Chapter 17

“Primùm hæc pudicè vitam, parcè, ac duriterAgebat, lana ac tela victum quæritans:Sed postquam amans accessit,pretium pollicens,Unus, et item alter, ita ut ingenium est omniumHominum ab labore proclive ad libidinem:Accepit conditionem, deinquæstum occipit.”

“Primùm hæc pudicè vitam, parcè, ac duriter

Agebat, lana ac tela victum quæritans:

Sed postquam amans accessit,pretium pollicens,

Unus, et item alter, ita ut ingenium est omnium

Hominum ab labore proclive ad libidinem:

Accepit conditionem, deinquæstum occipit.”

Which is altered by the French translator to thefollowing:—

“Primum hæc pudicè vitam, parce, ac duriterAgebat, lana ac tela victum quæeritans:Sed postquam ad illam accessit adolescentulus,Unus, et item alter; ita ut ingenium est omniumHominum ab laboreproclive ad desidiam;Sperans se cuipiam illorum uxorem fore,Famæ haud pepercit, illosque in domum suamLubens admisit nimium familiariter.

“Primum hæc pudicè vitam, parce, ac duriter

Agebat, lana ac tela victum quæeritans:

Sed postquam ad illam accessit adolescentulus,

Unus, et item alter; ita ut ingenium est omnium

Hominum ab laboreproclive ad desidiam;

Sperans se cuipiam illorum uxorem fore,

Famæ haud pepercit, illosque in domum suam

Lubens admisit nimium familiariter.

“At first she lived chastely, and penuriously, and laboured hard, managing with difficulty to gain a livelihood with the distaff and the loom: but soon after several lovers made their addresses to her, and as we are all naturally prone to idleness, and averse to labour, andas they made her promises of marriage, she was too negligent of her reputation, and admitted their visits oftener than was prudent.”

NOTE 73.Aha! thought I, he is caught.

In the Latin, Certè captus est.Habet. Terence borrowed this expression (habet) from the amphitheatre at Rome, where men calledgladiators, who were (for the chief part) captives and slaves, fought before the people: who looked with great delight on these combats, which often terminated in death to half the persons engaged. When a gladiator was wounded, the people exclaimedHabet,he has it, and thus the word was often used at Rome, in the sense adopted by Terence.

NOTE 74.He paid his share, and supped with the rest.

In the Latinsymbolum dedit,he gave his ring as a token, or pledge. This phrase is an allusion to a custom which prevailed chiefly at Rome. When a party agreed to dine together at their own expense, or, in other words, to club together for an entertainment: each of the partygave his ringto him who had the care of providing the feast, as a symbol or token that he, the owner of the ring, was to join the company, and defray his share of the expense. Hence, he who paid nothing, was calledasymbolus. Rings were also given in contracts instead of a bond: and used for tokens of various kinds. The Greeks also seem to have called rings by the same name,σύμβολα.

NOTE 75.To give his daughter to Pamphilus with a large dowry.

The word dowry, which is called, in Greek,προὶξ, orμείλια, orἕδνα, originally meant the sum which a man gave to the family of the woman he married, and with which he might be said to purchase his wife: but, as the Greeks grew more refined, and also more wealthy, this custom was wholly abolished; and the dowry was given by the wife’s relations to the husband, to assist him in the maintenance of her and of her children. The dowries of women were, in Athens, considered a subject of great importance; and many laws were framed by the Athenian legislators, (particularly by Solon,) to provide for the well ordering of women’s fortunes. An heiress could be disposed of in marriage, only by her father, grandfather, or brother: if she had neither of these relations, the archons determined who was to be her husband; and it was held so important to keep her estate in the family, thatat one timea law prevailed, that if an heiress had no children by her first husband, she was taken from him by the authority of the archons, and given to her nearest relation. A wife, who brought a fortune to her husband, was calledγυνὴ; she who brought noneπαλλακὴ. Solon, apprehensive of mercenary unions, at one time, passed a law, that a woman should carry to her husband only some furniture, and four or five changes of dress. But this seems to have been little observed.

The large dowry whichSimosaysChremesoffered with Philumena, we may fairly suppose to have been twenty talents, asChremesimagined he had but one daughter to portion off; when he had discoveredGlycera, he gave her a dowry of ten talents; and we must suppose that he reserved as much more forPhilumena. This will give us an idea of what the portions of the Athenian women usually were, and of the fortune of a citizen.

Twenty Greek talents were nearly equal to 5,000l.sterling, according to some authors, though writers differ widely as to the amount of the Attic talent; Dr. Arbuthnot makes it equal to 193l.15s., Mr. Raper to 232l.3s.It is agreed on all sides that the Attic talent consisted of 6,000 drachmæ; but the value of the drachma was never correctly ascertained.Videthe table of monies inNote 208.

NOTE 76.I contracted my son.

The Athenian youth were not allowed to dispose of themselves in marriage without consulting their parents, who had almost unlimited authority over them: if they had no parents, guardians, calledἐπίτροποι, were appointed to control them.

But it does not appear that any particular ceremonies were used in Athens, in contracting a bride and bridegroom, previous to the day of marriage; and I rather imagine, Terence, in order to make the subject clear to his Roman auditors, alluded, by the worddespondi, to theRoman custom of betrothing, calledsponsalia, which they performed asfollows:—

Some days before the wedding, the intended bride and bridegroom, with their friends, met together at the lady’s residence, and the parent or guardian of each (as I imagine) asked each other,Spondes? Do you betroth her or him?Then the other party answered,Spondeo, I do betroth, &c.Then the deeds were signed, the dowry agreed on, and the day appointed for the marriage.

NOTE 77.Among the women who were there I saw one young girl.

Women were frequently hired on these occasions, to appear in the funeral procession as mourners, of whom Horace says,

“Ut quæ conductæ plorant in funere, dicuntEt faciunt propè plura dolentibus ex animoque.”Like those, who, hired to weep at funerals,Exceed, in noisy grief, a faithful friend.

“Ut quæ conductæ plorant in funere, dicuntEt faciunt propè plura dolentibus ex animoque.”

“Ut quæ conductæ plorant in funere, dicunt

Et faciunt propè plura dolentibus ex animoque.”

Like those, who, hired to weep at funerals,Exceed, in noisy grief, a faithful friend.

Like those, who, hired to weep at funerals,

Exceed, in noisy grief, a faithful friend.

NOTE 78.

She appeared more afflicted than the others who were there, and so pre-eminently beautiful, and of so noble a carriage, I approach.

To understand the full force of Simo’s remark, when he says how much he was struck with the contrast between Glycera and the rest of the mourners, it is necessary that the reader should be informed, that, in Athens, no woman under sixty years of age was allowed to appear at a funeral; except the relations of the deceased. Solon imposed this law upon the Athenians.

NOTE 79.I approach the women who were following the body.

Literally, the women who werewalkingafter the body. Though those women who were hired to follow a corpse,walkedin procession, it was very usual in Greece, to attend funerals in carriages, and on horseback: but Chrysis, not being represented as a citizen, the ceremonies, in respect to the procession, must be supposed to be different. The interment of the dead was considered of such extreme importance throughout the whole of Greece, that to want the rites of sepulture, was deemed by the natives of that country, a much greater misfortune than even death itself. The Greeks (and many other nations) believed that the spirit of a person whose corpse was unburied, could never obtain admittance to the Elysian fields: their imaginary place of reward for virtuous men after death. Two different methods of disposing of the dead prevailed in Greece. The most ancient of the two (as is generally allowed,) was much the same as the modern practice, the corpse was interred in a coffin, and deposited in the earth. The other mode was to burn the body, and to preserve the ashes. The Athenians seem to have used both methods indiscriminately: their funerals were usually conducted by torch-light. On the third or fourth day after death, (though the time was varied according to circumstances,) the corpse was placed on a bier, with the feet towards the door; and an obolus put into its mouth, to defray the passage across the Styx: a certain form of words was then pronounced over the body, which was afterwards carried out, and followed by the mourners: those of the same sex as the deceased were to be nearest the corpse: when it was placed on the pile, and a second form of words recited over it, some one of the mourners, (usually the nearest relation,) applied a torch to the wood; and, if the deceased was of high rank, animals of various kinds, and sometimes evenhuman victims, were slaughtered, and thrown into the flames. The ashes of the dead were collected from the extinguished pile into an urn, and with some further ceremonies deposited in a sepulchre. The Romans burned their dead in a similar manner. For a further mention of Greek funerals,videNotes77,78,80,81.

NOTE 80.We follow, and arrive at the tomb.

Tombs, called by the Greeksτάφοι, orτύμβοι, which signify both the grave and the monument, were not allowed to be within the city of Athens, but were placed either in the public burial-place, or in private grounds belonging to the relatives of the deceased: it was not unusual to erect them by the road side at some distance from the city, whence the expression, so common on monuments,Siste Viator,Stay Traveller. The public burial-place of the Athenians was in that part of the Ceramicus situated beyond the city: it was very extensive. The other part of the Ceramicus contained the old forum, calledἀρχαία ἀγορὰ.

NOTE 81.

The corpse is placed on the pile, and quickly enveloped in flames; they weep; while the sister I was speaking of, rushed forward, in an agony of grief, toward the fire; and her imprudence exposed her to great danger.

An eminent English poet, Sir Richard Steele, has endeavoured to adapt Terence’s Andrian to the taste of an English audience, and has succeeded in that attempt, in his play, calledThe Conscious Lovers, as well as circumstances would permit. A French poet of equal eminence, Monsieur Baron, has made a similar attempt in French verse, and has met with equal success in his Andrienne: he has kept much closer to the original than has Sir Richard Steele; indeed, many scenes of the Andrienne are a literal version of Terence. I purpose to point out the most material changes which the two modern poets have made in the incidents: the bent of the dramatic taste of the nation of each, may be discovered, in some measure, from a comparison between theEnglish, theFrench, and theRomandramatist. M. Baron has not made any alteration in the scene at Chrysis’ funeral, where Simo discovers his son’s attachment to Glycera; but Sir R. Steele, has altered the mode of discovery toa quarrel at a masquerade; and his scene, though it may want the pathos of the original, yet displays the filial affection of Bevil, the English Pamphilus, in a very amiable light. Sir Richard has modernized the characters of Simo and Sosia in Sir John Bevil and Humphrey.

“Sir J.You know I was, last Thursday, at the masquerade: my son, you may remember, soon found us out. He knew his grandfather’s habit, which I then wore, and though it was in the mode of the last age, yet the maskers followed us, as if we had been the most monstrous figures in the whole assembly.“Humph.I remember a young man of quality, in the habit of a clown, was particularly troublesome.“Sir J.Right: he was too much what he seemed to be: he followed us, till the gentleman, who led the lady in the Indian mantle, presented that gay creature to the rustic, and bid him (like Cymon in the fable) grow polite, by falling in love, and let that worthy gentleman alone, meaning me. The clown was not reformed, but rudely offered to force off my mask; with that the gentleman, throwing off his own, appeared to be my son; and, in his concern for me, tore off that of the nobleman. At this, they seized each other, the company called the guards, and, in the surprise, the lady swooned away; upon which my son quitted his adversary, and had now no care but of the lady; when, raising her in his arms, ‘Art thou gone,’ cried he, ‘for ever?—Forbid it, Heaven!’—She revives at his known voice, and, with the most familiar, though modest gesture, hangs in safety over his shoulders weeping; but wept as in the arms of one before whom she could give herself a loose, were she not under observation. While she hides her face in his neck, he carefully conveys her from the company.”—Conscious Lovers.

“Humph.I remember a young man of quality, in the habit of a clown, was particularly troublesome.

“Sir J.Right: he was too much what he seemed to be: he followed us, till the gentleman, who led the lady in the Indian mantle, presented that gay creature to the rustic, and bid him (like Cymon in the fable) grow polite, by falling in love, and let that worthy gentleman alone, meaning me. The clown was not reformed, but rudely offered to force off my mask; with that the gentleman, throwing off his own, appeared to be my son; and, in his concern for me, tore off that of the nobleman. At this, they seized each other, the company called the guards, and, in the surprise, the lady swooned away; upon which my son quitted his adversary, and had now no care but of the lady; when, raising her in his arms, ‘Art thou gone,’ cried he, ‘for ever?—Forbid it, Heaven!’—She revives at his known voice, and, with the most familiar, though modest gesture, hangs in safety over his shoulders weeping; but wept as in the arms of one before whom she could give herself a loose, were she not under observation. While she hides her face in his neck, he carefully conveys her from the company.”—Conscious Lovers.

Sir John Bevil makes the same trial of his son, as Simo of his: and young Bevil makes the same reply with Pamphilus. The only difference in the conduct of the plot in that part is, that Bevil is not apprized of his father’s stratagem by his own servant; but by Humphrey, which, as it shews a sort of half-treachery in him, is an inferior arrangement to that of the Latin poet.

NOTE 82.That Pamphilus had actually married this strange woman.

The expressionξένα,peregrina, orstrange woman, was generally used amongst eastern nations, to signify a woman of light character: it is very frequently employed in the Holy Writings in that sense.VideJudges,chap. xi. ver. 2; Proverbs,chap. v. ver.3. 10, 20. Thais, in the Eunuch, speaking of her mother, says,

“Samia mihi mater fuit: ea habitabat Rhodi.”My mother was born in Samos, and dwelt in Rhodes.

“Samia mihi mater fuit: ea habitabat Rhodi.”

My mother was born in Samos, and dwelt in Rhodes.

Athenian citizens were not allowed to marry foreign women, even of reputation and virtue; this law was not strictly observed: the penalty for the violation of it was fixed at one thousand drachms. Simo mentions the epithetperegrina, as what Chremes said he had heard Glycera called; but does not himself drop the slightest hint against her, but, on the contrary, praises her modest demeanour; as he must have been well aware, that she did not deserve such an epithet, being her opposite neighbour, and having seen her abroad:ξέναι, orstrange women, when they appeared in public, were obliged to wear striped dresses, to distinguish them from women of innocent conversation.

NOTE 83.Of a wicked mind, one can expect nothing but wicked intentions.

In the Latin,mala mens, malus animus. It is not easy to discriminate with accuracy the different meanings the Romans attached tomensandanimus. Some think thatanimusmeant theheart, andmensthe faculty of thinking. Grotius has, in this passage, taken those words to signifyconscienceandjudgment: but, I think it probable, that the wordanimuswas usually employed when they spoke of thesoul, and thatmenswas intended to express what we understand by the wordmind, when we speak ofgreatness of mind, orlittleness of mind.Animuswas, perhaps, about equivalent to that elegant expression,—instinctus divinitatis.

NOTE 84.Exit Sosia.

“Here we take our last leave of Sosia, who is, in the language of the commentators, aprotatick personage, that is, as Donatus explains it, one who appears only once in the beginning (theprotasis) of the piece, for the sake of unfolding the argument, and is never seen again in any part of the play. The narration being ended, says Donatus, the character of Sosia is no longer necessary. He therefore departs, and leaves Simo alone to carry on the action. With all due deference to the ancients, I cannot help thinking this method, if too constantly practised, as I think it is in our author, rather inartificial. Narration, however beautiful, is certainly the deadest part of theatrical compositions: it is, indeed, strictly speaking, scarce dramatic, and strikes the least in the representation: and the too frequent introduction of a character, to whom a principal person in the fable is to relate in confidence the circumstances, previous to the opening of the play, is surely too direct a manner of conveying that information to the audience. Every thing of this nature should come obliquely, fall in a manner by accident, or be drawn as it were perforce, from the parties concerned, in the course of the action: a practice, which, if reckoned highly beautiful in epic, may be almost set down as absolutely necessary in dramatic poetry. It is, however, more adviseable, even to seem tedious, than to hazard being obscure. Terence certainly opens his plays with great address, and assigns a probable reason for one of the parties being so communicative to the other; and yet it is too plain that this narration is made merely for the sake of the audience, since there never was a duller hearer than Master Sosia, and it never appears, in the sequel of the play, that Simo’s instructions to him are of the least use to frighten Davus, or work upon Pamphilus. Yet even thisprotatick personageis one of the instances of Terence’s art, since it was often used in the Roman comedy, as may be seen even in Plautus, to make the relation of the argument the express office of the prologue.”—Colman.

Monsieur Baron does not dismiss Sosia here, but brings him on the stage again; once in the third act, and once in the fourth. Sir R. Steele introduces Humphrey again in the first act, and also in the fifth. We are told by Donatus, that in the Andrian and Perinthian of Menander, which are similar in the plot, the first scene is the same as in Terence, but that in the Perinthian, the old man consults with his wife instead of Sosia; and, in the Andrian he opens with a soliloquy.

NOTE 85.But, here he comes.

It has been objected against many dramatic writers, that they are guilty of great neglect in first bringing their characters on the stage, without preparing the audience for their appearance, and acquainting them with their names; and sometimes it happens that an actor has been on the stage a considerable time, before the audience know whom he is meant to personate. Terence’s art is admirably shown in this particular; a new character scarcely ever appears on the stage after the first scene, before his name, and character, and perhaps what he may be expected to say or do, is announced to the audience. For example, in the Andrian, ActI.SceneI., Simo describes the occupation and character of Davus before he appears; and names him to the audience as he comes on the stage. In ActI.SceneIII., Davus introduces Mysis: in ActI.SceneIV., Mysis prepares the audience for the appearance of Pamphilus: in ActIII.SceneIV., Simo announces Chremes, and Mysis is the nomenclator of Crito in the last scene of the fourth Act. This rule of preparation for the next scene was called, among the ancients,παρασκευὴ.

NOTE 86.How this rascal prates!

Carnifexquæ loquitur.Carnifex, orcarnufex, means literally an executioner: this was one of the most opprobrious epithets used by the Romans. Of all their public servants, the carnifex was the lowest in rank: his office extended only to crucifixion, which was never inflicted in Rome on any but those who were considered as the very worst of criminals. The person of the carnifex was held in such abhorrence, that he was never suffered to reside in Rome, and rarely (though sometimes) permitted to enter the city.Vide Cicero’s Oration for Rabirius.Carnifex means literallya butcher; and most of the writers of later ages have used it in that sense.

NOTE 87.No: I am not Œdipus, but Davus.

This is as much as to say,I am a plain man, I am no reader of riddles: because Œdipus, king of Thebes, was particularly celebrated for solving an enigma, which had long baffled the penetration of all the Thebans. Ancient writers relate the story thus: Europa, the sister of Cadmus, the first king of Thebes, having been carried off by Jupiter; Juno, in her jealousy, wreaked her vengeance on Europa’s family, and persecuted Cadmus and his descendants with the most inveterate hostility. During the reign of Creon, one of the successors of Cadmus, Juno sent to destroy Thebes, a dreadful monster, called Sphinx, which was described as having the face and voice of a woman, the wings of a dragon, the body of a dog, and the claws of a lion. This extraordinary monster dwelt in a cave, immediately in the neighbourhood of Thebes, and seizing every one that ventured to approach, proposed the following well-known riddle, “What walks in the morning on four legs, at noon on two, and at night on three?” Those who were unable to solve the enigma were instantly torn in pieces; and, as the Thebans were, in general, so remarkable for their slowness and sluggishness, that they were called “Theban pigs” by the rest of Greece, it may be readily believed that the monster’s question long remained unanswered. When the city was in danger of total demolition, Creon the king offered his daughter Jocasta, and his crown, to him who should solve the riddle, as the oracle declared that to be the only means of deliverance. This was at last accomplished byŒdipus, who replied, that it wasman:who crawls in his childhood, walks upright in the vigour of his age, and who uses a crutch when he grows old: on hearing this answer, the Sphinx slew herself.

Some commentator on Terence very ingeniously observes, that Davus, by saying that he is not Œdipus, and cannot understand his riddle, covertly insinuates that Simo is a second Sphinx.

NOTE 88.The grinding-house.

Terence has rendered by the wordpistrinum, the Greekσωφρονιστήριον, or house of correction, whither criminals were sent for the various terms of imprisonment proportioned to their offences. Slaves, while in this prison, were employed chiefly in grinding corn, which, from a deficiency of mechanical knowledge, was, in those times, a very laborious employment. The Athenians, who were universally celebrated for their kind and gentle treatment of slaves, were very reluctant to proceed to severer punishments than whipping or imprisonment: but when a flagrant delinquency rendered it necessary to make an example, they either burned the criminal with a hot iron, in the offending member, if possible; or put on his feet a torturing instrument, calledχοῖνιξ. If the law required the criminal to suffer death, which happened in very few cases, he was either hung, beaten to death with clubs, or cast into a deep pit, calledβάραθρον, filled at the bottom with sharp spikes. They sometimes had recourse to other extraordinary modes of punishment: but the before-mentioned were the most common.

NOTE 89.In truth, friend Davus, from what I have just heard.

This scene contains the second part of the narration, which possesses all the requisites enumerated by Cicero,perspicuity, probability, brevity, and sweetness. It is introduced with Terence’s usual art, and enough is said respecting Glycera’s birth, to prepare the mind for thedénouementin the last act. This scene, and that before it, are omitted in the Conscious Lovers; and a dialogue between Humphrey and Tom, and another between Tom and Phyllis, the English Davus and Mysis, are substituted instead of them: but Phyllis is the servant of Lucinda, the lady Sir J. Bevil wishes his son to marry: and not of Indiana, the modern Glycera. The two scenes above mentioned contain only one incident: the conveyance of a letter from young Bevil to Lucinda, apprizing her of his disinclination to the match.

NOTE 90.This affair must be handled dexterously, or either my young master or I must be quite undone.

The original of this passage is as follows:Quæ si nonastuprovidentur, me, aut herum pessundabunt. A deviation from the customary mode of expression sometimes occurs in our author’s writings. I shall set down the most remarkable words of this nature that are to be found in this play.

NOTE 91.If he finds out the least thing I am undone.

Terence has the art of making us feel interested in the favour of almost all his characters: they insensibly gain ground in our good opinion: even this Davus, who certainly has a spice of the rogue about him, creates a warm interest in his favour by his fidelity to Pamphilus; and his generosity in risking his own safety to serve him: he braves the threats of Simo, when, by assisting him, and betraying Pamphilus, he must have secured the old man’s favour, and consequently great advantages to himself. But very few of the worst characters in Terence’s plays seem to us to be wholly unamiable.

NOTE 92.I think their intentions savour more of madness than of any thing else.

Terence plays upon the words in the original of this passage, which is as follows,

“Nam inceptio estamentium, haudamantium.”

Literally, For they act likemad people, not likelovers. This pun cannot be preserved in an English translation, till two words can be found alike in sound, one meaning “mad people,” and the other “lovers.” The only attempt in English is the following: but the author has rather altered the sense.

“For they fare as they werelunaticke, and notlovesicke.”Bernard.

“For they fare as they werelunaticke, and notlovesicke.”

Bernard.

Terence plays upon words in this manner several times in this play,

Maledicere,malefactane noscant sua.Solicitando, etpollicitandoeorum animos lactas.Quia habet aliudmagisex sese, etmajus.Quojure, quaqueinjuria.Ipsu’ sibi esseinjuriusvideatur, neque idinjuriâ.P. Quid vispatiar? D.Paterest Pamphile.

Maledicere,malefactane noscant sua.

Solicitando, etpollicitandoeorum animos lactas.

Quia habet aliudmagisex sese, etmajus.

Quojure, quaqueinjuria.

Ipsu’ sibi esseinjuriusvideatur, neque idinjuriâ.

P. Quid vispatiar? D.Paterest Pamphile.

The ancients manifested very great partiality for this species of wit, which the Greeks calledπαρανομασίαand the Romansagnominatio. The writings of Plautus abound with puns above all others, and he is thought to have applied them with great ingenuity: the following may serve as a specimen.

Boiusest,Boiamterit.Advenissefamiliaresdicito.Nescio quam tufamiliarises: nisi actutum hinc abis,Familiaris, accipiere faxo haudfamiliariterOptumo optumè optumam operamdas.

Boiusest,Boiamterit.

Advenissefamiliaresdicito.

Nescio quam tufamiliarises: nisi actutum hinc abis,

Familiaris, accipiere faxo haudfamiliariter

Optumo optumè optumam operamdas.

Though the Greeks and Romans considered puns an ornament to writings and discourses of all kinds, modern critics have decided that they ought to be admitted only in writings of a light nature; and that they decrease the force and beauty of grave and serious compositions, which ought to wear an air of dignified sublimity, unmixed with any thing of a trivial nature.

The lines immediately preceding the before-mentioned passages are thus altered by a French editor.VideNote 72.

Ad hæc mala hoc etiam mihi accedit; hæc Andria,Quam clam patre uxorem duxit Pamphilus, gravida ab eo est.

Ad hæc mala hoc etiam mihi accedit; hæc Andria,

Quam clam patre uxorem duxit Pamphilus, gravida ab eo est.

The original lines are,

Ad hæc mala hoc etiam mihi accedit; hæc Andria,Sine ista uxor, sine amica estgravida a Pamphilo est.

Ad hæc mala hoc etiam mihi accedit; hæc Andria,

Sine ista uxor, sine amica estgravida a Pamphilo est.

NOTE 93.Boy or girl, say they, the child shall be brought up.

In the Latin,

Quidquid peperisset decreverunt tollere.

Boy or girl, they have resolved that it shall betaken up. The wordstaken upallude to the custom which prevailed in Greece, of destroying children. This barbarous cruelty was practised on various pretences; if an infant was, at its birth, deformed in any of its members, or if it appeared extremely feeble or sickly, the laws allowed, and even enjoined, that it should be exposed: sometimes illegitimacy was considered a sufficient cause for the exposure of a child. Though the parents were generally allowed to choose whether their offspring should be destroyed or preserved; in some parts of Greece all the inhabitants were compelled to send their new-born infants to officers appointed to examine them: who, if they found them not robust and healthy, cast them immediately into deep caverns, calledἀποθέται, which were dedicated to this purpose. It was customary, in Athens, to place a new-born infant on the ground at the feet of its father, if he then took it up in his arms, it was considered that he bound himself to educate and provide for the child: hence, the expressiontollere,to take up: but, if on the contrary, he refused to acknowledge it, a person appointed for that purpose conveyed it to some desert place at a distance from the city: and there left it to perish. The Thebans are said to have been the only people in Greece, among whom this barbarous custom did not prevail: but the story of Œdipus, a prince who was exposed, though afterwards preserved, is a proof that they did not altogether abstain from this practice.

NOTE 94.To prove that she is a citizen of Athens.

Women were allowed to enjoy the privileges of Athenian citizens, and, at the building of Athens, by Cecrops, they carried a point of no less importance than the choice of a name for the new city, in opposition to the votes of the men. Varro tells us thatNeptunewished the new-built city to be called after his name, and thatAthena, orMinerva, rivalled his pretensions. The question being put by Cecrops to his people, the men all voted forNeptune, but the women voted forMinerva, and gained, by one vote, the privilege of naming the city. The women were wholly excluded from any share in the government of Athens, in later ages; though they still retained various privileges as Athenian citizens.

For a further explanation of the rights of the Athenian citizens; and for some account of the city of Athens,videNotes150,179,180,181,193,197.

NOTE 95.Once upon a time, a certain old merchant.

The title ofmerchantwe are to suppose to be added by Davus to embellish the tale. Neither Chremes nor Phania are described asmerchants. This addition is well managed by the author, as Davus, who thought the whole a fabrication, imagined he was more likely to gain credit by telling the tale that way; as a considerable traffick was carried on between Athens and the island of Andros, which was a very fertile spot.

M. Baron has translated this scene with great fidelity and beauty. Davus developes in it a plan to break off the dreaded match with Philumena, by introducing Glycera to Chremes: which incident is substituted instead of the birth of the child. There is a break in the French lines which renders them inimitably beautiful.

“De ce vieillard fougueux pour calmer la furie,Quoi! Ne pourrions nous pas résoudre GlycérieA venir à ses pieds lui demander——? Helas!Glycérie est malade, et je n’y songe pas.”Baron.

“De ce vieillard fougueux pour calmer la furie,

Quoi! Ne pourrions nous pas résoudre Glycérie

A venir à ses pieds lui demander——? Helas!

Glycérie est malade, et je n’y songe pas.”

Baron.

NOTE 96.Well, I’ll betake myself to the Forum.

A forum, both in Athens and Rome, was a large open space within the city, dedicated to various purposes. The forum was a place where the people met forpublic worship, forthe administration of justice, and to debate on thepublic affairs. In the Forum, also, were thetemples,hospitals,sanctuaries, and themarkets of all kinds: in short, it was a place of general rendezvous for men of all ranks and professions, and was, in many respects, very similar to those places of meeting we call by the nameExchange.

In Rome there were six great forums, 1. the Roman, 2. the Julian, 3. the Augustan, 4. the Palladian, 5. the Trojan, 6. the Forum of Sallust. In Athens, the principal Forum was calledἀρχαία ἀγορὰ; it was extremely spacious, and decorated with some very fine buildings, and statues of eminent persons. There were also many others, but the most considerable was calledthe Forum, by way of distinction.

NOTE 97.ActI.SceneIV.

Of all writers ancient or modern, except Seneca, Terence was the most indefatigable in endeavouring to embellish his writings with all the ornaments thatalliterationcould give them. It is not my intention to enter in this place into a discussion of the advantages, or disadvantages that verses may derive from alliteration; a subject on which critics differ as widely as they can on any other point. The practice of many first-rate writers, however, both ancient and modern, who have thought that alliteration adorned their compositions, entitles it to attention. Although eminent critics have argued against this literary ornament, that its success is but a trivial excellence, I cannot but remark that it is allowed on all sides that great labour, care, and patience, are requisite, to succeed in alliteration; which must certainly contribute to render it of some value, and afford an absolute proof of the excessive labour and deliberation with which Terence wrote his plays, every line of which was, as I may say, weighed, before he wrote it down: for no author, ancient or modern, (with the before-mentioned exception,) ever employed alliteration so frequently, nor, in my opinion, with better effect than Terence.

The following lines will afford the reader a specimen of the almost astonishing extent to which alliteration was used by some of the ancient authors, Greek and Latin.

I.From Terence.

“Audivi,Archillis, jamdudum: Lesbiamadduci jubesSane pol illatemulenta est mulier, ettemerariaNec sati dignacuicommittasprimopartis mulierem.Tamen eamadducam. Importunitatem spectateaniculæ;Quia compotrix ejus est.Dianada facultatem, obsecro,Huicpariundi, atque illi in aliuspotiuspeccandi locum.Sed, quidnam Pamphilum exanimatumvideo?vereor quid siet.Opperiar, ut sciam, numquidnam hæcturbatristitiæ adferat.Utanimumadaliquod stadiumadjungant,autequos—Alere,aut canesad venandum,autad philosophos.Inignemimposita est. Fletur.Interea hæc soror.Malamens,malus animus.Quemquidem egosisensero.Ipsumanimumægrotumad deteriorempartemplerumqueapplicat,Nec, quidagam, cerium est; Pamphilumneadjutem,anauscultem seni.Facite, fingite, invenite, efficite, qui deturtibi.Aliquot meadiere, ex teauditum quiaiebant.Quidisthuc? siitaisthuc animuminduxti esse utile,Mala ingerammulta?Atquealiquis dicat, nihil promoveris.Multum,Molestas certe ei fuero, atque animomorem gessero.Quibu’quidemquam facile poteratquiesci, si hicquiesset.Age,si hic non insanitsatissuàsponte, instiga.Ausculta.Audivi jam omnia.Anne tu omnia?Audivi inquamaprincipio.Audistin’?————-optavitparare hic divitias,Potius quam inpatria honestepaupervivere.Sati’ jamsati’Simo,spectata.Inalio occupatoamore,abhorrentiab re uxoriâ.Propeccato magnopaulum supplicii satis estpatri.Nam huncscio measolidesolum gavisurum gaudia.Solus est quem diligunt Di.Salvussumsi hæc vecasunt.”

“Audivi,Archillis, jamdudum: Lesbiamadduci jubes

Sane pol illatemulenta est mulier, ettemeraria

Nec sati dignacuicommittasprimopartis mulierem.

Tamen eamadducam. Importunitatem spectateaniculæ;

Quia compotrix ejus est.Dianada facultatem, obsecro,

Huicpariundi, atque illi in aliuspotiuspeccandi locum.

Sed, quidnam Pamphilum exanimatumvideo?vereor quid siet.

Opperiar, ut sciam, numquidnam hæcturbatristitiæ adferat.

Utanimumadaliquod stadiumadjungant,autequos—

Alere,aut canesad venandum,autad philosophos.

Inignemimposita est. Fletur.Interea hæc soror.

Malamens,malus animus.Quemquidem egosisensero.

Ipsumanimumægrotumad deteriorempartemplerumqueapplicat,

Nec, quidagam, cerium est; Pamphilumneadjutem,anauscultem seni.

Facite, fingite, invenite, efficite, qui deturtibi.

Aliquot meadiere, ex teauditum quiaiebant.

Quidisthuc? siitaisthuc animuminduxti esse utile,

Mala ingerammulta?Atquealiquis dicat, nihil promoveris.

Multum,Molestas certe ei fuero, atque animomorem gessero.

Quibu’quidemquam facile poteratquiesci, si hicquiesset.

Age,si hic non insanitsatissuàsponte, instiga.

Ausculta.Audivi jam omnia.Anne tu omnia?

Audivi inquamaprincipio.Audistin’?

————-optavitparare hic divitias,

Potius quam inpatria honestepaupervivere.

Sati’ jamsati’Simo,spectata.

Inalio occupatoamore,abhorrentiab re uxoriâ.

Propeccato magnopaulum supplicii satis estpatri.

Nam huncscio measolidesolum gavisurum gaudia.

Solus est quem diligunt Di.Salvussumsi hæc vecasunt.”

II.FromSeneca.

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