he bore with composure some sharp remarks that went even beyond a joke.» — Avienus declara preferir la capacidad de Augusto para aguantar la chanza ajena a la de hacerla: tomar una broma contra uno mismo es más meritorio que el ingenio pronto

«There is, moreover, the story of the soldier from whom he tolerated language which was not only blunt but recklessly rude. While he was staying at a certain country house he spent restless nights, his sleep being broken by the frequent hooting of an owl. He therefore gave orders for the bird to be caught, and a soldier who happened to be an expert fowler brought it to him.» — La anécdota del soldado cazador de la lechuza que Avienus refiere

«The man expected to receive a handsome reward, but the emperor only complimented him and ordered him to be given a thousand sesterces. Whereupon the fellow had the audacity to say: “I'd sooner let it live,” and let the bird go. It is surely remarkable that Augustus took no offense at this insolence but allowed the soldier to go away unpunished.» — Cierre de la anécdota: el soldado soltó el pájaro delante del emperador y la obra consigna su asombro por que Augusto no lo castigara

«As he went down from his residence on the Palatine, a seedy-looking Greek used to offer him a complimentary epigram. This the man did on many occasions without success, and Augustus, seeing him about to do it again, wrote a short epigram in Greek with his own hand and sent it to the fellow as he drew near. The Greek read it and praised it, expressing admiration both in words and by his looks. Then, coming up to the imperial chair, he put his hand in a shabby purse and drew out a few pence, to give them to the emperor, saying as he did so: “I swear by thy Good Fortune, Augustus, if I had more, I should give you more.”» — La anécdota del griego andrajoso que ofrecía epigramas a Augusto y acabó recibiendo del emperador uno escrito de su mano

«Julia was thirty-eight and had reached a time of life which, had she been sensible enough, she would have regarded as bordering on old age, but she habitually misused the kindness of her own good fortune and her father’s indulgence. Nevertheless, she had a love of letters and a considerable store of learning—not hard to come by in her home—and to these qualities were added a gentle humanity and a kindly disposition, all of which won for her a high regard; although those who were aware of her faults were astonished at the contradiction which her qualities implied.» — Avienus caracteriza a Julia sin armonizar la contradicción: amor de las letras, saber considerable, humanidad y bondad, junto a los defectos que asombraban a quienes los conocían

«And so he flattered himself that her high spirits, even if they gave the impression of a wanton, were in fact blameless, and he ventured to regard her as a latter-day Claudia.t Thus it was that he once observed, when talking among some friends, that he had two spoiled daughters to put up with—Rome and Julia.» — El dicho de Augusto sobre sus dos hijas malcriadas, Roma y Julia

«She came one day into her father’s presence wearing a somewhat immodest dress. Augustus was shocked but said nothing. On the next day, to his delight, she wore a different kind of dress and greeted him with studied demureness. Although the day before he had repressed his feelings, he was now unable to contain his pleasure and said: “This dress is much more becoming in the daughter of Augustus.” But Julia had an excuse ready and replied: “Yes, for today I am dressed to meet my father’s eyes; yesterday it was for my husband’s.”» — El intercambio de Julia y Augusto sobre el vestido, con la respuesta de ella sobre para qué ojos se viste cada día

«Moreover, to a seriousminded friend who was seeking to persuade her that she would be better advised to order her life to conform to her father’s simple tastes she replied: “He forgets that he is Caesar, but I remember that I am Caesar’s daughter.”» — La respuesta de Julia a quien le pedía ajustarse a los gustos sencillos de su padre: él olvida que es César y ella recuerda que es hija de César

«Vatinius had been stoned by the populace at a gladiatorial show which he was giving, and so he prevailed on the aediles to make a proclamation forbidding the throwing of anything but fruit into the arena. Now it so happened that Cascellius at that time was asked by a client to advise whether a fircone was a fruit or not, and his reply was: “If you propose to throw one at Vatinius, it is.”» — El dictamen de Cascelio sobre si la piña es fruta, dado el bando que solo permitía arrojar fruta a la arena

«Laberius was a Roman knight, a blunt and outspoken man, whom Caesar for a fee of five hundred thousand sesterces invited to appear on the stage and act in person in the mimes which it was his practice to write. But an invitation, or indeed a request, if it comes from one whose power is supreme, is in effect compulsion; and so it is that Laberius in a prologue bears witness to the constraint put upon him by Caesar» — Avienus explica la coacción: una invitación de quien tiene poder supremo es en los hechos obligación

«A gift worthily bestowed is a gift to the giver. What can’t be changed must be borne, not blamed. One who is allowed more than is fair wants more than he is allowed. On a journey the merry talk of a companion is as good as a lift. Thrift is unpleasant, but it is well spoken of. The tears of an heir are a mask to hide a grin. Patience too often abused turns to anger. You cannot fairly blame Neptune if you suffer shipwreck twice. Too much wrangling and the eerie is lost sight of. A quick refusal of a request is half a kindness done.» — La primera serie de máximas de Publilio que la obra recoge, cada una en un solo verso

«On the question of the respective merits of these two actors popular opinion was divided. Hylas one day was performing a dramatic dance the closing theme of which was The Great Agamemnon, and by his gestures he represented his subject as a man of mighty stature. This was more than Pylades could stand, and from his seat in the pit he shouted: “You are making him merely tall, not great.”» — La disputa de Pílades e Hilas sobre cómo se representa a Agamenón, y el reproche de que lo hiciera alto y no grande

«The populace then made Pylades perform the same dance himself, and, when he came to the point at which he had found fault with the other’s performance, he gave the representation of a man deep in thought, on the ground that nothing became a great commander better than to take thought for all.» — La réplica de Pílades en acto: representó al general sumido en pensamiento, porque a un gran caudillo nada le conviene más que pensar por todos

«Once, when Pylades had come on to dance Hercules the Madman, some of the spectators thought that he was not keeping to action suited to the stage. Whereupon he took off his mask and turned on his critics with the words: “Fools, my dancing is intended to represent a madman.”» — La réplica de Pílades a quienes lo juzgaban fuera de la acción escénica: su danza representaba a un loco

«And at those last words the audience as one man turned and looked at Caesar, thus indicating that this scathing gibe was an attack on his despotism.» — Avienus consigna el efecto político de los versos de Laberio en escena: el público entero volvió la vista hacia César

«The Goddess of Necessity—from the shock of whose unexpected course many have sought to escape, and few successfully—to what depths has she thrust me down, now all but at the ending of my life?» — El prólogo de Laberio que la obra transcribe, con la Necesidad por sujeto; el tramo se corta antes del segundo período de la tirada

«The passage of Varro which you bid me quote, replied Albinus, runs something like this: “Those sweetmeats (bellaria) are sweetest which are not made sweet with honey, since sweet cakes make an untrustworthy alliance with one’s digestion.”» — Caecina Albinus cita a Varrón sobre los postres: los más dulces son los que no se endulzan con miel, porque el pastel dulce hace mala alianza con la digestión

«For, in his opinion, periods of relaxation spent, with moderation and decency, in drinking refreshed and restored the spirits for a return to the duties of a sober life; and, after being gently made merrier men became the better able to renew their efforts. And at the same time he held that any deep-seated faults of inclination or desire— faults such as otherwise, through shame or shyness, a man would conceal—were all disclosed without grave risk by the candor which wine induces and became more amenable to correction and cure.» — Eustathius expone el argumento de Platón: el vino moderado repone el ánimo y además saca a la luz los vicios que la vergüenza esconde, con lo que se vuelven corregibles

«We must therefore meet the adversary and, as though in battle, come to grips with such pleasures and with that license which wine may provoke—to win protection against them, not by fleeing or absenting ourselves from them but by strength of mind and a firm self-control, preserving our sobriety and restraint by moderation in use, and at the same time (by warming and refreshing our spirits) washing away, as it were, any chilly gloominess or tongue-tied bashfulness that we may feel.» — Eustathius formula la regla de la prueba: la protección contra el placer no se gana huyendo de él sino con fuerza de ánimo y firme dominio de sí en el uso moderado

«Now these two pleasures, the pleasure of taste and the pleasure of touch, that is to say, indulgence in food and drink and indulgence in sexual intercourse, are the only pleasures which we find common to man and the lower animals, so that whoever is the slave of these animal pleasures is regarded as ranking with the brutes and beasts.» — Eustathius funda la jerarquía en que esos dos placeres son los únicos comunes al hombre y a los animales, y los otros tres propios solo del hombre

«Socrates, indeed, used to say that many men wish to live in order to eat and drink, but that he drank and ate in order to live.» — El dicho de Sócrates que Eustathius cita: muchos quieren vivir para comer y beber, y él bebía y comía para vivir

«And Hippocrates, a man of almost more than human knowledge, used to hold of sexual intercourse that it partook of the nature of that hideous disease which we call the “assembly disease”;* for his actual words are handed down: “Coition” (he said) “is a mild attack of epilepsy.”» — La sentencia de Hipócrates que Eustathius transcribe sobre la naturaleza del coito

«It is well known that, when sacrifice is to be made to the gods above, purification is effected by ablution of the body, but aspersion alone is deemed to be enough when an acceptable offering is to be made to the gods of the lower world.» — Praetextatus fija la distinción ritual que atribuye al poeta: ablución del cuerpo para los dioses de arriba y aspersión sola para los de abajo

«Our poet so habitually uses the proper word that such exactitude of observance ceases to be a ground for praising him, but it is worth noting that this propriety of usage is nowhere more in evidence than in his use of words that relate to religious rites or to sacrifices.» — Praetextatus acota su propio elogio: la exactitud del poeta es tan habitual que deja de ser mérito, salvo donde toca al rito y al sacrificio

«for we learn from the teaching of the soothsayers and the precepts of the pontiffs that this word, porricere, is regularly used of those who offer a sacrifice. Veranius, for example, has commented thus on the word, with reference to a passage from the first book of Fabius Pictor: “Let the entrails be placed as an offering (porriciunto), let them be given to the gods, on altar or place of offering or hearth or wherever the entrails should be so given.”» — Praetextatus fija el término técnico *porricere* por la doctrina de los arúspices y los preceptos de los pontífices, con la glosa de Veranio sobre Fabio Píctor

«The depth of our poet’s knowledge is often revealed by a single word, which the unlearned would suppose to be a chance expression. Thus we read in many places that it is impossible to make an acceptable offering to the gods by prayer alone but that he who makes prayer to the gods must also lay hold of the altar with his hands.» — Praetextatus enuncia su método de lectura: una sola palabra, que el lego tomaría por casual, revela la hondura del saber del poeta

«That is why Varro, in the fifth Book of his Religious Antiquities, says that the word for altars (arae) was originally asae, since those who were offering a sacrifice had to lay hold of them, and it is obvious that it is by the handles (ansae) that vessels are usually held. It was by the change of a letter then— a change like that by which the Valesii and Fusii of former times have become the Valerii and Furii of today—that we began to speak of arae» — Praetextatus cita la etimología de Varrón que hace de *arae* las antiguas *asae*, por las asas de que se toman los vasos

«That Vergil invested Aeneas with the dignity of a pontiff is shown by the very word used for the recital of his hero’s woes. For to the pontiffs was given the authority to record events on tablets, and these records, as compiled by the chief pontiffs (a pontificibus maximis), are known as the “chief records”» — Praetextatus deduce la dignidad pontifical de Eneas de una sola palabra: los *annales* que los pontífices máximos tenían autoridad para registrar en tablillas

«Among the decrees of the pontiffs we meet the terms sacer, profanus, sanctus, and religiosus, and we often have occasion to ask what each means. We must inquire therefore whether Vergil has used these terms in accordance with their definitions and has, as usual, observed the proper signification of each.» — Praetextatus plantea la prueba terminológica: si el poeta usa *sacer*, *profanus*, *sanctus* y *religiosus* conforme a las definiciones pontificales

«We have been speaking of pleasures, and Aristotle teaches us what pleasures we should be on our guard against. For man has five senses, called in Greek aisOnoeic, namely, touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing» — Eustathius enumera con Aristóteles los cinco sentidos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Immoderate pleasure derived from any of these senses is base and blameworthy, but excessive pleasure derived from taste and touch (two pleasures which are as alike as twins) is, in the opinion of philosophers, of all things the most disgraceful.» — Eustathius jerarquiza los placeres: inmoderado en cualquier sentido es bajo, pero el del gusto y el del tacto son, para los filósofos, los más vergonzosos de todos

«Why are men called incontinent if they indulge to excess in the pleasure of touch or of taste? For those who are intemperate in sexual intercourse are such, and so too are those who are intemperate in the enjoyment of eating and drinking.» — El pasaje de Aristóteles que Eustathius transcribe sobre por qué se llama incontinente a quien se excede en el tacto y el gusto

«Servius Sulpicius has told us that the word religio implies the removal and withdrawal of something from us by reason of some inherent sanctity, as if the word religio were derived from relinquere, in the sense of “to leave alone,”» — Praetextatus da la definición de *religio* que atribuye a Servio Sulpicio: lo que se retira y se aparta de nosotros por su santidad inherente

«According to Pompeius Festus the term religiosi is applied to those whose duty it is to decide what things should be done and what left undone.» — Praetextatus da la segunda acepción, la de Pompeyo Festo: *religiosi* son quienes deciden qué debe hacerse y qué dejar sin hacer

«It is also a duty of the pontiffs to make known the names which properly belong to sacred places. Let us ask, then, what particular meaning they give to delubrum [shrine], and how Vergil has used the word.» — Praetextatus declara oficio pontifical fijar los nombres propios de los lugares sagrados y de ahí saca su siguiente prueba

«In the eighth Book of his Religious Antiquities Varro says that some regard as a delubrum an open space outside a temple and devoted to the service of a god (as, for example, the place consecrated to Jupiter Stator in the Flaminian Circus) but that others apply the term to the place in which a statue of a god has been dedicated, adding that, just as the object which held a candle (candela) would be called a candelabrum, so the place which housed a god (deus) would be called a delubrum.» — Praetextatus contrapone las dos definiciones de *delubrum* que Varrón recoge: el espacio abierto fuera del templo y el lugar donde se dedicó la estatua

«However, some who delve more diligently for truth have said that the penates are the gods to whom we owe the breath within us (penitus) and by whom we possess our bodies and our power of thought: namely, Jupiter (the middle ether), Juno (the lowest air and the earth) and Minerva (the highest part» — Praetextatus da la definición física de los penates: los dioses a quienes debemos el aliento de dentro, repartidos en Júpiter, Juno y Minerva por regiones del éter y del aire; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Cassius Hemina says that the gods of Samothrace and the Roman penates who are identified with them are properly styled (in Greek) Great (ueyéAo1) Gods, Good (ypnotoi) Gods, and Mighty» — Praetextatus recoge de Casio Hémina los tres títulos griegos de los penates: Grandes, Buenos y Poderosos

«Moreover, Hyginus in his book Concerning the penates has given this further information: that the penates are called_in Greek “Gods of the Fatherland”» — Praetextatus añade de Higino el título griego de los penates como Dioses de la Patria

«Vergil shows that he is as careful and accurate in his accounts of sacrificial practice as he is in theological knowledge, for his poetry contains references to each of the two kinds of sacrificial victims which Trebatius mentions in his exposition of the subject in the first Book of his work On Matters of Religion: namely, victims which serve to discover the will of a god by the state of their entrails,1 and victims of which only the life (anima) is consecrated to a god, the latter kind being in consequence called by the soothsayers “animales.”» — Praetextatus distingue con Trebacio las dos clases de víctimas: las que revelan la voluntad del dios por las entrañas y aquellas de las que solo se consagra la vida

«Among sacrificial victims, whether only the life is offered to a god or whether the purpose of the sacrifice is to ascertain a god’s will, there are some which are known as iniuges, that is to say, beasts which have never been tamed or accustomed to bear the yoke» — Praetextatus define las víctimas *iniuges* como las bestias nunca domadas ni acostumbradas al yugo

«Again, ae word eximius, used in connection with sacrifices, is not a mere poetical epithet but a technical term employed by the priests; for Veranius in his Questions Touching the Procedure of the Pontiffs tells us that those victims are said to be eximiae which are such as to be chosen (eximantur) from a herd and marked out for sacrifice, or such as to be selected, by reason of their choice (eximia) beauty, as fit for offering to the divine powers.» — Praetextatus fija *eximius* como término técnico sacerdotal y no epíteto poético, por Veranio; el troceo imprime *ae* por *the*

«It has always been the practice at a sacrifice to remove any victim that struggled violently on being led to the altar and showed reluctance to approach it, on the ground that such an offering was deemed to be unwelcome to the god. If, however, the victim stood quietly at the altar, the offering was held to be acceptable to the deity;» — Praetextatus consigna la regla de la víctima: la que forcejea al ser llevada al altar se retira por no grata al dios, y la que se está quieta se tiene por aceptada

«So convinced was Vergil that the whole duty of man toward the gods consists in the offering of sacrifices to them that he has called Mezentius a “despiser of the gods”? on account of his refusal to offer sacrifices.» — Praetextatus adjudica al poeta la tesis de que todo el deber del hombre para con los dioses está en el sacrificio, y por eso llama a Mecencio despreciador de los dioses

«But the true reason for this epithet, which so strongly suggests arrogance, will be found by a careful reader in the first Book of Cato’s Origins, where the writer says that Mezentius ordered the Rutulians to offer to him the first fruits which it was their custom to offer to the gods and that all the Latins, from fear of receiving a like command, prayed to Jupiter, saying: “If it is more to thy mind that we make these offerings to thee rather than to Mezentius, grant us the victory.”» — Praetextatus busca en los Orígenes de Catón la razón del epíteto: Mecencio exigió para sí las primicias que se ofrecían a los dioses

«for it is well known, as Cloatius Verus explains in the second Book of his Word Lists, that there is at Delos an altar at which the god is worshiped only with a ritual prayer, and no victim is slain. The words of Cloatius run as follows: “At Delos there is an altar to Apollo the Father (Tevétwp); at it no living creature is sacrificed and they say that Pythagoras reverenced it as undefiled.”» — Praetextatus explica por qué Eneas no sacrifica al llegar a Delos: allí hay un altar de Apolo Padre donde no se mata víctima alguna y que Pitágoras veneraba por incontaminado

«Varro in the fourth Book of his Religious Antiquities holds that Hercules is called “Victor” because he was victorious over every kind of living creature.» — Praetextatus da la explicación de Varrón para el título de Hércules Vencedor

«It is also the regular observance at that place for all to offer sacrifice with the head bare, to the end that in the temple of Hercules no one should imitate the garb of the god, who is represented there with his head veiled.» — Praetextatus explica el sacrificio con la cabeza descubierta en el Ara Máxima: nadie ha de imitar en el templo el atavío del dios, que allí aparece con la cabeza velada

«For it is handed down in the books of the Etruscans that, if a ram present an unusual color, it is an omen of general prosperity for the ruler.» — Praetextatus lee un verso de las Bucólicas por los libros etruscos: un carnero de color insólito presagia prosperidad general para el gobernante

«A sheep or a ram with purple or golden markings presages for the leader of a class and of a race the greatest prosperity and an access of wealth; the race prolongs its generations in splendor and brings them greater happiness.”» — La fórmula del libro etrusco de los prodigios que Praetextatus transcribe desde el volumen de Tarquicio

«The men of old allowed no animal, thus devoted, to remain within their borders, but they used to drive it away to the precincts of the gods to whom it was devoted; but, on the other hand, they held that the lives of human beings, thus devoted, (called by the Greeks Zéivec!) were a debt due to the gods.» — Praetextatus resuelve la paradoja: al animal consagrado se le expulsaba al recinto del dios, y la vida del hombre consagrado se tenía por deuda debida a los dioses

«Consequently, just as they did not hesitate to drive away a devoted animal which could not be actually dispatched by them to the gods, so—holding that a human life thus devoted could be dispatched to heaven—they resolved that such lives should go there as soon as possible by being separated from their bodies.» — Continuación del razonamiento: como la vida humana sí podía despacharse al cielo, se resolvió que fuera allá cuanto antes separándola del cuerpo

«Moreover, there is in Cyprus a bearded statue of the goddess with female clothing but with male attributes, so that it would seem that the deity is both male and female.» — Praetextatus aduce la estatua barbada de Chipre, con vestido de mujer y atributos de varón, para sostener la lectura de Venus como deidad doble

«Philochorus, too, in his Atthis says that Venus is the moon and that men offer sacrifice to the moon dressed as women, and women dressed as men, because the moon is thought to be both male and female.» — Praetextatus cita a Filócoro sobre el rito en que los hombres sacrifican a la luna vestidos de mujer y las mujeres de hombre, porque se la tiene por macho y hembra a la vez

«The reference here is to a Roman custom of the greatest antiquity and to rites of the greatest secrecy.» — Praetextatus anuncia lo que va a exponer: una costumbre romana antiquísima y ritos del mayor secreto

«For it is well known that every city is under the protection of some deity, and it is an established fact that it was the custom of the Romans (a secret custom and one that is unknown to many) by means of a prescribed formula to call forth the tutelary deities of an enemy city which they were besieging and now felt confident of being able to take; either because they believed that unless they did so the city could not be taken after all or rather because, were the capture possible, they held it to be an offense against the divine law to make prisoners of gods.» — Praetextatus expone la evocación: los romanos llamaban fuera por fórmula a los dioses tutelares de la ciudad enemiga, o porque sin eso no podían tomarla o porque tenían por sacrilegio hacer prisioneros a los dioses

«That is why the Romans, for their part, were careful to see to it that the tutelary god of the city of Rome and the Latin name of the city should not be known.» — Praetextatus consigna la contrapartida: los romanos cuidaron que no se supiera ni el nombre de su dios tutelar ni el nombre latino de la ciudad

«For some have believed the tutelary deity to be Jupiter, others the moon, some have said that it is Angerona (who is represented with a finger to her lips as though enjoining silence) ; others again—and it seems to me that there are stronger grounds for believing them— that it is Ops Consivia.» — Praetextatus alinea las opiniones sobre el dios tutelar de Roma —Júpiter, la luna, Angerona con el dedo en los labios, Ops Consivia— y dice cuál le parece mejor fundada sin cerrarla

«Father Dis, Veiovis, and ye spirits of the world below, or by what other name ye should be called, do all of you fill with panic and fear and terror that city of Carthage and the army whereof it is my purpose now to speak, and those who shall bear arms and weapons against our legions and army; take away and deprive of the light of day that army, those enemies, those people, their cities and lands, and those who dwell in these places and parts, fields and cities; and the army of the enemy, the cities and fields of those of whom it is my purpose now to speak; hold devoted and doomed those cities» — La fórmula de devoción que Praetextatus transcribe, reservada a dictadores y comandantes supremos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«When the speaker says “Earth,” he touches the ground with his hands; when he says “Jupiter,” he raises his hands to heaven; when he speaks of the taking of the vow, he touches his breast with his hands.» — Praetextatus describe los gestos que acompañan la fórmula: tocar el suelo al nombrar la Tierra, alzar las manos al nombrar a Júpiter y tocarse el pecho al hacer el voto

«May I hope, then, said Praetextatus, that I have made it clear to you all that to understand the depths of meaning in Vergil calls for a knowledge of both the divine and the civil law?» — Praetextatus cierra su exposición con la tesis de toda ella: entender la hondura del poeta exige conocer a la vez el derecho divino y el civil

«But Evangelus exclaimed that he had long since come to the end of his patience and could no longer hide his feelings nor refrain from disclosing the scars of ignorance on the body of Vergil’s work.» — Evangelus anuncia que va a mostrar las cicatrices de ignorancia en la obra del poeta

«It seems appropriate at this point to refer to the position of human beings declared by the laws to be devoted (sacri) to certain gods; for I am well aware that some persons find it surprising that, although it is an offense against the laws of religion to lay violent hands on all other devoted objects, a man so devoted may lawfully be killed.» — Praetextatus plantea la paradoja de los hombres consagrados: siendo sacrilegio poner mano en toda cosa consagrada, al hombre así consagrado se le puede matar lícitamente

«To any god, to any goddess, under whose protection are the people and state of Carthage, and chiefly to thee who art charged with the protection of this city and people, I make prayer and do reverence and ask grace of you all, that ye abandon the people and state of Carthage, forsake their places, temples, shrines, and city, and depart therefrom;» — La fórmula de evocación que Praetextatus transcribe desde el quinto libro de Samónico Sereno, para llamar fuera a los dioses de la ciudad sitiada

«and that upon that people and state ye bring fear and terror and oblivion; that once put forth ye come to Rome, to me and to mine; and that our places, temples, shrines, and city may be more acceptable and pleasing to you; and that ye take me and the Roman people and my soldiers under your charge; that we may know and understand the same. If ye shall so have done, I vow to you temples and solemn games.”» — Continuación de la fórmula: miedo, terror y olvido sobre el pueblo sitiado, y a los dioses que se vengan a Roma se les prometen templos y juegos solemnes

«Vergil, then, was looking forward to what was to come when he represented Aeneas as sacrificing a victim unsuited to the occasion. But he knew too that the mistake was not without remedy, for Ateius Capito (with whom you have confronted Vergil, as though in battle), after the words which you have quoted, has gone on to say: “If any, by chance, shall have sacrificed to Jupiter with a bull, let him offer a sacrifice of appeasement.” What Aeneas did, then, was an act contrary to prescribed custom but not beyond the possibility of atonement, and in making him do it Vergil acted, not from ignorance, but to prepare the way for the portent that was to follow.» — Praetextatus resuelve la objeción de Evangelus: el sacrificio impropio de Eneas no es ignorancia del poeta sino preparación del prodigio, y Ateyo Capitón prevé la expiación

«As for the Salii, Vettius continued, in assigning them to Hercules Vergil shows the wealth and depth of his learning, for the pontiffs too identify Hercules with Mars.» — Praetextatus defiende la atribución de los Salios a Hércules porque los propios pontífices identifican a Hércules con Marte

«The star, too, which is known to all other peoples as the star of Mars is called by the Chaldeans the star of Hercules.» — Praetextatus aduce que los caldeos llaman estrella de Hércules a la que los demás pueblos llaman de Marte

«Quintus Hortensius is said to have been the first to serve peacocks at an augural banquet, an act which was described at the time by respectable citizens as suggesting extravagance rather than a proper austerity; but many have been quick to follow the precedent and have so raised the price of these birds that their eggs are sold for five denarii apiece and the birds themselves easily fetch fifty.”» — El pasaje de Varrón que Caecina Albinus cita sobre el primer banquete augural con pavos reales y el precio a que llegaron

«You must understand that extravagant profusion was found among the highest dignitaries, for I would remind you of a pontifical banquet of early times, of which the following account is given in the fourth Register of the famous Metellus, chief pontiff:» — Caecina Albinus introduce el banquete pontifical antiguo como prueba de que el exceso alcanzaba a las más altas dignidades

«There were served,® for the preliminary service, sea urchins, unlimited raw oysters, scallops, cockles, thrushes on asparagus, fattened fowls, a dish of oysters and scallops, acorn fish (both black and white), then another service of cockles, mussels, sea nettles, figpeckers, haunches of venison and boar, fattened fowls cooked in pastry, more figpeckers, murex, and purple fish. For the main dishes were served sow’s udders, boar’s head, stewed fish, stewed sow’s udders, ducks, boiled teal, hares, fattened fowls roasted, creamed wheat, and rolls of Picenum.”» — El menú del banquete pontifical que el registro de Metelo consigna, plato por plato

«You must not suppose, my friends, that in all this I am saying that we are better than the men of old, or even worthy to be compared with them. I have simply been replying to the criticism which Horus made, for I maintain, what is indeed a fact, that those earlier generations took more thought for such: pleasures than we do.» — Caecina Albinus acota su propio alegato: no dice que su tiempo valga más que el antiguo, sino que aquellas generaciones cuidaban más de esos placeres

«We ought indeed (began Furius), if we are wise, always to feel respect for those bygone days, because it is to them that the generations belong of the men who won this empire for us by their blood and sweat—clear evidence this of a wealth of virtues. But it must be confessed that with all their abundant virtues those times had their faults as well, some of which have been corrected by the sober habits of our age.» — Furius Albinus enuncia su regla de juicio: respeto por los tiempos antiguos, cuya virtud ganó el imperio, y reconocimiento de que también tuvieron sus faltas

«As for actors, we have the evidence of Cicero to show that they were not looked upon as being among the disreputable classes of society, since it is common knowledge that he was on such friendly terms with the actors Roscius and Aesopus that his professional skill was available to defend their interest and affairs, as is clear both from his letters and from many other sources.» — Furius Albinus consigna, por el testimonio de Cicerón, que los actores no se contaban entre las clases infamadas

«For in shrines some things are classed as implements and sacred furnishings, other things as ornaments. Things classed as implements are regarded as by way of being instruments—that is to say, they are the things which are always used in the offering of sacrifices» — Praetextatus distingue en los santuarios los enseres del culto de los ornamentos votivos; el tramo se corta antes del resto del período

«And so, then, the libation made at Evander’s feast was made as prescribed by law; for it was made at the table which had been dedicated, together with the Ara Maxima, in accordance with customary religious usage; it was made, too, in a consecrated grove and in the course of the ceremonies at a sacred banquet.» — Praetextatus separa los dos casos sin armonizarlos: la libación de Evandro fue rito prescrito en mesa consagrada, bosque sagrado y banquete ritual

«They are taught disreputable tricks. In the company of effeminate fellows, and carrying zither and lute, they go to a school for actors, and there they learn to sing songs which our ancestors regarded as disgraceful in young people of good family.» — El pasaje de Escipión Emiliano que Furius Albinus transcribe sobre la escuela de actores y las canciones que los antepasados tenían por vergonzosas

«the family received the surname “Murena” from their inordinate love of lampreys» — Furius Albinus deriva el cognomen Murena del gusto desmedido de los Licinios por las lampreas

«And yet that same Crassus, although of censorial rank (for he held the office of censor together with Gnaeus Domitius) and although he was regarded as preeminently eloquent and a leading figure among the most distinguished citizens, nevertheless put on mourning when a lamprey died in a fishpond at his house,‘ and grieved for it as though for a daughter.» — Furius Albinus refiere el duelo de Craso por una lamprea muerta en su estanque, que lloró como a una hija

«But it is impossible to deny that the gluttony of those men of old was unrestrained or, as Caecilius puts is, “firmly entrenched,”7 since they went to such distant seas for the means to satisfy their extravagant tastes.» — Furius Albinus consigna el juicio que le merece aquella gula: desenfrenada, o firmemente atrincherada en la frase de Cecilio, por ir a mares tan lejanos

«So says Sammonicus and, in praising his emperor’s banquet, calls attention to a shameful feature of it, by revealing the respect in which the fish used to be held—being brought in by servants crowned with garlands and to the music of the flute, a ceremonial entry which suggested the worship of a god rather than the appearance of a tasty dish at table.» — Furius Albinus lee el elogio de Samónico al banquete imperial como denuncia involuntaria: el esturión entraba con servidores coronados y música de flauta, como culto de un dios

«To seek to make a list of the many means ingeniously devised or studiously prepared to satisfy the gluttony of the men of those earlier days would be tedious, but such practices certainly account for the numerous laws brought before the people to regulate dinners and their cost.» — Furius Albinus enlaza la gula de los antiguos con las muchas leyes suntuarias que se llevaron ante el pueblo

«And by way of a beginning it was ordered that luncheons and dinners be eaten with open doors, to the end that observation by one’s fellow citizens might, as evidence, set bounds to extravagance.» — Furius Albinus consigna la primera medida: comer con las puertas abiertas, para que la observación de los conciudadanos pusiera límite al exceso

«I see the possible objection: Are we to suppose, then, that to restrict expenditure on meals by such legal enactments argues the sobriety of the age? It certainly does not, for the sumptuary laws were proposed by individuals with a view to correcting the faults of the State as a whole, and assuredly there would have been no need to propose the laws had not the citizens been leading bad and extravagant lives. To quote an old adage: “Bad habits breed good laws.”» — Furius Albinus se objeta a sí mismo y responde con el adagio antiguo: las malas costumbres engendran buenas leyes

«For, to be frank, that man is, to my mind, extravagant and prodigal beyond all others, at whose table such dishes are served, even if they cost him nothing. And it is clear that this age of ours is all the more disposed to practice complete self-restraint in this matter, since most of the delicacies included in the Sullan law as being generally well-known, are known to none of us even by name.» — Furius Albinus da su criterio del lujo: pródigo es aquel a cuya mesa se sirven esos platos aunque nada le cuesten, y añade que de las delicias de la ley sulana su edad no conoce ni los nombres

«Then the queen with a smile called for a drinking glass, poured in some vinegar, and hurriedly dropped into it a large pearl which she had taken from one of her ears. The pearl, as that jewel naturally will, quickly dissolved; she swallowed the draught, and so won the wager; for the pearl itself was beyond question worth ten million sesterces.» — El caso de Cleopatra y la perla disuelta en vinagre con que ganó la apuesta a Antonio

«That walnut in your hand, replied Servius, is thought by some to take its name, juglans, from juvare [to please], and glans [an acorn]. But Gavius Bassus in his book On the Meaning of Words says: [3] “The walnut tree is called juglans because the words stands for Jovis glans; for, since that kind of tree bears a nut sweeter in taste than the acorn, the men of old (regarding its fruit as excellent and in appearance like an acorn, and the tree itself worthy of the god) called the nut ‘Jove’s acorn,’ and this name (Jovis glans) has now, by contraction, become juglans.”» — Servius alinea las etimologías de la nuez: la que la deriva de *iuvare* y *glans*, y la de Gavio Baso que la hace bellota de Júpiter

«Some writers on agriculture distinguish between nuts and apples as follows: they call a “nut” any fruit (pomum) in which an edible core has a hard covering outside, and an “apple” any fruit in which a hard core is surrounded by an edible outside.» — Servius da el criterio de los agrónomos para separar nueces de manzanas por dónde está la parte comestible respecto del hueso

«The matter was no secret, for when his colleague Domitius reproached him with it in the Senate, as a disgraceful blot on his character» — Continuación del caso de Craso y la lamprea: reprochado en el Senado por su colega Domicio; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«It has, moreover, a very strong scent, so that placed among clothing it destroys moths. It is also said to be an antidote to poisons, and crushed in wine it saves the lives of those who drink the draught by its powerful action as a purge. Citron apples grow in Persia at every season of the year, for some are picked early and others are ripening in the mean time.”» — El pasaje de Opio sobre el cidro que Servius transcribe: ahuyenta la polilla entre la ropa, se tiene por antídoto de venenos y obra como purgante machacado en vino

«You are to understand that the white fig tree is one of the trees of good omen, but that, on the other hand, the black fig tree is a tree of ill omen; and the authority for each of these statements is the teaching of the pontiffs.» — Servius consigna la partición pontifical de los árboles en de buen y de mal agüero, con la higuera blanca en un lado y la negra en el otro

«Trees which are under the protection of the gods below and of the Averting Deities are called trees of ill omen: they are the buckthorn, the red cornel, the fern, the black fig, and all that bear a black berry and black fruit, the whitebeam too, the wild pear, the holly, and the thorn and briar; and it is proper that order be given to burn with these anything monstrous and of ill omen.”» — El pasaje de Tarquicio Prisco que Servius transcribe: los árboles de los dioses de abajo y de las deidades desviadoras, y la orden de quemar con ellos lo monstruoso y de mal agüero

«You must know too that of all trees the fig is the only one that does not blossom. Again, “milk” is the term properly used for the juice of figs.» — Servius consigna dos particularidades del higo: es el único árbol que no florece, y a su jugo le corresponde propiamente el nombre de leche

«It was at this point that Praetextatus intervened and said: “I would gladly listen longer to our friend Servius, but it is time to retire to rest; and the hour reminds us that ‘with tomorrow’s light’4 we are to have the pleasure of hearing what Symmachus has to say and to meet at his house.” So the party broke up, and all went their several ways.» — Cierre del segundo día: Praetextatus corta la lista de Servius por la hora y emplaza a la casa de Symmachus para el tercero

«Let us consider now how the pattern of a speech expresses and evokes emotion; and first let us ask what are the rules of rhetoric for such a speech. Being concerned with emotion the speech should certainly seek to express and arouse either indignation or pity (the Greek terms are deivmoig! and oiktog respectively); and of these two emotions the prosecution is necessarily concerned with the one, the defense with the other.» — Symmachus enuncia la regla retórica que va a probar en el poeta: el discurso patético busca indignación o compasión, y cada una toca a una de las dos partes del juicio

«To express and arouse indignation the opening of the speech must be abrupt, since a quiet opening would be ill fitted to its purpose.» — Symmachus fija la regla del exordio abrupto para la indignación

«Nor is it only the opening words that should follow the examples I have suggested, but, if possible, the speech as a whole should be calculated to express and arouse emotion, both by the brevity of the sentences and by the frequent changes of the figures employed, thus giving the impression that the speaker is, as it were, being borne to and fro amid surging waves of anger.» — Symmachus extiende la regla al discurso entero: períodos breves y cambio frecuente de figuras, para que el hablante parezca llevado de un lado a otro por olas de ira

«And so you see the many changes which Vergil has made in the pattern of this speech and what a variety of figures he has used, for anger, being “momentary madness,”* cannot speak in a single uniform strain.» — Symmachus concluye el análisis del discurso de Juno: la ira, locura momentánea, no puede hablar en un solo registro

«Our poet has neatly kept in mind this use of “pathos” and has evoked the emotion of pity from a reference to every age of man.» — Symmachus anuncia el recorrido: el poeta saca compasión de cada edad del hombre, de la infancia a la vejez

«Often, too, it is a reference to the place that has moved a feeling of pity» — Symmachus añade el lugar entre los resortes del pathos

«Now for the pears which we see before us. A large number of different kinds are distinguished by name, for Cloatius, whom I have already mentioned, describes their names thus» — Servius introduce el catálogo de peras tomado de las listas de Cloacio; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«The dried figs too (continued Servius) suggest that we should make a list of the varieties of fig; and here, as for the other fruits, we again go to Cloatius for the information.» — Servius introduce el catálogo de higos y declara su fuente

«The thought of a person’s condition and circumstances (fortuna) moves sometimes to pity and sometimes to indignation.» — Symmachus distingue los dos efectos que la condición y la fortuna de un personaje pueden producir

«But more than anything else it is the sanctity of the place that stirs emotion. Thus Vergil, in his description of the murder of Orpheus, makes his death all the more pitiable because it occurred Amid the sacred rites of the gods and Bacchic revels by night» — Symmachus pone la santidad del lugar por encima de los demás resortes del pathos, con la muerte de Orfeo entre los ritos sagrados

«Vergil has made use of “time,” too, as a means to evoke emotion; for example, he says, of the horses of Rhesus, that they were captured Before they had tasted fodder at Troy or had drunk of the waters of Xanthus» — Symmachus añade el tiempo entre los resortes del pathos

«We often find in Vergil that emotion is aroused by the “cause” or circumstances of a particular incident; and indeed it is frequently the circumstances bringing a thing to pass which make the thing itself seem horrible or pitiable» — Symmachus enuncia el resorte de la causa: muchas veces son las circunstancias que traen la cosa las que la vuelven horrible o digna de lástima

«To evoke emotion Vergil has not neglected to use the two sources of argument (Joci) which rhetoricians call the “argument from manner” (argumentum a modo) and the “argument from material means» — Symmachus distingue el argumento por el modo y el argumento por el medio material

«We have now recounted, one by one, devices which the rhetoricians prescribe to stir the emotions, and we have illustrated the use which Vergil has made of them. But sometimes, to heighten emotion, the poet uses two or more of those “sources of argument” together in the same passage.» — Symmachus recapitula el catálogo de recursos y advierte que el poeta combina dos o más en un mismo pasaje

«It is Vergil’s practice, too, to evoke emotion by implication and, so to speak, by limiting his language, that is to say, instead of stating quite clearly what it is that moves to pity, he allows it to be inferred.» — Symmachus describe el recurso de la limitación del lenguaje: no decir con claridad lo que mueve a lástima y dejar que se infiera

«To excite emotion the art of rhetoric includes also the use of the “sources of argument” known as “arguments to illustrate the case” (argumenta circa rem), and they are very well suited to stir the feelings. Of these the first is “argument from resemblance” (argumentum a simili), and it is of three kinds: example (exemplum), comparison (parabola), and descriptive likeness (imago)— the Greek terms being, respectively, mapdderypa; tapaBorn; and eikQv.» — Symmachus clasifica los argumentos por semejanza en ejemplo, comparación e imagen, con sus nombres griegos

«As for immago, the third of the three varieties of the argumentum a simili, this too is a device well suited to stir the feelings. It is a vivid description either of a bodily form that is absent or of a purely imaginary object» — Symmachus define la imagen como descripción viva de una forma corporal ausente o de un objeto puramente imaginario; el troceo imprime *immago*

«It is certainly true that when a misfortune, great in itself, is afterward shown to be less than the misfortune which we wish to stress, the sense of pity aroused has, beyond doubt, no bounds.» — Symmachus explica el argumento por lo menor: una desgracia grande que luego se muestra menor que la que se quiere subrayar deja la compasión sin límite

«Some have maintained that the argumentum a maiore [the argument from a greater circumstance] cannot heighten emotion, but Vergil has neatly introduced it into his description of the death of Dido, as follows: The heavens resound with loud wailings, even as if all Carthage or ancient Tyre were falling before the inrush of the foe [Aeneid 4. 669] for what he has said here is that the death of one woman caused no less grief than would have attended the destruction of a whole city —an unquestionably greater disaster.» — Symmachus objeta a quienes niegan fuerza patética al argumento por lo mayor y trae la muerte de Dido, llorada como la caída de una ciudad entera

«When emotion arises from an appeal to a like feeling, the figure of speech is known in rhetoric as “homoeopathy.”» — Symmachus nombra la figura por la que la emoción nace de apelar a un sentimiento semejante

«Another source of argument to stir emotion is an address to an inanimate object or to a dumb animal, and orators often use it.» — Symmachus añade el apóstrofe a un objeto inanimado o a un animal mudo entre los recursos patéticos

«Another figure which evokes emotion is “exclamation” (exclamatio: ékpa@vyoig in Greek). Here the poet sometimes speaks in his own person, and sometimes he puts the words into the mouth of one of the characters.» — Symmachus distingue en la exclamación las dos voces posibles: la del poeta en persona y la del personaje

«After this Eusebius paused for a little while; but in the mean time there was a murmur of talk among the rest of those present, and a general agreement to hold Vergil no less eminent as an orator than as a poet, so great was the knowledge he showed of oratory and so careful his regard for the rules of rhetoric.» — El acuerdo unánime de la reunión al cerrar el libro cuarto: el poeta no vale menos como orador que como poeta

«Tell me, please, my learned friend—if we admit, as indeed we must, that Vergil was an orator—from which of the two would one who nowadays wished to become proficient in the art of oratory derive the greater profit: from Vergil or from Cicero?» — Avienus plantea la comparación que Eusebius se resiste a hacer: de quién sacaría más provecho quien hoy quisiera hacerse orador

«There are four? kinds of style, said Eusebius, the copious (copiosum), of which Cicero is master; the concise (breve), in which Sallust is supreme; the dry (siccum), a term applied to the style of Fronto; and the rich and ornate (pingue et floridum), formerly indulged in exuberantly by the younger Pliny and today by our friend Symmachus, who is sec» — Eusebius clasifica los cuatro estilos oratorios y nombra un maestro para cada uno: Cicerón el copioso, Salustio el conciso, Frontón el seco, Plinio el Joven y Symmachus el rico y florido

«There are all these widely differing styles, and in Vergil alone do you find all of them united.» — Eusebius formula su tesis sobre el poeta: solo en él se encuentran reunidos todos esos estilos dispares

«An excellent comparison, said Evangelus with a mocking smile, the divine craftsman and the rustic poet from Mantua, who— I would maintain—never read a word of the Greek orators you have mentioned. For how could a Venetian, born of peasant parents and reared amidst forests and scrub, have acquired even a smattering of Greek letters?» — Evangelus objeta que un veneciano nacido de padres campesinos y criado entre bosques y matorral no pudo tener noticia alguna de las letras griegas

«My good Evangelus, retorted Eustathius, don’t suppose for a moment that any Greek author, however eminent, drew as much from the resources of Greek learning as Vergil’s skill and intelligence enabled him to acquire therefrom and embody in his work.» — Eustathius replica que ningún autor griego, por eminente que fuera, sacó del saber griego tanto como el poeta latino supo sacar y poner en su obra

«for Homer, in his poem, avoids imitation of the historian’s rule which requires a narrative to begin at the beginning and go straight on to the end, but, following the technique of poetry, he begins in the middle of the story and comes back to its beginning later.» — Eustathius distingue la técnica del poeta de la regla del historiador: el poema no empieza por el principio sino por el medio y vuelve después al comienzo

«There are three things that are judged to be equally impossible: to rob Jupiter of his thunderbolt, Hercules of his club, and Homer of a line.» — El dicho que Avienus trae sobre las tres cosas igualmente imposibles: quitar a Júpiter el rayo, a Hércules la clava y a Homero un verso

«And yet Vergil has so happily appropriated the words of the older poet as to make them seem to be his own.» — El juicio que la obra pone sobre la imitación: el poeta latino se apropió las palabras del antiguo con tal fortuna que parecen suyas

«Avienus then asked Eustathius, instead of remarking on passages taken here and there, to go through the Aeneid from the beginning, book by book.» — Avienus pide que el cotejo con Homero se haga en orden, libro por libro, y no por pasajes sueltos

«You see here how the richer Greek language has expressed the whole action in a few words; whereas your poet has used a number of clauses to say the same thing» — Eustathius contrapone las dos lenguas al comparar un verso: el griego, más rico, dice en pocas palabras lo que el latino reparte en varias cláusulas

«Another storm [continued Eustathius] befalls Aeneas in Vergil’s poem and Ulysses in Homer’s, and both storms are described at some length.» — Eustathius empareja las dos tempestades, la de Eneas y la de Ulises, como caso de la misma imitación

«Vergil and Homer [Eustathius continued] describe the running contest in much the same way, and since each poet tells of the contest at considerable length, I shall leave it to you to find and read the corresponding passages.» — Eustathius acota su propio cotejo y deja al lector los pasajes largos que solo remite

«As for these excerpts (continued Eustathius), they must be left to the judgment of the reader; for it is for him to make up his own mind about the comparisons which I have suggested. But, if you ask for my opinion, I shall not deny that Vergil’s imitations sometimes have more substance than the originals and have im» — Eustathius somete el cotejo al juicio del lector y declara la suya: a veces la imitación tiene más sustancia que el original; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Here your poet has expressed in elegant detail the difficulty of cutting down a massive tree; but in Homer the tree is cut down without any trouble at all.» — Eustathius da un caso concreto de mejora: el trabajo de derribar un árbol macizo, que el original despacha sin esfuerzo alguno

«Vergil’s treatment here is complete, for the burden of the charge, with him, is not merely the parentage, as in Homer whom he was following, but the rearing and suckling, which are represented as being, so to speak, bestial and rough; and that is why he has added, of his own, “and Hyrcanian tigresses gave thee s» — Eustathius razona otra mejora: el reproche no se queda en el linaje sino que añade la crianza, presentada como bestial y ruda; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Vergil certainly has found no worthy match for that single phrase of Homer’s, but he has made up for this deficiency in his vocabulary by the variety of his description and by means of that additional touch at the end—“and now the swelling wave boils over”—he has brought out the invariable result of the application of too much heat.» — Eustathius consigna a la vez la derrota y el desquite: no hay equivalente latino de aquella sola palabra griega, y la falta se compensa con la variedad de la descripción

«Sometimes the two poets show almost equal brilliance, as (for example) in the following lines and passages:» — Eustathius abre la tercera clase de su cotejo: los lugares donde los dos poetas brillan casi por igual

«Since even Vergil himself may without shame admit inferiority to Homer, I shall now cite passages in which, to my mind, his verse would seem to be somewhat plain and meager in comparison with his model’s.» — Eustathius abre la cuarta clase, la de los lugares en que el poeta latino queda llano y magro frente a su modelo, y dice que admitirlo no es deshonra

«Hence could be heard the angry growls of lions as they struggled with their chains and roared at depth of night, and bristly boars, and bears, were raging in their pens, and huge wolflike forms were howling. All these the cruel goddess Circe by potent herbs had changed from human shape and had clothed in the likeness and hides of beasts» — Los versos sobre Circe que Eustathius empareja con Homero: la diosa cruel que con hierbas potentes mudó de forma humana a los que rugen encadenados

«In Homer it is Strife that grows from small beginnings until its growth reaches up to heaven; but Vergil has said the same of Rumor—and inappropriately, [32] since the growth of Strife and the growth of Rumor are not comparable.» — Eustathius señala el traslado impropio: lo que en el modelo se dice de la Discordia el poeta latino lo aplica a la Fama, y las dos cosas no son comparables

«How inappropriate the latter description is may be gathered from the fact that Aeneas was not yet engaged in battle but only coming into sight on board a ship.» — Eustathius razona otro traslado impropio: la descripción de fuego en el yelmo cae sobre un héroe que aún no está en batalla sino asomando en una nave

«Now Vergil took such pleasure in imitating Homer that he has even imitated Homer’s metrical irregularities—irregularities that are censured by certain critics in their ignorance. I refer to those lines which the Greeks term “headless,” “hollow” and “hy percatalectic” lines; for with his high regard for Homer’s style, Vergil did not shrink from using them.» — Eustathius consigna que la imitación llegó hasta las irregularidades métricas del modelo, que ciertos críticos censuran por ignorancia; el troceo parte *hypercatalectic* con un espacio espurio y un guion de fin de renglón, y el verbatim va tal cual lo devuelve la extracción

«Then there are lines in Homer which would seem to have been plucked and shorn bare of all ornament and in no way to differ from everyday speech. But Vergil had an affection for these too, as suggesting the artlessness of an heroic age» — Eustathius explica el gusto por los versos desnudos, sin ornato y no distintos del habla común, como sugerencia de la sencillez de una edad heroica

«In his muster rolls of the allies (the Greek word is “catalogue”) Vergil has endeavored to imitate his same model, but in certain ways he has departed somewhat from the impressive account which Homer has given.» — Eustathius abre la comparación de los catálogos de aliados y marca que el latino se aparta del modelo

«Then Vergil often shows a careless inconsistency‘ in his references to persons whom he mentions by name.» — Eustathius carga con ejemplos la inconsistencia del poeta latino en los nombres, que mata dos veces a un mismo personaje

«Vergil, however, shuns such repetition as a blemish,’ or even an offense, and so he varies his introductory phrases as follows:» — Eustathius consigna la diferencia de gusto: donde el modelo repite la misma fórmula introductoria, el latino la evita como defecto y la varía

«A recital of facts and names is heavy going, and so, after such recitals, both Homer and Vergil introduce into their catalogues a story told in more pleasing verse, to revive the spirits of the reader.» — Eustathius enuncia el recurso compartido por los dos poetas: intercalar en los catálogos un relato en verso más grato para reanimar al lector

«Thus Homer chose to know nothing of “Fortune,” and nowhere in his work will you find Tuyn mentioned by name, for he commits the guidance of the universe solely to Destiny, or (as he calls it) Mofpa.t Vergil, on the other hand, not only knows of and speaks of Fortune but assigns all power to it [Aeneid 8. 334], and yet the philosophers who refer to Fortune by name have held that it has no power of its own but is the servant of Destiny or Providen» — Eustathius marca una divergencia de doctrina: el modelo no nombra a la Fortuna y confía la guía del universo al Destino, mientras el latino le asigna todo el poder; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«The difficulty which Vergil had in, so to speak, giving birth to a new story is the clearest indication of his debt to Homer, for the circumstances compelled Vergil to set out the origins of a war, whereas Homer was under no such necessity and, in fact, began his poem, with the “Wrath of Achilles,” as late as the tenth year of the Trojan War.» — Eustathius lee la dificultad de inventar una fábula nueva como el indicio más claro de la deuda con el modelo

«Thus he has modeled his fourth Book of the Aeneid almost entirely on the fourth? Book of the Argonautica of Apollonius by taking the story of Medea’s passionate love for Jason and applying it to the loves of Dido and Aeneas.» — Eustathius adjudica el libro cuarto de la Eneida a la Argonáutica de Apolonio, con la pasión de Medea trasladada a Dido

«When he sought to rival the poem which Pindar wrote to describe the nature of Mount Etna and its eruptions,® his expressions and words were so labored that his language in this passage is even more extravagant and turgid than Pindar’s own, although the latter’s style has been held to be overrich and luxuriant.» — Eustathius juzga la descripción del Etna más extravagante y túrgida que la de Píndaro, cuyo estilo ya se tenía por sobrecargado

«I come now to passages which Vergil has, so to speak, dug out from the hidden recesses of Greek literature—passages which are understood only by careful students who have drunk deep of the learning of Greece. For Vergil’s learning was not only punctiliously accurate, but he also took pains to keep it hidden and out of sight, with the result that it is not easy to recognize the source of many of his borrowin» — Eustathius abre la última clase de su cotejo: los pasajes sacados de los escondrijos de la literatura griega, que solo entiende quien bebió hondo de aquel saber; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«And here is a better explanation: the fact that, since of all rivers the Achelous is the eldest, men seek to honor it by calling all running water generally by its name.» — Eustathius da la razón por la que el nombre de un río se aplicó a toda agua corriente: por ser el más viejo de todos los ríos

«chose to take Euripides rather than Aristotle as his authority, for nothing would persuade me that one whose learning was so scrupulously exact was unaware of what Aristotle had said. And indeed Vergil was right to prefer to follow Euripides, for, from what I have already said and from what I shall now go on to say, one may conclude that he was exceedingly well acquainted with the writers of Greek tragedy.» — Eustathius adjudica la elección de autoridad del poeta y concluye que conocía muy bien a los trágicos griegos

«In his description of the death of Dido, in the fourth Book of the Aeneid, Vergil refers as follows to the cutting of a lock of hair from her head: Not yet had Proserpina taken from her head the auburn lock and doomed her life to Stygian Orcus» — Los versos sobre el rizo de Dido que Eustathius toma para probar la deuda con los trágicos: Prosérpina no le había cortado aún el cabello rubio ni entregado su vida al Orco estigio

«As bidden I bear away this lock, devoted to Dis, and I free you from your body.» — El verso del corte del rizo consagrado a Dis, con el que la vida queda liberada del cuerpo

«For in the fourth Book of the Aeneid Vergil represents Dido, when abandoned by Aeneas, as having recourse to the spells and incantations of sorceresses and witches» — Eustathius consigna que la Dido abandonada recurre a los conjuros y encantamientos de hechiceras y brujas; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«And so I find both that the Etruscans, in their sacred rites of Tages, were wont formerly to use a plowshare of bronze when they were founding a city, and that among the Sabines the priests used to cut their beards with razors of bronze.”» — El pasaje de Carminio que Eustathius transcribe sobre el bronce ritual: la reja etrusca al fundar ciudad y la navaja de los sacerdotes sabinos

«Since they had returned again from the depths of the earth in which they had been hidden, they were called “Palici,” because they had come back» — Eustathius da la etimología de los Palicos por el regreso desde las profundidades de la tierra

«Not far from the place of their return are some lakes, small but of immense depth, the waters of which are always gushing up and bubbling.* The local inhabitants give to these “craters,” as they call them, the name of “Delloi” and hold them to be the brothers of the Palici.» — Eustathius describe los cráteres de aguas siempre borboteantes que los del lugar tienen por hermanos de los Palicos

«When he speaks of drinking vessels Vergil as a rule uses the Greek names, referring, for example, to carchesia [beakers], cymbia [bowls], canthari [tankards], and scyphi» — Eustathius abre el capítulo de los nombres griegos de los vasos que el poeta emplea

«for a dish (patera), as the name itself shows, is flat and open (patens), whereas a beaker is tall, waisted, and has handles of moderate size which run from the top of the vessel to the bottom.» — Eustathius distingue por la forma los dos vasos que otros confunden: la pátera plana y abierta frente al carquesio alto, ceñido y con asas

«Vergil too sometimes borrows proper names from the ancient tales of Greece. For example, in the Aeneid (as you know) he calls one of Diana’s companions Opis, and those who are ignorant of the facts suppose that the name was given perhaps at random, or even invented by the poet; but it was a cunning device of his to attribute to a companion of Diana a name which old writers of Greece had given to the goddess herself.» — Eustathius explica el nombre de Opis: lo que parece invención o azar es un artificio que da a una compañera de Diana un nombre que los griegos antiguos daban a la diosa misma

«Eustathius, said Praetextatus, has given us an admirably well arranged account of the material which Vergil took from ancient Greece and introduced into his own poems. But we have not forgotten that Furius Albinus and Caecina Albinus, who are far the most learned of all our contemporaries, have promised? to tell us of Vergil’s borrowings from the old writers of Rome as well, and the occasion suggests that they should do so now.» — Praetextatus cierra la exposición griega y pasa el turno a los dos Albini para las deudas con los viejos escritores de Roma

«I confess”, he said, “that I have taken not only from Menander but from anybody, even from a Latin author, who had anything which was to my purpose, and which I did not think that I could improve on.”» — La respuesta de Afranio a quienes lo acusaban de tomar demasiado de Menandro, que Furius Albinus trae como precedente

«I have quoted lines which Vergil has taken wholly or in part from other writers, or lines to which he has given as it were a different shade of meaning by changing certain words; and my purpose now (continued Furius) is to compare whole passages, that you may see the original of Vergil’s work reflected, so to speak, in a mirror.» — Furius Albinus anuncia el paso del cotejo de versos sueltos al de pasajes enteros, para ver el original reflejado como en un espejo

«There are [said Furius] certain passages in Vergil which he is believed to have borrowed from Homer, but which—as I propose to show—he has in fact taken from Latin authors who had previously transferred them from Homer to their own poems.» — Furius Albinus introduce una distinción que deshace atribuciones: hay pasajes tenidos por homéricos que el poeta tomó de latinos que ya los habían trasladado

«And, indeed, it is the very height of Homer’s glory that, although he is a target for the. watchful eyes of so many writers, and although all join forces to band themselves against him» — Furius Albinus mide la gloria del modelo por el asedio: blanco de tantos ojos vigilantes y de todos coaligados contra él; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«It was now Caecina’s turn to speak. Furius (said he) from a memory well furnished with knowledge of authors both ancient and modern has discussed Vergil’s debt to antiquity for single lines or whole passages. It will be my endeavor to show that our scholarly poet has exercised a nice judgment with respect to individual words! found in old writers, and that he has chosen to introduce into his poems certain words which our neglect» — Caecina Albinus declara su parte del trabajo: mostrar el juicio fino del poeta en las palabras sueltas tomadas de los viejos escritores; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«You come across many epithets in Vergil which are believed to be of his own invention, but I shall show that these too have been taken from old authors. Some of them are “simple” words, such as Gradivus and Mulciber; others, such as Arquitenens and Vitisator, are “compound” words. I shall speak of the simple words first.» — Caecina Albinus clasifica los epítetos tenidos por invención del poeta en simples y compuestos y anuncia que mostrará su procedencia

«If it is your wish [continued Caecina] I will hurriedly search my memory to give you a list of the figurative expressions which Vergil has borrowed from ancient authors, but at present I should like Servius to tell us of those which he has noted as being of the poet’s own invention and not taken from old writers— or, if so taken, then taken with all a poet’s daring and given a new but apt turn.» — Caecina Albinus cede el turno a Servius para lo que sí es invención del poeta, o préstamo con giro nuevo y apto

«Truly worthy of a poet is the expression of indignation ® in the words: O God! (she cries) Shall this man go? . [Aeneid 4. 590] of compassion, in the line: O my country, and household gods rescued from the enemy— in vain» — Servius reúne ejemplos de los afectos que el verso expresa: indignación, compasión y alarma

«And indeed all that Vergil has said of bees in likening them to doughty heroes is applicable here: his describing too of their customs, their pursuits, their communities, and their wars» — Servius extiende el elogio a la pintura de las abejas equiparadas a héroes, con sus costumbres, oficios, comunidades y guerras; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Servius had reached this point in his discourse when Praetextatus, seeing Avienus speaking in a low tone to Eustathius, said: Come, Eustathius, spare the blushes of our excellent young friend Avienus and tell us openly, yourself, what he is whispering in your ear.» — Praetextatus corta la exposición de Servius al ver a Avienus hablando bajo con Eustathius y le pide que diga en voz alta lo que susurra

«Surely the epithet “anpraised” is inadequate to express detestation of a villain who used to sacrifice human beings from all over the world, and therefore, so far from being merely unworthy of praise, deserves to be hated and cursed by all mankind.» — Avienus objeta la propiedad de un epíteto del poeta: llamar solo *no alabado* a quien sacrificaba seres humanos de todo el mundo se queda corto; el troceo imprime *anpraised*

«There are very many words,’ answered Servius, which we commonly use without, however, clearly noticing their true and proper meaning, and vestibulum is one of them. It is frequently met in conversation, but it is not always the word clearly required by those who lightly make use of it, for they suppose the “vestibule” to be the front part of a house, which is known as the atrium.» — Servius enuncia la regla que gobierna su respuesta: hay muchas palabras de uso común cuyo sentido propio nadie advierte, y *vestibulum* es una de ellas

«Moreover, Publius Nigidius in his book on Divination by Entrails says that the term bidentes is applied not to sheep alone but to all sacrificial animals that are two years old.» — Avienus cita a Publio Nigidio para extender el término *bidentes* de las ovejas a toda víctima de dos años

«When the first course had been removed at the end of the meal and the modest cups gave the signal to change the subject of conversation, Praetextatus said: Eating usually keeps men silent and drinking makes them talkative,? but we are silent even over our cups, as though at this stage of a d» — Praetextatus abre el libro séptimo con la observación que le sirve de reproche: comer suele callar a los hombres y beber los vuelve habladores; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«I agree with you, Symmachus, said Eustathius, when you assign the highest possible veneration and respect to philosophy and maintain that she ought to be worshiped only i» — Eustathius concede a Symmachus la veneración debida a la filosofía antes de discutirle su lugar en la mesa; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«But if, on the other hand, she finds that the majority have had no training in philosophy and are strange» — Eustathius acota el uso de la filosofía en el convite por la composición de la mesa; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«you will find that the “drug” was no herb, no Indian juice, but her well-timed story which gladdened her guest and made him forget his sorrow» — Eustathius desmitifica el fármaco de Helena: no fue hierba ni jugo de la India sino un relato bien traído que alegró al huésped y le hizo olvidar su pena

«rebuke, the philosopher will deliver the rebuke in such a way that it will be at once veiled and effective.» — Eustathius formula la regla del reproche filosófico: velado y eficaz a la vez, de modo que se reciba sin sentirlo como reproche

«It seems to me, said Avienus, that you are introducing two new skills—a new method of asking a question, and also a new method of conveying a reproof—if both question and reproof are calculated to gladden those to whom the words are addressed; for a reproof always hurts even if it is deserved.» — Avienus objeta la paradoja: un reproche duele aunque sea merecido, y pide que la regla se explique mejor

«able bitterness if you ask a man in the presence of a number of others a question about something of which he has acquired no great store of knowledge, for he must either say that he doesn’t know the answer—and this is regarded as, of all things, the most damaging to one’s self-respect—or he must answer at random and chance the actual truth or falsity of his reply» — Eustathius razona la regla de la pregunta cortés: preguntar delante de otros por lo que uno no sabe lo deja entre confesar ignorancia y responder al azar

«Besides categoria, or wéyoc, [censure], he said, and besides 5148047 which may be rendered in» — Eustathius abre la clasificación de los géneros del reproche, con sus nombres griegos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«As an example of a direct affront, take these words: “Have you forgotten that you used to sell pickled fish?” But a gibe, which (as I have said) often conceals an insult, might be express» — Eustathius contrapone el insulto directo y la burla velada; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«A gibe too becomes agreeable if the party who makes it and the party at whom it is directed are of the same condition in life, as, for example, if a man of slender means were to chaff another with his poverty, or if a man of obscure birth were to make fun» — Eustathius da la condición que vuelve grata la burla: que quien la hace y quien la recibe sean de la misma condición; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«The men of old, my friends, were so far from regarding matters of this kind as mere play that Aristotle and Plutarch and your own Apuleius have treated of them in their writings; and it would ill become us to think lightly of what all those wise me» — Eustathius defiende la seriedad del asunto por los que lo trataron: Aristóteles, Plutarco y Apuleyo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«But come, every one of you here, let our talk be of matters which have to do with the dinner table. Let us deal not only with the food and drink but debate also any subject that concerns our bodily nature, and other like topics» — Praetextatus fija el programa del libro séptimo: hablar de la mesa, de la comida y la bebida y de cuanto toca a la naturaleza corporal

«If, replied Disarius, the question had been put to me by one of the uninformed lower classes, knowing that an illustration has more effect on the minds of such people than an explanation, I should have contented myself with reminding him of the mode of life of the beasts, pointing out to him that their diet is simple and uniform and that therefore they enjoy much better bodily health than huma» — Disarius distingue el auditorio antes de responder: al vulgo le habría bastado el ejemplo de las bestias, de dieta simple y uniforme; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«And this is the fourth process of digestion, namely the process which takes place in the several parts of the body; and it is in the course of this process that what has been received by each part of the body is turned into nourishment for that specific part.» — Disarius cierra la cuenta de los cuatro procesos de la digestión, el último de ellos en cada parte del cuerpo

«This is intolerable, nothing could be more so, that our ears should be the slaves of a glib Greek, and we ourselves forced to approve his rounded phrases, defeated by a volubility which tyrannically compels the hearers’ assent.» — Evangelus objeta el prestigio del griego elocuente y llama tiranía a la volubilidad que arranca el asentimiento de los oyentes

«You are compelling me, said he, to declare war on two of my best friends: Disarius—and the simple life. But excused by your authority, which I regard as having the force of the praetor’s edict, I shall avow myself, since I must, to be the advocate of good living.» — Eustathius acepta el papel que le imponen y declara la guerra a dos amigos suyos, Disarius y la vida sencilla

«for the elements of which we are composed are the hot and the cold, the dry and the moist. Now a simple diet produces a juice of a single quality, but we know that like is nourished by like» — Eustathius funda su alegato en la doctrina de los cuatro elementos del cuerpo —lo caliente, lo frío, lo seco y lo húmedo— y en que lo semejante se nutre de lo semejante

«Why then blame a mixed diet as if it were an incitement to gluttony, when in fact a man’s health depends on the strength of his appetite, since, if that fails, health languishes and is endangered?» — Eustathius devuelve la acusación: si la salud depende de la fuerza del apetito, culpar a la dieta variada de incitar a la gula es errar el blanco

«But for my part— and this is a question which I have often pondered—I think that wine is naturally nearer akin to cold than to heat» — Flavianus objeta a los médicos que tienen el vino por sustancia caliente y sostiene que por naturaleza está más cerca del frío; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«And here is another indication that heat is an accidental rather than an inborn property of wine. If one has unwittingly drunk aconite, copious draughts of unmixe» — Flavianus aduce el caso del acónito para mostrar que el calor es propiedad accidental y no innata del vino; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Lastly, of those who are often drunk, some quickly grow old, others? become prematurely bald or gray—conditions which are simply.due to a lack of heat.» — Flavianus aduce el envejecimiento, la calvicie y las canas prematuras de los bebedores como efectos de falta de calor

«Thus it is clear that the men of old, too, were well aware of the natural heat of women.? And I would add that, since heat is always a cause of generation, the reason why girls reach puberty more quickly than boys is because they are naturally hott» — Disarius vuelve el argumento y liga el calor a la generación: las niñas llegan antes a la pubertad porque son naturalmente más calientes; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«If use was made of a woman’s body to help men’s bodies to burn, it was not because of bodily heat but because of the fatness of the flesh and its affinity to oil—qualities which would not be consequent on the heat of a woma» — Disarius reinterpreta el dato aducido en contra: la carne de la mujer ardía por su grasa y su afinidad con el aceite, no por calor corporal; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«So question followed question, until] Evangelus interrupted and said: I shall now put our friend Disarius to the test, if for once, with those brief replies which he doles out, as it were, drop by drop, he will give a satisfactory answer to a questioner.» — Evangelus somete a prueba a Disarius y le reprocha las respuestas que dosifica gota a gota

«But, whenever a bone is cut, the pain felt during the operation of cutting comes from the membrane which covers the bone; and, as soon as the doctor’s hand has cut through this covering, the bone and the marrow inside it are as insensitive to pain as hair is when it is cut.» — Disarius localiza el dolor del hueso cortado en la membrana que lo cubre, y declara insensibles el hueso y la médula

«From these hollows, then, which our predecessors called the ventricles of the brain, there issue seven pairs of nerves (Syzygies in Greek, but you can give them any Latin name you please), our Greek name indicating that two nerves issue together as a pair and have a fixe» — Disarius describe los siete pares de nervios que salen de los ventrículos del cerebro, con su nombre griego; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Thus every part of the human body depends for its existence on the operation of the spirit located in the ve» — Disarius cierra su fisiología con la tesis de que toda parte del cuerpo depende de la acción del espíritu alojado en los ventrículos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«But the dryness which causes men to go bald is the result of a constitutional failing, called by the Greeks “dyscrasia.”» — Disarius atribuye la calvicie a una sequedad que es falla de la constitución, y le da el nombre griego

«The blood goes with her and tinges the skin, which, as it were, shares to the full her gladness—hence the blood-red color of the skin.» — Disarius explica el rubor por la sangre que acompaña a la naturaleza hasta la piel y la tiñe

«When served with that salted meat which we call laridum [bacon]—the word standing, I tak» — Avienus devuelve la conversación a la mesa con la pregunta sobre la carne salada; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«for, if you make two loaves of bread of equal size, one salted and the other not, you will find that the unsalted loaf is the heavier, clearly because it continues to retain moisture by reason of the lack of salt.» — Disarius prueba con dos panes iguales, uno salado y otro sin sal, que la sal disipa la humedad

«All water,” he says, “contains a portion of very fine vapor, and to this it owes its health-giving property. But it also has an earthy sediment, which gives it a degree of solidity, though it is a solidity less than that of earth.» — El pasaje que Disarius transcribe sobre la composición del agua: un vapor finísimo del que le viene su virtud saludable y un poso terroso que le da solidez

«Why is it that you feel thirsty rather than hungry when your stomach is empty? Explain this, please, Disarius» — Horus plantea la pregunta que echa en falta en la serie: por qué el estómago vacío da antes sed que hambre

«But that is what I learned in Egypt—a country where the people are masters of all branches of religious knowledge—of the grounds for wearing a ring on this finger rather than on any other.» — Horus declara la procedencia de su explicación del anillo en el cuarto dedo: lo aprendió en Egipto, cuyo pueblo domina todas las ramas del saber religioso

«We have just been talking about water, and I would ask you why it is that the images of objects immersed in water appear to be larger than the actual objects.» — Eustathius plantea la cuestión óptica de por qué las imágenes de los objetos sumergidos parecen mayores que los objetos

«images flow in a continuous stream and that the sloughed-off particles, cohering to form an empty shape, are for ever carried abroad, without the slightest intermission, to find lodgement in our eyes, thus reaching the seat which nature has appointed for them as the seat of the appropriate sense.» — La doctrina de los simulacros que Eustathius expone: las imágenes se desprenden en corriente continua y las partículas, cohesionadas en forma vacía, llegan a los ojos

«And then, since the pupil of the eye, the organ of vision, is quite small, how is it possible to suppose that images of sky, sea, shore, meadow, ships, herds, and the countless things besides, which we see at a single glance, come rushing in on us as soon a» — Eustathius objeta a esa doctrina por el tamaño de la pupila: no cabe suponer que las imágenes de cielo, mar, costa, prado, naves y rebaños se precipiten todas en ella; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«In every circle, therefore, that forms a horizon the observer himself is the center; and, since we have stated the distance which sight travels from the cent» — Eustathius pone al observador en el centro de todo círculo de horizonte; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«for, if I see from afar an object with the shape of the fruit called an apple, it does not necessarily follow that the object is an apple—it might have been made from some material to resemble an apple. I must therefore call for the advice of a second sense and let smell j» — Eustathius acota el alcance de un solo sentido: la forma vista de lejos no basta para identificar la cosa y hay que llamar a un segundo sentido; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«It is applause such as this which you have won that encourages philosophy to claim to handle themes that relate to an art wi» — Disarius devuelve la objeción de oficio: es ese aplauso el que anima a la filosofía a tratar asuntos de un arte ajeno; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Another thing that we know by experience is that those who sip their drink have more liquid in their bellies, since a liquid taken a little at a time remains there longer; but, if one drinks more greedily, the very force with which the liquid is swallowed carries it into the bladder, and the digestion of the drier food is delayed.» — Disarius aduce la experiencia de que el bebedor a sorbos retiene más líquido en el vientre que el que bebe con avidez

«At this point Evangelus, who grudged the Greeks any credit, mockingly interrupted and said: Enough of this exchange of arguments. You two are only trying to show off your wealth of words. No! If your learning amounts to anything, tell me which came first—the egg or the hen.» — Evangelus corta la disputa con la pregunta del huevo y la gallina, dicha en son de burla

«You think to make fun of us, said Disarius, but as a matter of fact the question you have put is one which is wel» — Disarius toma en serio la burla y declara que la cuestión está bien planteada; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«For just as the elements came into existence first and from their combination all other bodies were created, so too the formative principles in the» — Disarius razona la prioridad del huevo por analogía con los elementos, primeros en existir y de cuya combinación nacen los demás cuerpos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«To say that the egg was made before the hen is like saying that the womb was made before the woman; and to ask how the hen could have come into existence without the egg is like asking how men were made before the existence of the organs of generation to which they owe their creation.» — El argumento contrario que la obra consigna sin arbitrar: decir que el huevo precede a la gallina es como decir que la matriz precede a la mujer

«There, Evangelus, you have the arguments for use on either side; pretend for a while that you are not making fun of us and ask yourself which side you will take.» — Disarius cierra la cuestión entregándole a Evangelus los argumentos de los dos lados y dejándole elegir, sin decidir él

«And women in labor call on the moon as Lucina, because it is her proper function to enlarge the openings of the body and make a way through its passages, thus helping to quicken delivery» — La función que la obra atribuye a la luna como Lucina: ensanchar las aberturas del cuerpo y abrir paso por sus conductos

«Aristotle also testifies that wounds inflicted by a sword of bronze are less harmful than wounds inflicted by a sword of iron and are more easily healed, “because,” he says, “the bronze has a certain remedial and drying force, which it imparts to the wound.”» — El testimonio de Aristóteles que la obra transcribe sobre la virtud remediadora y desecante del bronce en las heridas

«The rest of the footnotes are of three kinds: (1) Brief explanatory notes. (Iwo additional notes, too long for inclusion as footnotes, have been placed, as Appendix A and Appendix B, at the end of the translation.)» — Davies clasifica su propio aparato: notas explicativas breves, con dos demasiado largas remitidas a los apéndices A y B

«(2) References to passages in Greek and Latin authors and to certain books, to some of which an amateur of the classics might perhaps care to turn. These references are not meant to be anything like a full list of sources and parallels: for such information a reader should turn to Jan’s edition and to the new Teubner text.» — Davies acota el alcance de sus referencias y remite al lector que quiera fuentes y paralelos completos a la edición de Jan y a la Teubner nueva

«(3) References (a) to the medieval authors Bede and John of Salisbury, made because both writers used the Saturnalia; and (b) to Isidore of Seville, for his place as a connecting link between ancient and medieval scholarship.» — Davies dice por qué anota a dos medievales: Beda y Juan de Salisbury usaron los Saturnales, e Isidoro de Sevilla hace de eslabón entre la erudición antigua y la medieval

«A third appendix (Appendix C) contains references to lines in Homer, Lucretius, and Vergil, wherein the reading cited by Macrobius differs from that of the Oxford Classical Text.» — Davies declara el contenido del apéndice C: los lugares de Homero, Lucrecio y Virgilio en que la lectura que cita Macrobio difiere del Oxford Classical Text

«In seeking to render into English the excerpts from Homer and Vergil the translator has chosen stare super antiquas vias; nevertheless he is not unaware that there are some who may well prefer versions in a modern idiom, and they have their remedy.» — Davies declara su criterio de traducción de los pasajes de Homero y de Virgilio, *stare super antiquas vias*, y admite que hay quien preferiría versión en idioma moderno

«The renderings here offered of these excerpts have little, if any, claim to originality, being for the most part recollections of earlier reading and borrowings from or adaptations of translations to be found in well-known works.» — Davies niega originalidad a sus versiones de Homero y de Virgilio y las declara recuerdos de lecturas anteriores y préstamos o adaptaciones de traducciones conocidas

«The Editors of the series and the Press have determined, in accordance with the practice of other volumes in the series and with the requirements of space and expense, how much of the text of the original could be included in the translation.» — Davies consigna que cuánto del texto original cabía en la traducción no lo decidió él sino los editores de la serie y la editorial

«In addition to a due recognition of the books named in the bibliography and notes, grateful acknowledgment is made of the help given throughout by Dr. Thomas A. Suits, who undertook the exacting task of “Special Editor” in the project and whose scholarship and taste have, time and again, come to the rescue.» — Davies acusa la ayuda de Thomas A. Suits, a quien la portadilla nombra editor especial del volumen

«grammatical treatise (dedicated to a certain Symmachus) on the differences and affinities of the Greek and Latin verb; a Neoplatonist commentary on Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis; and a considerable part of a longer work, the Saturnalia.» — Davies enumera las tres obras que se conservan bajo el nombre de Macrobio, entre ellas el comentario neoplatónico al Sueño de Escipión de Cicerón

«The causes of the decline of Latin literature were many and by interaction would be cumulative in their effects. Perhaps the two most potent causes were the growing gap between the spoken and the written word (as Latin gradually developed into the Romance languages and dialects) and the discouraging of original creation by the retention of rhetoric, with its stock themes, as the staple of education long after such training had ceased to have much practical» — Davies traza las dos causas que juzga mayores del declive de la literatura latina: la brecha entre lengua hablada y escrita, y la retórica retenida como eje de la educación. El tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Certainly education under the Empire, so far from fostering original work, tended rather to stereotype literature and to produce that “cloud of critics, of compilers, of commentators” which, in Gibbon’s view,® at that time “darkened the face of learning”» — Davies sitúa la obra dentro de una época que, en la frase de Gibbon que cita, oscureció el rostro del saber con compiladores y comentaristas

«The work is in the form of an imaginary dialogue. In the preface to it the author says that his aim is to put his wide and varied reading at the disposal of his son and so to provide him with a store of» — Davies fija el género de la obra y el propósito que el propio prefacio le da: poner la lectura del autor a disposición de su hijo. El tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en *useful information*

«He expressly disclaims any literary merit for the work, since it is intended to be no more than a collection of things which he considers to be worth knowing; and it would seem in fact to consist of extracts ftom notebooks containing excerpts from» — Davies señala que el autor renuncia de antemano a mérito literario y describe la obra como extractos de cuadernos de lectura; el tramo se corta en el límite de chunk y sigue en *writers whom he had read*

«Like the Noctes Atticae, then, the Saturnalia has preserved much anonymous and other material which would otherwise have been lost; and, in addition to its value on this account, there is also the intrinsic interest of the Vergilian criticism and of the varied antiquarian lore which the book contains.» — Davies enuncia el doble valor que le concede: haber preservado material anónimo que se habría perdido, y el interés propio de la crítica virgiliana y del saber anticuario

«Of the twelve chief characters most, and—although there is no compelling evidence of this—quite possibly all, are real persons.» — Davies dice de los doce personajes principales que casi todos, y quizá todos, son personas reales, y marca que no hay evidencia que obligue a ello

«Macrobius indeed admits that it is doubtful, in view of their ages, whether the interlocutors could actually have met, but he claims that in taking leave to make them meet for his dialogue, no less than in his use of the dialogue form, he is following the example of Plato» — Davies consigna que el propio autor admite lo dudoso del encuentro de los interlocutores por sus edades y se ampara en el ejemplo de Platón

«Of these twelve characters, half are prominent members of the Roman nobility (1. 1. 1)—three of them (Praetextatus, Symmachus, and Flavianus) being leaders of the “anti-Christian Fronde”—and the remaining six are men of learning, interested in the topics which they severally discuss» — Davies reparte el reparto: la mitad son nobles romanos, tres de ellos cabezas de la resistencia pagana, y la otra mitad hombres de letras

«Vettius Agorius Praetextatus was a worthy representative of the last generation of paganism in the latter half of the fourth century. He is described by Ammianus Marcellinus as “a senator of noble character and old-time dignity”» — Davies presenta a Praetextatus como representante de la última generación del paganismo y lo cita por Amiano Marcelino

«His intimate knowledge of pagan religious observances—he is said to be sacrorum omnium unice conscius (1. 7. 17)—is illustrated both by his discourses on Vergil’s acquaintance with pontifical law (3. 4-12) and by the long speech in which he explains that all the gods of Greek and Roman mythology represent the attributes of one supreme divine power—the sun» — Davies resume la función doctrinal de Praetextatus en el diálogo: expone que todos los dioses griegos y romanos son atributos de un solo poder divino, el sol

«Nevertheless, as presented in the Saturnalia, he gives the impression of being something of a pedant, and Evangelus has some grounds for taunting him with making a parade of his learning» — Davies registra la objeción interna: Evangelus tiene motivo para acusar a Praetextatus de hacer alarde de erudición

«Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, statesrnan, orator, and man of letters, was a younger contemporary and a close friend of Prae» — Davies sitúa a Symmachus como contemporáneo más joven y amigo cercano de Praetextatus; el tramo se corta en el guion de fin de renglón y sigue en *textatus*

«In the Saturnalia the oratorical style of Symmachus is described as rich and ornate (5. 1. 7), and it is he who undertakes to discuss the most striking examples of Vergil’s use of rhetorical devices» — Davies asigna a Symmachus el estilo oratorio rico y ornado y la exposición de los recursos retóricos de Virgilio

«Virius Nicomachus Flavianus, who too held a number of public offices, was a kinsman of Symmachus and the families were also connected by marriage. An inscription in which he is styled historicus disertissimus is evidence of literary tastes.» — Davies documenta a Flavianus por la inscripción que lo llama *historicus disertissimus*

«textatus and Symmachus he was a staunch supporter of the old Roman religion and gave his life for it at the battle on the Frigidus» — Davies consigna que Flavianus murió por la vieja religión romana en la batalla del Frigidus

«Of the two Albini, politely described by Praetextatus as by far the most learned men of the time» — Davies recoge cómo Praetextatus llama a los dos Albini los hombres más doctos de su tiempo

«Both Caecina Albinus and Furius Albinus—the latter’s name appears twice®> in the manuscripts as Rufius» — Davies registra que el nombre de Furius Albinus aparece dos veces como Rufius en los manuscritos: la variante se consigna tal cual la imprime el volumen

«Avienus cannot be identified with any certainty, but he may perhaps be the fabulist Avianus or Avienus—an identification which becomes more probable if the Theodosius to whom the Fables are dedicated may, as has been suggested, be taken to be the author of the Saturnalia.» — Davies deja abierta la identificación de Avienus con el fabulista Avianus y la liga a que el Teodosio de las Fábulas sea el autor de los Saturnales

«Servius, the famous commentator on Vergil (fl. 390), is introduced as a young man who has recently joined the ranks of the professional “‘grammarians” (1. 2. 15), remarkable for his learning (1. 24. 8; 6. 7. 2), and lovable for his modesty.» — Davies presenta a Servius como el comentarista de Virgilio, introducido joven y recién llegado a los gramáticos de oficio

«Eustathius, who, Jan suggests, may perhaps be the Greek Neoplatonist Eustathius of Cappadocia, is described as a friend of Flavianus (1. 6. 4) and a learned philosopher» — Davies recoge la conjetura de Jan que hace de Eustathius al neoplatónico Eustacio de Capadocia, y lo describe como filósofo docto

«Eusebius is an elderly (7. 10. 1) Greek rhetorician, who takes» — Davies identifica a Eusebius como retórico griego anciano que ocupa el lugar del abogado Postumianus en el banquete; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«Disarius (who may be the medicus mentioned by Symmachus in the forty-third letter of the ninth Book of his Letters) was also a Greek (7. 5. 2; 7. 5. 4) and, like Eusebius, getting on in years» — Davies sitúa a Disarius, el médico griego, como el mejor de la profesión médica en Roma

«Horus may possibly be the Orus referred to in a letter of Symmachus (2. 39) as “philosophus ritu atque eruditione praecipuus.” He was, as his name would suggest, an Egyptian (1. 15. 4; 1. 16. 37; 7. 13. 9). After a successful career as a professional boxer he had, like Cleanthes, turned to philosophy» — Davies describe a Horus como egipcio que, tras carrera de boxeador profesional, pasó a la filosofía como Cleantes

«Evangelus, who with Disarius and Horus called on Praetextatus after the other guests had assembled, is described as an impudent fellow with a bitter wit and a shamelessly caustic tongue, whose presence was likely to accord ill with a quiet gathering» — Davies caracteriza a Evangelus como el impertinente del diálogo, de ingenio amargo y lengua cáustica

«But his chief role in the dialogue is to lead up to the criticism of Vergil and then to intervene from time to time (e.g., 3- 10-12; 5. 2. 1) with disparaging remarks. Thus it is that, when Praetextatus has come to the end of the long exposition (1. 17-23) which had been prompted by a reference to a line in the Georgics, he objects to Vergil’s being called on to corroborate theological theories; and he objects, too, to an uncritical admiration of the poet, worthy only of a schoolboy.» — Davies fija la función de Evangelus: provocar la crítica de Virgilio y objetar que se llame al poeta a respaldar teorías teológicas

«It appears that, in spite of his name, Evangelus is not a Greek, for, unlike the Greeks present on the occasion, he speaks of Vergil as “our poet” (1. 24. 2). The question, arising from his name, whether or not he was a Christian, cannot be answered with any probability one way or the other.» — Davies deja sin resolver si Evangelus era cristiano y consigna la abstención como tal

«Nettleship has shown that Macrobius did not draw on Servius for his Vergilian criticism but that both Macrobius and the real Servius drew from the works of earlier commentators and critics.» — Davies atribuye a Nettleship la tesis de que Macrobio no tomó de Servius su crítica virgiliana, sino que ambos bebieron de comentaristas anteriores

«After the preface and the explanatory chapter which follows it, the scene opens (1. 2. 15-20) on the eve of the festival of the Saturnalia, at the house of Praetextatus, who is at home to his friends and is discussing with Furius Albinus and Avienus the question of when, exactly, the festival is due to begin. Then Symmachus, Caecina Albinus, and Servius call, and a discourse by Caecina on the divisions of the civil day follows (1. 3), the rest of the evening being spent in the examination of certain grammatical usages» — Davies traza la apertura de la escena: la víspera de los Saturnales en casa de Praetextatus, con la cuestión de cuándo empieza exactamente la fiesta

«The chief speaker is Praetextatus, who continues with an account of the development of the Roman calendar (1. 12-16) and a detailed exposition of the theological doctrine of syncretism, which makes all the gods of the pagan pantheon manifestations of a single divine power, the sun (1. 17-23)—a doctrine which conveniently enables its holder to combine a profession of monotheism with the practice of polytheism.» — Davies nombra el sincretismo solar y añade su propia lectura: la doctrina permite combinar profesión de monoteísmo con práctica de politeísmo

«A slighting remark by Evangelus (1. 24. 2) serves to introduce the main theme of the Saturnalia: Vergil’s many-sided erudition.» — Davies señala que un comentario desdeñoso de Evangelus introduce el tema central de la obra, la erudición polifacética de Virgilio

«The second Book records the conversation which follows, inter pocula. Symmachus suggests (2. 1. 15) that each of the diners in turn repeat a witty saying of some famous man of old» — Davies describe el libro segundo como la conversación *inter pocula*, con la propuesta de Symmachus de que cada comensal repita un dicho ingenioso

«The third Book relates to proceedings at the house of Flavianus on the second day of the festival. The exposition by Eustathius on the scholarly Vergil’s knowledge of philosophy and astronomy» — Davies ubica el libro tercero en casa de Flavianus el segundo día, y declara perdida la exposición de Eustathius sobre la filosofía y la astronomía de Virgilio

«has not survived, nor has the account by Flavianus—which would have followed it—of the poet’s knowledge of augural law (1. 24. 17 and 18); but the first twelve chapters of what is left of the third Book are devoted ‘to the illustration of Vergil’s acquaintance with the details of pontifical law.» — Davies inventaría las pérdidas del libro tercero y dice que lo que queda se dedica al conocimiento virgiliano del derecho pontifical

«Both the beginning and the end of the fourth Book have been lost, and what remains treats of the use made by Vergil of the rules of rhetoric.» — Davies declara mutilado el libro cuarto por sus dos extremos y lo describe como tratado del uso virgiliano de las reglas de la retórica

«Evangelus, however, scoffingly takes leave to doubt whether Vergil, “a Venetian of peasant parentage,” could have had any acquaintance with the literature of Greece (5. 2. 1) and so enables Macrobius, in the rest of the fifth Book and in the sixth, to illustrate at some length Vergil’s knowledge of both Greek and Latin authors and the use which he made of it.» — Davies hace de la burla de Evangelus —que un veneciano de padres campesinos conociera las letras griegas— el motor de los libros quinto y sexto

«The seventh and last Book of the Saturnalia, like the second Book and chapters thirteen to twenty of the third, purports to record the after-dinner conversation of the company, and many of the topics discussed are taken from the Quaestiones Convivales of Plutarch.» — Davies deriva buena parte de los temas del libro séptimo de las Cuestiones convivales de Plutarco

«The abrupt ending of the Book suggests that the conclusion of the work has been lost.» — Davies lee el final abrupto del libro séptimo como señal de que la conclusión de la obra se perdió

«The central topic in the Saturnalia is an appreciation of Vergil. A close acquaintance with the poet’s works was part of the intellectual equipment of an educated Roman, and these works are discussed in three (4, 5, and 6) books and in certain chapters of two more (1 and 3) books of the seven of which the Saturnalia, as we have it, consists.» — Davies fija el asunto central de la obra y mide su extensión: tres libros enteros y capítulos de otros dos

«Suetonius in his Vita Vergili (s.43) says that Vergil had never lacked hostile critics, adding (no doubt with the Homeromastix of Zoilus in mind) that this was not surprising, since Homer too had had his detractors.» — Davies apoya en Suetonio que a Virgilio nunca le faltaron críticos hostiles

«Literary criticism at Rome was essentially practical and regarded its objects from the outside; it would be unreasonable therefore to find fault with Macrobius for failing, as a critic, to do full justice to Vergil as a poet.» — Davies acota de antemano el reproche posible a Macrobio: la crítica literaria en Roma miraba desde fuera y por eso no juzga poeta al poeta

«But the emphasis throughout is on Vergil’s erudition and skills; and this is what might be expected, since literary criticism at Rome, whatever the nationality of the critic, did not attempt (as Greek criticism) to consider the ultimate nature and aim of poetry but reflected rather the utilitarian bent of the Roman character» — Davies explica el sesgo hacia la erudición virgiliana por el carácter utilitario de la crítica latina frente a la griega

«That is why to call a poet doctus was to pay him a high compliment; and, just as Servius begins his commentary on the sixth Book of the Aeneid with the words totus quidem Vergilius scientia plenus est, so for Macrobius Vergil is omnium disciplinarum peritus (1. 16. 12) and poeta aeque in rebus doctrinae et in verbis sectator elegantiae (3. 11. 9) —an authority in every branch of learning, whose aim it was to combine erudite subject matter with elegant diction.» — Davies enlaza el elogio de *doctus* con las fórmulas que Macrobio aplica a Virgilio, *omnium disciplinarum peritus* y *poeta aeque in rebus doctrinae et in verbis sectator elegantiae*

«After suggesting that the Aeneid in effect may be regarded as a mirrored reflection of the Iliad and Odyssey (5. 2. 13), Eustathius goes on to quote a number of parallel passages, taken haphazard, in some of which Vergil’s lines so closely resemble their Homeric originals that they merely show (in Professor Saintsbury’s words) 5! “that Vergil was an excellent translator, and was, rather more frequently than becomes a great poet, content simply to translate.”» — Davies recoge la imagen del espejo —la Eneida como reflejo de la Ilíada y la Odisea— y la contrasta con el juicio de Saintsbury sobre Virgilio traductor

«Moreover, in the incident of the eagle and the serpent (5. 13. 28-30) Vergil has omitted details which, in the speaker’s submission, are the very soul of Homer’s description, with the result that in the Latin “only a lifeless body is left.”» — Davies consigna el reproche que el propio diálogo dirige a Virgilio: en el episodio del águila y la serpiente omite lo que era el alma de la descripción homérica

«Erasistratus, he sharply criticizes incursions by philosophy into the field of medicine (7. 15. 1) and thereby provokes a retort from the philosopher Eustathius» — Davies marca la disputa de oficios dentro del diálogo: Disarius, seguidor de Erasístrato, objeta las incursiones de la filosofía en el campo de la medicina y provoca la réplica del filósofo Eustathius

«festivals of the Saturnalia and Sigillaria (1. 7. 14-1. 11), with the legends of Saturn and Janus, and with a long digression on the treatment and behavior of slaves.» — Davies resume el primer día: origen de los Saturnales y de la Sigillaria, leyendas de Saturno y de Jano, y la digresión larga sobre el trato de los esclavos. El tramo arranca en la plana siguiente al corte de frase

«Thus Carvilius Pictor wrote an Aeneidomastix, Vipsanius Agrippa censured Vergil as the inventor of a new kind of affectation in language (movae cacozeliae repertor) ; and Herennius published a list of his Faults (Vitia), Perellius» — Davies cataloga la literatura antivirgiliana antigua: el *Aeneidomastix* de Carvilius Pictor, la censura de Vipsanius Agrippa por *novae cacozeliae repertor* y los *Vitia* de Herennius. El tramo se corta en el límite de chunk

«Faustus of his Thefts (Furta) and Octavius Avitus of his Resemblances (‘Opovotntes), ie., passages in Vergil reminiscent of passages in the works of other authors. On the other hand a Reply to the Detractors of Vergil was written by Asconius, and the poet may have had other friendly critics whose names have been lost.» — Continuación del catálogo en Davies: los *Furta* de Perellius Faustus, las *Homoiotetes* de Octavius Avitus y la Respuesta a los detractores de Virgilio de Asconio

«Furius explains that his aim is to show the good use which Vergil has made of his reading of the works of his predecessors; but he is aware, he says, that he may be affording hostile critics an excuse to accuse Vergil of plagiar» — Davies resume la defensa que Furius Albinus hace de los préstamos de Virgilio, consciente de que da pie a la acusación de plagio

«and by suggesting that in fact it is the old writers who are in Vergil’s debt, since his use of their works has enabled those works to survive. Moreover, he continues, Vergil has shown such nice judgment and skill in his borrowings that to read the originals is to realize that their words sound better in their new than in their former context» — Davies recoge el giro del argumento: son los viejos escritores los que están en deuda con Virgilio, porque su uso les permitió sobrevivir

«Caecina Albinus follows Furius. First, he illustrates Vergil’s debt to the old poets for single words which, from a neglect of these old writers, were sometimes thought to be Vergil’s own invention, drawing attention also to the poet’s use of even foreign words (peregrina verba); and he concludes by citing a number of picturesque epithets which also have been borrowed by Vergil from earlier Latin authors» — Davies reparte el libro sexto: Caecina Albinus muestra la deuda de Virgilio en palabras sueltas que, por olvido de los viejos poetas, se tenían por invención suya

«In the fourth century the hostility of a Christian “Establishment” at first provoked in the pagan opposition a revival of interest in the classical writers of Rome. Then the growing pressure of the barbarian invasions brought home to Christian and pagan alike the need to safeguard a common cultural inheritance in the face of a common enemy and so led to a measure of that peaceful coexistence for which Symmachus had pleaded.» — Davies traza el arco del siglo IV: la hostilidad cristiana aviva primero el interés pagano por los clásicos y después la presión bárbara empuja a la coexistencia que Symmachus había pedido

«Later, ironically enough, it was the Christian monasteries—scornfully referred to by Rutilius as slave-barracks» — Davies apunta la ironía de que los monasterios cristianos, llamados *ergastula* por Rutilio, conservaran las reliquias de la literatura latina hasta su redescubrimiento en el alba del Renacimiento; el tramo se corta antes del paréntesis porque el troceo imprime ahí dos llamadas de nota como asteriscos

«Nevertheless, the possibility that Macrobius and Isidore have drawn from a common source—e.g., Athenaeus in the case of the drinking vessels—cannot be overlooked.» — Davies acota su propio rastreo: Macrobio e Isidoro pueden haber bebido de una fuente común, Ateneo en el caso de los vasos

«In the Policraticus (sive De Nugis Curialium et Vestigiis Philosophorum) ® of John of Salisbury (d.1180) there are numerous excerpts from the Saturnalia often reproduced verbatim,® although words or passages in Greek are omitted.» — Davies registra que el Policraticus de Juan de Salisbury reproduce a menudo verbatim pasajes de los Saturnales, omitiendo lo griego

«John appears to have had a more complete text of the Saturnala than that which we have today; for in Book 8 (chapters 6, 7, and 16) of the Policraticus there are references to statements made by one “Portunianus”—now generally taken to be the Postumianus who reports to Decius the account given to him by Eusebius of what had been said at the symposium (Saturnalia 1. 2. 1-14)— which must have been taken from parts of the text of the Saturnalia no longer extant,® as well as a sentence (described as a quotation from Macrobius) which would seem to fit into the lacuna at the end of the second Book.» — Davies deduce de las citas de Juan de Salisbury que este tuvo un texto de los Saturnales más completo que el que hoy se conserva

«Isidore of Seville (c.560-636), a link between the learning of antiquity and the Middle Ages, in the fifth Book of his Etymo» — Davies presenta a Isidoro de Sevilla como eslabón entre el saber antiguo y la Edad Media; el tramo se corta antes del volado de nota al pie que el troceo intercala

«logiae may be making use of the accounts given by Macrobius in the Saturnalia of the divisions of the civil day at Rome (1. 3), of the magnus annus (1. 14), and of the Kalends, Nones, Ides, and other days of the Roman calendar» — Continuación en la plana siguiente: Davies rastrea en el libro quinto de las Etimologías el uso de lo que Macrobio dice del día civil, del *magnus annus* y del calendario romano

«(673-735) is said to have had access to an abridgment of the Saturnalia known as the Disputatio Hori et Praetextati, of which traces may be found in the references in chapters 7, 9, 12 and 13 of his De temporum ratione to the Roman day, the Roman month, and the Kalends, Nones, and Ides» — Davies consigna que Beda pudo acceder a un compendio de los Saturnales llamado *Disputatio Hori et Praetextati*

«There is, however, no evidence, in chapter 28 of Bede’s work, that he had read what Macrobius (7. 16), following Plutarch, has to say about the influences of the moon.» — Davies marca la negativa como dato: no hay evidencia de que Beda leyera lo que Macrobio dice, siguiendo a Plutarco, sobre los influjos de la luna

«As early as the time of Julius Caesar Roman citizenship had been given to physicians practising in Rome and to teachers of the liberal arts there (Suetonius: Divus Julius 42, 1); but both medicine and teaching were for long regarded as at any rate semi-servile occupa» — Davies abre el apéndice A situando el estatuto social de médicos y maestros en Roma; el tramo se corta en el guion de fin de renglón

«But although the later emperors legislated to raise the social status of the teaching profession, it may be doubted just how far their action represented a genuine enthusiasm for letters, for, since there was as yet no press, the emperors would be well aware of the usefulness to them of the professorial panegyric» — Davies pone en duda que la legislación imperial en favor del magisterio naciera de entusiasmo por las letras y apunta la utilidad del panegírico profesoral

«He who writes last comes off best,” said Seneca (Epistulae 79. 6), “for he finds the words ready to hand and, if he arranges them differently, they have the appearance of being new: nor is he laying hands on what belongs to another, since words are common property.”» — El pasaje de Séneca con que Davies abre el apéndice B sobre originalidad, imitación y plagio

«A poet, then, may owe much to other poets (whether predecessors or contemporaries and whether fellow countrymen or not) without forfeiting a just claim to originality.» — Davies enuncia la tesis del apéndice B: un poeta puede deber mucho a otros sin perder su título a la originalidad

«no sooner had a fine thought, phrase, or even rhythm been struck out by a poet than it became, by common consent, the property of all subsequent writers. To appropriate it was not to commit a plagiarism but to do honour to its inventor.”» — Davies cita a Nettleship sobre la propiedad común de lo bien hallado: apropiárselo no era plagiar sino honrar a su inventor

«Before the invention of writing it would have been difficult to establish the ownership of a poem, and plagiarism may therefore be regarded as to some extent an inevitable consequence of oral tradition.» — Davies liga el plagio a la tradición oral y la noción de derecho de copia a la invención de la imprenta

«Works cited in abbreviated form in the notes are listed here under their abbreviations, which are placed in brackets and precede the full entry.» — Davies explica el criterio de su bibliografía selecta: las abreviaturas de las notas van entre corchetes y preceden a la entrada completa

«Bornecque, H., and F. Richard, trs. Macrobe: Les Saturnales. 2 vols. Paris, 1937.» — La traducción francesa de los Saturnales que Davies registra en su bibliografía y cuyas lecturas adopta en nota

«[Eyssenhardt] Macrobius. Ed. by F. Eyssenhardt. 2d ed. Leipzig, 1893.» — La entrada bibliográfica del texto latino del que Davies declara haber hecho su traducción

«Wiessner, P. “Macrobius,” in Pauly’s Real-Encyclopidie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, XIV (Stuttgart, 1928), cols. 170-98.» — La entrada enciclopédica sobre Macrobio que Davies registra; el troceo corrompe el título alemán

«[Willis] Macrobius: Saturnalia. Ed. by J. Willis. Leipzig, 1963. Wissowa, G. De Macrobii Saturnaliorum fontibus capita tria.» — Las dos últimas entradas de la bibliografía: la Teubner nueva de Willis y la disertación de Wissowa sobre las fuentes de los Saturnales

Secreto (lo que se jura no fijar por escrito) — Praetextatus declara de entrada el límite de su exposición: puede decir el origen mitológico o físico de la fiesta, pero no la naturaleza secreta del dios, porque ni en los propios ritos es lícito contar los principios ocultos que manan de la fuente de la verdad pura, y quien los alcanza debe guardarlos en el pecho. La misma regla gobierna el nombre del dios tutelar de Roma y el nombre latino de la ciudad, que se cuidó que no se supieran.

Mónada (el glifo que condensa el esquema entero) — La máxima que sostiene la exposición solar entera: el Todo es Uno. De ella se sigue que las diversas actividades de una sola divinidad valen por otras tantas divinidades, y que los dioses de los que viene el calor del cielo difieren en los nombres y no en la esencia real.

Anima mundi (alma del mundo) — Para los físicos que Praetextatus cita, el sol es la mente del universo, y el universo, que llaman Júpiter, son los cielos; de esa mente se difunde entre los hombres el primer principio de la inteligencia.

Spiritus mundi (espíritu del mundo) — La plegaria ritual que los teólogos usan, en la que el sol es a la vez Señor de todo, Espíritu del mundo, Poder del mundo y Luz del mundo.

Caduceo (vara de Mercurio) — El caduceo egipcio se describe pieza por pieza —dos serpientes, macho y hembra, entrelazadas, anudadas por el nudo de Hércules y unidas arriba en un beso— y se descifra como figura de la génesis del hombre, con el sol por Genio, la luna por Fortuna, el beso por Amor y el nudo por Necesidad.

Daimon (entidad intermedia, ni ángel ni demonio) — Praetextatus da dos etimologías del nombre de los *daimones* que Platón junta con los dioses: los que saben el porvenir y, según Posidonio, los que arden o participan de la sustancia celeste.

Evocación (llamar y constreñir espíritus) — La costumbre romana antiquísima y de máximo secreto de llamar fuera por fórmula a los dioses tutelares de la ciudad sitiada, con el texto de la fórmula transcrito desde Samónico Sereno, y la fórmula gemela de devoción de la ciudad, reservada a dictadores y comandantes supremos.

Talismán (imagen astrológica) — La bula de oro que se da al muchacho junto con la pretexta se explica por su función: contenía amuletos tenidos por potentísimos contra el mal de ojo, como los que el general vencedor llevaba al pecho en el triunfo.

Prodigio (prodigium, portentum, ostentum) — Los libros etruscos de los prodigios, citados desde el volumen de Tarquicio, hacen del carnero de color insólito presagio de prosperidad general para el gobernante; y Tarquicio Prisco reparte los árboles entre los de buen y los de mal agüero, con orden de quemar en los segundos lo monstruoso.

Iniciación (recepción por grados / metamorfosis del ser) — Tarquinio, hijo de Demarato de Corinto, reunió en un solo templo y bajo un mismo techo a los penates después de iniciarse en los misterios religiosos de Samotracia.

Cuatro elementos (fuego, aire, agua, tierra) — Eustathius funda su defensa de la dieta variada en que los elementos de que estamos compuestos son lo caliente, lo frío, lo seco y lo húmedo, y en que lo semejante se nutre de lo semejante.

Crítica de fuentes (criterios de inclusión y descarte) — El método del diálogo consiste en alinear las autoridades divergentes sin arbitrar entre ellas: seis atribuciones distintas para el origen de la intercalación, cuatro candidatos para el dios tutelar de Roma, dos bandos sobre si los días de mercado son feriados, y dos cómputos rivales para la duración de la fiesta.

Prisca theologia (la teología antiquísima) — Praetextatus sienta que los poetas toman de los lugares secretos de la filosofía los elementos de sus relatos sobre los dioses, y que no es superstición vacía sino razón divina lo que los mueve a referir casi todos los dioses al sol.