The History of Roman Literature Part 11

[20] And in the _De Lingua Latina_, wis.h.i.+ng to show how the elephant was called _Luca bos_ from having been first seen in Lucania with the armies of Pyrrhus, and from the ox being the largest quadruped with which the Italians were then acquainted, he gives us the following involved note-- _In Virgilii commentario erat: Ab Lucanis Lucas; ab eo quod nostri, quom maximam quadrupedem, quam ipsi haberent, vocarent bovem, et in Lucanis Pyrrhi bello primum vidissent apud hostes elephantos, Lucanum bovem quod putabant Lucam bovem appella.s.sent_.

In fact Varro was no stylist. He was a master of facts, as Cicero of words. _Studiosum rerum_, says Augustine, _tantum docet, quantum studiosum verborum Cicero delectat_. Hence Cicero, with all his p.r.o.neness to exaggerate the excellences of his friends, never speaks of him as eloquent. He calls him _omnium facile acutissimus, et sine ulla dubitatione doctissimus_. [21] The qualities that shone out conspicuously in his works were, besides learning, a genial though somewhat caustic humour, and a thorough contempt for effeminacy of all kinds. The fop, the epicure, the warbling poet who gargled his throat before murmuring his recondite ditty, the purist, and above all the mock-philosopher with his nostrum for purifying the world, these are all caricatured by Varro in his pithy, good-humoured way; the spirit of the Menippean satires remained, though the form was changed to one more befitting the grave old teacher of wisdom. The fragments of his works as well as the notices of his friends present him to us the very picture of a healthy-minded and healthy-bodied man.

To return to the consideration of his treatise on Antiquities, from which we have digressed. The great interest of the subject will be our excuse for dwelling longer upon it. There is no Latin book the recovery of which the present century would hail with so much pleasure as this. When antiquarianism is leading to such fruitful results, and the study of ancient religion is so earnestly pursued, the aid of Varro's research would be invaluable. And it is the more disappointing to lose it, since we have reason for believing that it was in existence during the lifetime of Petrarch. He declares that he saw it when a boy, and afterwards, when he knew its value, tried all means, but without success, to obtain it. This story has been doubted, chiefly on the ground that direct quotations from the work are not made after the sixth century. But this by itself is scarcely a sufficient reason, since the Church gathered all the knowledge of it she required from the writings of St Augustine. From him we learn that Varro feared the entire collapse of the old faith; that he attributed its decline in some measure to the outward representations of divine objects; and, observing that Rome had existed 170 years without any image in her temples, instanced Judea to prove "_eos qui primi simulacra deorum populis posuerunt, eos civitatibus suis et metum dempsisse, et errorem addidisse_." [22] Other fragments of deep interest are preserved by Augustine. One, showing the conception of the state religion as a purely human inst.i.tution, explains why human antiquities are placed before divine, "_Sicut prior est pictor quam tabula picta, prior faber quam aedificium; ita priores sunt civitates, quam ea quae a civitatibus inst.i.tuta sunt._" Another describes the different cla.s.ses of theology, according to a division first made by the Pontifex Scaevola, [23] as poetical, philosophical, and political, or as mythical, physical, and civil. [24] Against the first of these Varro fulminated forth all the shafts of his satire: _In eo multa sunt contra dignitatem et naturam immortalium ficta ... quae non modo in hominem, sed etiam quae in contemptissimum hominem cadere possunt_. About the second he did not say much, except guardedly to imply that it was not fitted for a popular ceremonial. The third, which it was his strong desire to keep alive, as it was afterwards that of Virgil, seemed to him the chief glory of Rome. He did not scruple to say (and Polybius had said it before him) that the grandeur of the Republic was due to the piety of the Republic. It was reserved for the philosopher of a later age [25] to asperse with bitter ridicule ceremonies to which all before him had conformed while they disbelieved, and had respected while seeing through their object.

Varro dedicated his work to Caesar, who was then Pontifex Maximus, and well able to appreciate the chain of reasoning it contained. The acute mind of Varro had doubtless seen in Caesar a disposition to rehabilitate the fallen ceremonial, and foreseeing his supremacy in the state, had laid before him this great manual for his guidance. Caesar evinced the deepest respect for Varro, and must have carefully studied his views. At least it can be no mere coincidence that Augustus, in carrying out his predecessor's plans for the restoration of public wors.h.i.+p, should have followed so closely on the lines which we see from Augustine Varro struck out. To consider Varro's labours as undirected to any practical object would be to misinterpret them altogether. No man was less of the mere _savant_ or the mere _litterateur_ than he.

Besides this larger work Varro seems to have written smaller ones, as introductions or pendants to it. Among these were the _Aitia_, or _rationale_ of Roman manners and customs, and a work _de gente populi Romani_, the most noticeable feature of which was its chronological calculation, which fixed the building of Rome to the date now generally received, and called the Varronian Era (753 B.C.). It contained also computations and theories with regard to the early history of many other states with which Rome came in contact, _e.g._ Athens, Argos, etc., and is referred to more than once by St Augustine. [26] The names of many other treatises on this subject are preserved; and this is not surprising, when we learn that no less than 620 books belonging to 74 different works can be traced to his indefatigable pen, so that, as an ancient critic says, "so much has he written that it seems impossible he could have read anything, so much has he read that it seems incredible he could have written anything."

In the domain of history and biography he was somewhat less active. He wrote, however, memoirs of his campaigns, and a short biography of Pompey.

A work of his, first mentioned by Cicero, to which peculiar interest attaches, is the _Imagines_ or _Hebdomades_, called by Cicero "_Peplographia_ Varronis." [27] It was a series of portraits--700 in all-- of Greek and Roman celebrities, [28] with a short biography attached to each, and a metrical epigram as well. This was intended to be, and soon became, a popular work. An abridged edition was issued shortly after the first, 39 B.C. no doubt to meet the increased demand. This work is mentioned by Pliny as embodying a new and most acceptable process, [29]

whereby the impressions of the portraits were multiplied, and the reading public could acquaint themselves with the physiognomy and features of great men. [30] What this process was has been the subject of much doubt.

Some think it was merely an improved method of miniature drawing, others, dwelling on the general acceptableness of the invention, strongly contend that it was some method of multiplying the portraits like that of copper or wood engraving, and this seems by far the most probable view; but what the method was the notices are much too vague for us to determine.

The next works to be noticed are those on practical science. As far as we can judge he seems to have imitated Cato in bringing out a kind of encyclopaedia, adapted for general readers. Augustine speaks of him as having exhaustively treated the whole circle of the liberal, or as he prefers to call it, the secular arts. [31] Those to which most weight were attached would seem to have been grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, medicine, and geometry. From one or two pa.s.sages that are preserved, we should be inclined to fancy that Varro attached a superst.i.tious (almost a Pythagorean) importance to numbers. [32] He himself was not an adherent of any system, but as Mommsen quaintly expresses it, he led a blind dance between them all, veering now to one now to another, as he wished to avoid any unpleasant conclusion or to catch at some attractive idea. Not strictly connected with the _Encyclopaedia_, but going to some extent over the same ground though in a far more thorough and systematic way, was the great treatise _De Lingua Latina_, in twenty-five books, of which the first four were dedicated to Septimius, the last twenty-one (to the orator's infinite delight) to Cicero. Few things gave Cicero greater pleasure than this testimony of Varro's regard. With his insatiable appet.i.te for praise, he could not but observe with regret that Varro, trusted by Pompey, courted by Caesar, and reverenced by all alike, had never made any confidential advances to him. Probably the deeply-read student and simple-natured man failed to appreciate the more brilliant, if less profound, scholars.h.i.+p of the orator, and the vacillation and complexity of his character. While Cicero loaded him with praises and protestations of friends.h.i.+p, Varro appears to have maintained a somewhat cool or distant att.i.tude. At last, however, this reserve was broken through. In 47 B.C. he seems to have promised Cicero to dedicate a work to him, which by its magnitude and interest required careful labour. In the letter prefixed to the posterior _Academica_, 45 B.C., Cicero evinces much impatience at having been kept two years waiting for his promised boon, and inscribes his own treatise with Varro's name as a polite reminder which he hopes his friend will not think immodest. In the opening chapters Cicero extols Varro's learning with that warmth of heart and total absence of jealousy which form so pleasing a trait in his character. Their diffuseness amusingly contrasts with Varro's brevity in his dedication.

When it appeared, there occurred not a word of compliment, nothing beyond the bare announcement _In his ad te scribam_. [33] Truly Varro was no "mutual admirationist."

C. O. Muller, who has edited this treatise with great care, is of opinion that it was never completely finished. He argues partly from the words _politius a me limantur_, put into Varro's mouth by Cicero, partly from the civil troubles and the perils into which Varro's life was placed, partly from the loose unpolished character of the work, that it represents a first draught intended, but not ready for, publication. For example, the same thing is treated more than once; _Jubar_ is twice ill.u.s.trated by the same quotation, [34] _Canis_ is twice derived from _canere_; [35] _merces_ is differently explained in two places; [36] _Lympha_ is derived both from _lapsus aquae_, and from _Nympha_; [37] _valicinari_ from _vesa.n.u.s_ and _versibus viendis_. [38] Again marginal additions or corrections, which have been the means of destroying the syntactical connection, seemed to have been placed in the text by the author. [39] Other insertions of a more important character though they ill.u.s.trate the point, yet break the thread of thought; and in one book, the seventh, the want of order is so apparent that its finished character could hardly be maintained. These facts lead him to conclude that the book was published without his knowledge, and perhaps against his will, by those who pillaged his library. It is obvious that this is a theory which can neither be proved nor disproved. It is an ingenious excuse for Varro's negligence in not putting his excellent materials together with more care. The plan of the work is as follows:--

Book I.--On the origin of the Latin language.

Books II.-VII. First Part.--On the imposition of names.

Thus subdivided-- _a_ ii-iv. On etymology. ii. What can be said against it.

iii. What can be said for it.

iv. About its form and character.

_b_ v.-vii. Origin of words. v. Names of places and all that is in them.

vi. Names of time, things that happen in time, &c.

vii. Poetical words.

Books VIII.-XIII. Second Part.--On declension and inflection.

Again subdivided-- _a_ viii.-x. The general method (_disciplina_) of declension.

viii. Against a universal a.n.a.logy obtaining.

ix. In favour of it.

x. On the theory of declension.

_b_ xi.-xiii. On the special declensions.

Books XIV.-XXV. Third Part.--On syntax (_Quemadmodum verba inter se coniungantur_).

Of this elaborate treatise only books V.-X. remain, and those in a mutilated and unsatisfactory condition, so that we are unable to form a clear idea of the value of the whole. Moreover, much of what we have is rendered useless, except for antiquarian purposes, by the extremely crude notions of etymology displayed. _Caelum_ is from _cavus_, or from _chaos_; _terra_ from _teri, quia teritur_; _Sol_ from _solus_; _lepus_ from _levipes_, &c. The seventh book must always be a repertory of interesting quotations, many of which are not found elsewhere; and the essay on _a.n.a.logia_ in books IX. and X. is well worthy of study, as showing on what sort of premises the ancients formed their grammatical reasonings. The work on grammar was followed or preceded by another on philosophy on a precisely similar plan. This was studied, like so many of his other works, by Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine. Its store of facts was no doubt remarkable, but as a popular exposition of philosophical ideas, it must have been very inferior to the treatises of Cicero.

The last or nearly the last book he wrote was the treatise on agriculture, _De Re Rustica_, which has fortunately come down to us entire; and with the kindred works of Cato and Columella, forms one of the most deeply interesting products of the Roman mind. It is in three books: the first dedicated to his wife Fundania, the second to Turanius Niger, the third to Pinnius. Varro was in his 81st year when he drew upon his memory and experience for this congenial work, 36 B.C. The destruction of his library had thrown him on his own resources to a great extent; nevertheless, the amount of book-lore which he displays in this dialogue is enormous. The design is mapped out, as in his other treatises, with stately precision.

He meets some friends at the temple of Tellus by appointment with the sacristan, "_ab_ aeditimo, _ut dicere didicimus a patribus nostris; ut corrigimur ab recentibus urbanis, ab_ aedituo." These friends' names, Fundanius, Agrius, and Agrasius, suggest the nature of the conversation, which turns mainly on the purchase and cultivation of land and stock. They are soon joined by Licinius Stolo and Tremellius Scrofa, the last- mentioned being the highest living authority on agricultural matters. The conversation is carried on with zest, and somewhat more naturally than in Cicero's dialogues. A warm eulogy is pa.s.sed on the soil, climate, and cultivation of Italy, the whole party agreeing that it exceeds in natural blessings all other lands. The first book contains directions for raising crops of all kinds as well as vegetables and flowers, and is brought to an abrupt termination by the arrival of the priest's freedman who narrates the murder of his master. The party promise to attend the funeral, and with the sarcastic reflection _de casu humano magis querentes quam admirantes id Romae factum_, the book ends. The next treats of stock (_de re pecuaria_), and one or two new personages are introduced, as Mennas, Murius, and Vaccius (the last, of course, taking on himself to speak of kine), and ends with an account of the dairy and sheep-shearing. The third is devoted to an account of the preserves (_de villicis pastionibus_) which includes aviaries, whether for pleasure or profit, fish-tanks, deer- forests, rabbit-warrens, and all such luxuries of a country house as are independent of tillage or pasturage--and a most brilliant catalogue it is.

As Varro and his friends, most of whom are called by the names of birds (Merula, Pavo, Pica, and Pa.s.ser), discourse to one another of their various country seats, and as they mention those of other senators, more or less splendid than their own, we recognise the pride and grandeur of those few Roman families who at this time parcelled out between them the riches of the world. Varro, whose life had been peaceful and unambitious, had realized enough to possess three princely villas, in one of which there was a marble aviary, with a duck-pond, bosquet, rosary, and two s.p.a.cious colonnades attached, in which were kept, solely for the master's pleasure, 3000 of the choicest songsters of the wood. That grosser taste which fattened these beautiful beings for the table or the market was foreign to him; as also was the affectation which had made Hortensius sacrifice his career to the enjoyment of his pets. There is something almost terrible in the thought that the costly luxuries of which these haughty n.o.bles talk with so much urbanity, were wrung from the wretched provincials by every kind of extortion and excess; that bribes of untold value pa.s.sed from the hands of cringing monarchs into those of violent proconsuls, to minister to the l.u.s.t and greed, or at best to the wanton luxury, of a small governing cla.s.s. In Varro's pleasant dialogue we see the bright side of the picture; in the speeches of Cicero the dark side.

Doubtless there is a charm about the lofty pride that brooks no superior on earth, and almost without knowing it, treats other nations as mere ministers to its comfort: but the nemesis was close at hand; those who could not stoop to a.s.sist as seconds in the work of government must lie as victims beneath the a.s.sa.s.sin's knife or the heel of the upstart freedman.

The style of this work is much more pleasing than that of the _Latin Language_. It is brisk and pointed, and shows none of the signs of old age. It abounds with proverbs, [40] patriotic reflections, and ancient lore, [41] but is nevertheless disfigured with occasional faults, especially the uncritical acceptance of marvels, such as the impregnation of mares by the wind [42] ("_an incredible thing but nevertheless true_"); the production of bees from dead meat (both of which puerilities are repeated unquestioningly by Virgil), the custom of wolves plunging swine into cold water to cool their flesh which is so hot as to be otherwise quite uneatable, and of shrew mice occasionally gnawing a nest for themselves and rearing their young in the hide of a fat sow, &c. [43] He also attempts one or two etymologies; the best is _via_ which he tells us is for _veha_, and _villa_ for _vehula_; _capra_ from _capere_ is less plausible. Altogether this must be placed at the head of the Roman treatises on husbandry as being at once the work of a man of practical experience, which Cato was, and Columella was not, and of elegant and varied learning, to which Columella might, but Cato could not, pretend.

There is, indeed, rather too great a parade of erudition, so much so as occasionally to enc.u.mber the work; but the general effect is very pleasing, and more particularly the third book, which shows us the calm and innocent life of one, who, during the turbulent and b.l.o.o.d.y climax of political strife, sought in the great recollections of the past a solace for evils which he was powerless to cure, and whose end he could not foresee.

APPENDIX.

NOTE I.--_The Menippean Satires of Varro._

The reader will find all the information on this subject in Riese's edition of the _Menippean Satires_, Leipsic, 1865. We append a few fragments showing their style, language, and metrical treatment.

(1) From the _ammon metreis_.

"Quem sec.u.n.tur eum rutundis velitis leves parmis Ante signani quadratis multisignibus tecti."

We observe here the rare rhythm, a.n.a.logous to the iambic scazon, of a trochaic tetrameter with a long penultimate syllable.

(2) From the _Anthropopolis_.

"Non fit thesauris non auro pectu' solutum; Non demunt animis curas et religiones Persarum montes, non atria diviti' Cra.s.si."

The style here reminds us strongly of Horace.

(3) From the _Bimarcus_.

"Tunc repente caelitum altum tonitribus templum tonescat, Et pater divon trisu c.u.m fulmen igni fervido actum Mutat in tholum macelli."

(4) From the _Dolium aut Seria_, in anapaestics.

"Mundus domus est maxima homulli Quam quinque alt.i.tonae flammigerae Zonae cingunt per quam limbus Bis s.e.x signis stellumicantibus Aptus in obliquo aethere Lunae Bigas acceptat."

The sentiment reminds us of Plato.

(5) From the _Est modus matulae_, on wine.

"Vino nihil iucundius quisquam bibit Hoc aegritudinem ad medendam invenerunt, Hoc hilaritatis dulce seminarium, Hoc continet coagulum convivia."

(6) From the _Eumenides_, in galliambics, from which those of Catullus may be a study.

"Tibi tpana non inanes sonitus Matri' Deum Tonimu', canimu' tibi nos tibi nunc semiviti; Teretem cornam volantem iactant tibi Galli."

(7) From the _Marcipor_, a fine description.

"Repente noctis circiter meridie c.u.m pictus aer fervidis late ignibus Caeli ch.o.r.ean astricen ostenderet Nubes aquali frigido velo leves Caeli cavernas aureas subduxerant Aquam vomentes inferam mortalibus Ventique frigido se ab axe eruperant, Phrenetici septentrionum filii Sec.u.m ferentes regulas ramos syrus.

At nos caduci naufragi ut ciconiae, Quarum bipinnis fulminis plumas vapor Percussit, alte maesti in terram cecidimus."

NOTE II.--_The Logistorici_.

The _Logistorici_, which, as we have said, were imitated from Heraclides Ponticus, are alluded to under the name _Hrakleideion_ by Cicero. He says (Att. xv. 27, 2), _Excudam aliquid Hrakleideion, quod lateat in thesauris tuis_ (xvi. 2, 5) _Hrakleideion, si Brundisium salvi, adoriemur._ In xvi.

3, 1, he alludes to the work as his _Cato Major de Senectute_. Varro had promised him a _Hrakleideion_. _Varro ... a quo adhuc_ Hr. _illud non abstuli_ (xvi. 11, 3). He received it (xvi. 12).

NOTE III.--_Some Fragments of Varro Atacinus._