Chapter 19

'Nam isti qui linguam avium intellegunt plusque ex alieno iecore sapiunt quam ex suo, magis audiendum quam auscultandum censeo.'

For Pacuvius' stilted expressions, cf. Quint. i. 5, 67, 'Ceterum etiam ex praepositione et duobus vocabulis dure videtur struxisse Pacuvius

"Nerei repandirostrum, incurvicervicum pecus"' (l. 408);

_Paulus_, l. 5

'Qua vix caprigeno generi gradilis gressio est.'

Some views on Pacuvius may be referred to:

Cic. _de Opt. Gen. Or._ 1, 'Itaque licet dicere et Ennium summum epicum poetam et Pacuvium tragicum et Caecilium fortasse comicum.'

Hor. _Ep._ ii. 1, 55,

'Ambigitur quotiens uter utro sit prior, aufert Pacuvius docti[18] famam senis, Accius alti';

Mart. xi. 90, 5,

'Attonitusque legis "terrai frugiferai," Accius et quidquid Pacuviusque vomunt.'

Cf. also Gell. vi. 14, 6; Cic. _Brut._ 258; _Or._ 36; Quint. x. 1, 97; Persius, 1. 76-8; Tac. _Dial._ 20.

CAECILIUS STATIUS.

(1) LIFE.

Jerome yr. Abr. 1838 = B.C. 179, 'Statius Caecilius comoediarum scriptor clarus habetur, natione Insuber Gallus et Ennii primum contubernalis. Quidam Mediolanensem ferunt. Mortuus est anno post mortem Ennii [iii.] et iuxta eum in Ianiculo sepultus.'

iii. is an addition by Ritschl, as we know Caecilius to have been alive in B.C. 166, when Terence's _Andria_ was performed. Some read iv. The date of his death will then be B.C. 166 or 165. Caecilius probably came to Rome among the Insubrian prisoners of war at some time between B.C. 200 and 194. The year of his birth is unknown; he is never mentioned, like other old writers, such as Plautus and Ennius, as having lived to a great age. If he died B.C. 166, we might suppose that he was born about B.C. 219, as that would make him of military age when the Insubrian war began in B.C. 200. His name as a slave was Statius. His patron is unknown.

Gell. iv. 20, 13, 'Statius servile nomen fuit ... Caecilius quoque ille comoediarum poeta inclutus servus fuit; et propterea nomen habuit "Statius." Sed postea versum est quasi in cognomentum: appellatusque est Caecilius Statius.'

Elsewhere he is sometimes called merely Caecilius (as Cic. _de Or._ ii. 40), but never Statius alone.

(2) WORKS.

Caecilius' works were at first unsuccessful; cf. the actor Ambivius' words in Ter. _Hec._ prol. ii. 6-7,

'In eis quas primum Caecili didici novas, partim sum earum exactus, partim vix steti.'

Later he examined plays before they were acted, as, _e.g._ Terence's _Andria_ in B.C. 166 (see under 'Terence,' p. 42). This implies that he occupied a responsible and leading position in the guild of poets.

We have two hundred and ninety lines of fragments, and titles of forty-two comedies, sixteen of which correspond with those of plays by Menander. For Caecilius' imitation of Menander see Gell. ii. 23. Cf., _e.g._, 'Caecilii Plocium legebamus; hautquaquam mihi et qui aderant displicebat... Sed enim postquam in manus Menander venit, a principio statim, di boni, quantum stupere atque frigere quantumque mutare a Menandro Caecilius visus est!'

Among the views on Caecilius are:

Cic. _ad Att._ vii. 3, 10, '(Caecilius) malus auctor Latinitatis est' (probably because he was an Insubrian).

Cic. _de Opt. Gen. Or._ 1, 'fortasse summus comicus.' Sedigitus ap. Gell. xv. 24,

'Caecilio palmam Statio do mimico.'

Hor. _Ep._ ii. 1, 59,

'(dicitur) vincere Caecilius gravitate.'

The contemporaries of Caecilius include _Trabea_, _Atilius_ ('poeta durissimus,' Cic. _ad Att._ xiv. 20, 3), _Aquilius_ (possibly the author of the _Boeotia_, attributed by Varro to Plautus, Gell. iii. 3, 4), _Licinius Imbrex_, _Luscius Lanuvinus_, all writers of _palliatae_. Our chief information about Luscius Lanuvinus is got from the prologues to Terence's plays (in all of which, except that of the _Hecyra_, he is attacked), and from Donatus' commentary on these passages. From Ter. _Eun._ prol. 9-13, we see that he did not tone down his originals to suit a Roman audience,

'Idem Menandri Phasma nuper perdidit atque in Thensauro scripsit, causam dicere prius unde petitur, aurum qua re sit suom, quam illic qui petit, unde is sit thensaurus sibi aut unde in patrium monumentum pervenerit.'

Donatus _ad loc._, 'Arguit Terentius quod Luscius contra consuetudinem litigantium defensionem ante accusationem induxerit.'

TERENCE.

(1) LIFE.

Our chief source of information is Suetonius' life of Terence, preserved by Donatus, who also makes a slight addition of his own. Jerome's notice is also based on Suetonius.

P. Terentius Afer was born in Africa, and was brought in early life to Rome, where he was a slave of P. Terentius Lucanus, by whom he was educated and subsequently manumitted.

Sueton. _vit. Ter._ p. 26 R., 'P. Terentius Afer, Karthagine natus, serviit Romae Terentio Lucano senatori, a quo ob ingenium et formam non institutus modo liberaliter, sed et mature manu missus est. Quidam captum esse existumant: quod fieri nullo modo potuisse Fenestella docet, cum inter finem secundi Punici belli et initium tertii et natus sit et mortuus.'

Terence's cognomen probably shows that he belonged to one of the African peoples subdued by Carthage. It may be taken as certain that he was not of Punic birth, and that he was brought to Rome in the ordinary course of the slave trade.

The date of Terence's birth is not accurately known. Sueton. _ibid._ p. 32, 'Nondum quintum atque vicesimum ingressus annum ... egressus urbe est neque amplius rediit,' which refers to his voyage to Greece in B.C. 160, would make the year of his birth to be B.C. 185. This, however, is an improbable assumption, which rests on the fact that Roman scholars attributed to him the age of his intimate friend, P. Scipio Africanus the younger. Thus Sueton. _ibid._ p. 27 (of Terence, Scipio, Laelius), says, 'quamvis et Nepos aequales omnes fuisse tradat'; with which contrast _ibid._ 'Fenestella ... contendens utroque maiorem natu fuisse.' Terence must have been some years older, as his first piece, the _Andria_, was produced B.C. 166. A successful piece like it makes it probable that he had then passed his boyhood, and it is likely that he was born about B.C. 190. The reproach of his adversary in _Heaut. Tim._ prol. 23,

'_repente_ ad studium hunc se adplicasse _musicum_,'

means only that he had not made himself prominent by previous exercises in play-writing. Further in _H.T._ prol. 51-2, he describes his opponents as _adulescentuli_,

'Exemplum statuite in me, ut adulescentuli vobis placere studeant potius quam sibi.'

Terence was on intimate terms with P. Scipio Africanus and C. Laelius, who were supposed to have helped him in the composition of his plays.

Sueton. _ibid._ p. 30, 'Non obscura fama est adiutum Terentium in scriptis a Laelio et Scipione: eamque ipse auxit, numquam nisi leviter se tutari conatus, ut in prologo Adelphorum (ll. 15-21),

"Nam quod isti dicunt malivoli, homines nobiles hunc adiutare adsidueque una scribere, quod illi maledictum vehemens esse existumant: eam laudem hic ducit maxumam, quom illis placet qui vobis univorsis et populo placent, quorum opera in bello, in otio, in negotio suo quisque tempore usust sine superbia."

... Sciebat Laelio et Scipioni non ingratam esse hanc opinionem, quae tum magis et usque ad posteriora tempora valuit.'

Sueton. p. 31, also repeats a story that C. Laelius was the author of the lines _H.T._ 723 _sqq._

Cf. also Cic. _ad Att._ vii. 3, 10, 'Terentium, cuius fabellae propter elegantiam sermonis putabantur a C. Laelio scribi.'

Quint. x. 1, 99, 'Licet Terentii scripta ad Scipionem Africanum referantur.'

The remark that ll. 20-1 of the above extract from the _Adelph._ could not refer to young men like Scipio and Laelius was made even in antiquity.

Sueton. _ibid._ p. 31, 'Santra (a grammarian of the time of Augustus) Terentium existimat, si modo in scribendo adiutoribus indiguerit, non tam Scipione et Laelio uti potuisse, qui tunc adulescentuli fuerint, quam C. Sulpicio Gallo, homine docto, quo console Megalensibus ludis initium fabularum dandarum fecerit, vel Q. Fabio Labeone et M. Popillio, consulari utroque ac poeta. Ideo ipsum non iuvenes designare qui se adiuvare dicantur, sed viros quorum operam et in bello et in otio et in negotio populus sit expertus.'

In K. Dziatzko's opinion (second edition of _Phormio_, p. 10, Leipzig, 1885), the expression 'homines nobiles' points to the literary circle of Terence, including old as well as young men, while in what follows he touches upon the general reputation of those noble families among the Roman people. There is nothing to show that Terence got more than general support and advice from his friends. That his diction reflects the conversational language of the better classes is recognized.

In B.C. 166, Terence submitted to Caecilius Statius, the examiner of plays, his first work, the _Andria_, which was accepted, and performed in that year.

Sueton. _ibid._ pp. 28-9, 'Scripsit comoedias sex. Ex quibus primam Andriam cum aedilibus daret, iussus ante Caecilio recitare ad cenantem cum venisset, dicitur initium quidem fabulae, quod erat contemptiore vestitu, in subsellio iuxta lectulum residens legisse, post paucos vero versus invitatus ut accumberet cenasse una, dein cetera percucurrisse non sine magna Caecilii admiratione.'

From the fact of Caecilius' not recognizing him we may conclude that Terence had as yet no connexion with the guild of poets. This fits in with _H.T._ prol. 23-4,

'Repente ad studium hunc se adplicasse musicum, amicum ingenio fretum, haud natura sua.'

Hence probably arose the hatred of other writers, referred to as _isti_ (_Andr._ 15; 21); _iniqui_ (_H.T._ 27); cf. also _Hec._ prol.