LIFE OF TERENCE,

THELIFE OF TERENCE,Translated from the LatinOFCAIUS SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS[1].

THE

Translated from the LatinOFCAIUS SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS[1].

Publius Terentius[2], born at Carthage, in Africa, was slave to Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator: who, justly appreciating his great abilities, gave him not only a polite education, but also his liberty in the earlier part of his life. He is supposed by some to have been made a prisoner of war: but Fenestella[3]refutes this opinion; as[4]Terence was born after the conclusion of the second Punic war, and died before the commencement of the third: neither, if he had been made a captive by the[5]Numidians, or Getulians, could he have fallen into the hands of the Romans, as there was no commerce between the Italians and Africans, before the destruction of Carthage.

Terence lived in the closest intimacy with many of the Roman nobility, but particularly with Scipio Africanus[6]and Caius Lælius[7], who were about his own age[8], though Fenestella makes Terence rather older than either of them. Portius[9]commemorates their friendship in the following verses:

Dum lasciviam nobilium; et fucosas laudes petit:Dum Africani vocem divinam inhiat avidis auribus:Dum ad Furium se cœnitare et Lælium pulchrum putat:Dum se amari ab hisce credit, crebro in Albanum rapiOb florem ætatis suæ, ipsus sublatis rebus ad summamInopiam redactus est.Itaque e conspectu omnium abiit in Græciam in terram ultimam.Mortuus est in Stymphalo Arcadiæ oppido: nihil PubliusScipio profuit, nihil ei Lælius, nihil Furius;Tres per idem tempus qui agitabant nobiles facillime,Eorum ille opera ne domum quidem habuit conductitiam,Saltem ut esset, quo referret obitum domini servulus.

Dum lasciviam nobilium; et fucosas laudes petit:

Dum Africani vocem divinam inhiat avidis auribus:

Dum ad Furium se cœnitare et Lælium pulchrum putat:

Dum se amari ab hisce credit, crebro in Albanum rapi

Ob florem ætatis suæ, ipsus sublatis rebus ad summam

Inopiam redactus est.

Itaque e conspectu omnium abiit in Græciam in terram ultimam.

Mortuus est in Stymphalo Arcadiæ oppido: nihil Publius

Scipio profuit, nihil ei Lælius, nihil Furius;

Tres per idem tempus qui agitabant nobiles facillime,

Eorum ille opera ne domum quidem habuit conductitiam,

Saltem ut esset, quo referret obitum domini servulus.

“While Terence joins in the pleasures of the nobles, and seeks their empty praise; while he listens with delight to the divine voice of Africanus; and thinks himself most happy to sup with Lælius and with Furius[10]; while he believes them to be his true friends; while he is frequently carried to the[11]Albanian villa; his property is spent, and he himself reduced to the greatest poverty: on which account he goes, avoiding all mankind, to the most distant parts of Greece, and dies at Stymphalus[12], a town in Arcadia: his three great friends Scipio, Lælius, and Furius, give him no assistance; nor even enable him to hire a house; that there might, at least, be a place where his slave might announce to Rome his master’s death.”

He wrote six comedies: when the first of them, the Andrian, was presented to the Ædiles[13]; he was desired to read it to Cærius[14]; he accordingly repaired to his house, and found him at supper; and, being meanly dressed, was seated on a stool near the couch of Cærius[15], where he commenced the reading of his play; but Cærius had no sooner heard the first few lines than he invited the poet to sup with him; after which, the play was read, to the great admiration of Cærius, who betowed on the author the most unbounded applause. The other five comedies met with equal commendation from the Romans, though Volcatius[16], in his enumeration of them, says,

Sumetur Hecyra sexta ex his fabula.

The Step-mother is reckoned the last of the six.

The Eunuch was acted twice in one day[17]; and the author received for it a higher price than was ever paid for any comedy before that time,viz., eight thousand sesterces[18]: on account of the magnitude of the sum, it is mentioned in the title of that play. Varro[19]even prefers the opening scenes of the Brothers of Terence to the same part in Menander. The report that Terence was indebted to Scipio and Lælius, with whom he was so intimate, for parts of his comedies, is well known; and he himself scarcely seems to have discouraged the assertion, as he never seriously denies it: witness the Prologue to the Brothers:

Nam quod isti dicunt malevoli, homines nobilesEum adjutare, assidueque una scribere:Quod illi maledictum vehemens existimant,Eam laudem hic ducit maximam, cum illis placetQui vobis universis, et populo placent:Quorum opera in bello, in otio, in negotioSuo quisque tempore usus est sine superbia.

Nam quod isti dicunt malevoli, homines nobiles

Eum adjutare, assidueque una scribere:

Quod illi maledictum vehemens existimant,

Eam laudem hic ducit maximam, cum illis placet

Qui vobis universis, et populo placent:

Quorum opera in bello, in otio, in negotio

Suo quisque tempore usus est sine superbia.

“And as for what those malicious railers say[20], who assert that certain noble persons assist the poet, and very frequently write with him, what they think a reproach, he considers as the highest praise; that he should be thought to please those who please you, and all Rome; those who have assisted every one in war, and peace, and even in their private affairs, with the greatest services; and yet have been always free from arrogance.” It is likely, that he might wish, in some measure, to encourage this idea, because he knew that it would not be displeasing to Scipio and Lælius: however, the opinion has gained ground, and is strongly entertained even to the present day. Quintus Memmius[21], in an oration in his own defence, says,

Publius Africanus, qui a Terentio personam mutuatus, quæ domi luserat ipse, nomine illius in scenamdetulit.——“Publius Africanus, who borrowed the name of Terence for those plays which he composed at home for hisdiversion.——”

Publius Africanus, qui a Terentio personam mutuatus, quæ domi luserat ipse, nomine illius in scenamdetulit.——

“Publius Africanus, who borrowed the name of Terence for those plays which he composed at home for hisdiversion.——”

Cornelius Nepos[22]asserts, that he has it from the very first authority, that Caius Lælius being at his country-house at[23]Puteoli, on the first of March[24], and being called to supper by his wife at an earlier hour than usual, requested that he might not be interrupted; and afterwards coming to table very late, he declared that he had scarcely ever succeeded better in composition than at that time; and, being asked to repeat the verses, he read the following from the Self-tormentor, Act IV, SceneIII.

Satis pol proterve me Syri promissa huc induxeruntDecem minas quas mihi dare pollicitus est, quod si is nunc meDeceperit, sæpe obsecrans me, ut veniam, frustra veniet:Aut, cum venturam dixero, et constituero, cum is certeRenunciârit; Clitiphon cum in spe pendebit animiDecipiam, ac non veniam; Syrus mihi tergo pænas pendet.

Satis pol proterve me Syri promissa huc induxerunt

Decem minas quas mihi dare pollicitus est, quod si is nunc me

Deceperit, sæpe obsecrans me, ut veniam, frustra veniet:

Aut, cum venturam dixero, et constituero, cum is certe

Renunciârit; Clitiphon cum in spe pendebit animi

Decipiam, ac non veniam; Syrus mihi tergo pænas pendet.

“Truly this Syrus has coaxed me hither, impertinently enough, with his fine promises that I should receive ten minæ; but, if he deceives me this time, ’twill be to no purpose to ask me to come again; or, if I promise, and appoint to come, I’ll take good care to disappoint him. Clitipho, who will be full of eager hope to see me, will I deceive, and will not come; and Syrus’ back shall pay the penalty.”

Santra[25]thinks, that if Terence had required any assistance in his comedies; he would not have requested it from Scipio and Lælius, who were then extremely young[26]; but from[27]Caius Sulpicius Gallus, a man of great learning, who also was the first person who procured[28]the representation of comedies at the consular games or from[29]Quintus Fabius Labeo; or from[30]Marcus Popilius Lænas, two eminent poets, and persons[31]of consular dignity: and Terence himself, speaking of those who were reported to have assisted him, does not mention them as young men, but as persons of weight and experience, who had served the Romans in peace, in war, and in private business.

After the publication of his six comedies, he quitted Rome, in the thirty-fifth year of his age, and returned no more. Some suppose that he undertook this journey with a view to silence the reports of his receiving assistance from others in the composition of his plays: others, that he went with a design to inform himself more perfectly of the manners and customs of Greece.

Volcatius speaks of his death as follows:

Sed ut Afer sex populo edidit comœdiasIter hinc in Asiam fecit: navim cum semelConscendit, visus nunquam est. Sic vita vacat.

Sed ut Afer sex populo edidit comœdias

Iter hinc in Asiam fecit: navim cum semel

Conscendit, visus nunquam est. Sic vita vacat.

“Terence, after having written six comedies, embarked for Asia, and was seen no more. He perished at sea.”

Quintus Consentius[32]writes, that he died at sea, as he was returning from Greece, with one hundred and eight plays, translated from Menander[33]. Other writers affirm, that he died at Stymphalus, a town in Arcadia, or in Leucadia[34], in the consulate of[35]Cneus Cornelius Dolabella and Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, and that his end was hastened by extreme grief for the loss of the comedies which he had translated, and some others which he had composed himself, and sent before him in a vessel which was afterwards wrecked.

He is said to have been of a middle stature, well-shaped, and of a dark complexion. He left one daughter, who was afterwards married to[36]a Roman knight, and bequeathed to her a garden of[37]XX jugera, near the Appian Way, and close to the[38]Villa Martis: it is therefore surprising that Portius should write thus:

——nihil PubliusScipio profuit, nihil ei Lælius, nihil Furius:Tres per idem tempus qui agitabant nobiles facillime,Eorum ille opera ne domum quidem habuit conductitiam:Saltem ut esset, quo referret obitum domini servulus.

——nihil Publius

Scipio profuit, nihil ei Lælius, nihil Furius:

Tres per idem tempus qui agitabant nobiles facillime,

Eorum ille opera ne domum quidem habuit conductitiam:

Saltem ut esset, quo referret obitum domini servulus.

“His three great friends, Scipio, Lælius, and Furius, give him no assistance, nor even enable him to hire a house, that there might at least be a place where his slave might announce to Rome his master’s death.”

Afranius[39]prefers Terence to all the comic poets, saying, in his Compitalia[40].

Terentio non similem dices quempiam.“Terence is without an equal.”

But Volcatius places him not only after[41]Nævius,[42]Plautus, and[43]Cæcilius, but even after[44]Licinius.[45]Cicero, in hisΛΕΙΜΩΝ, writes of Terence thus,

Tu quoque qui solus lecto sermone, Terenti,Conversum, expressumque Latina voce MenandrumIn medio populi sedatis vocibus effers,Quicquid come loquens, ac omnia dulcia dicens.

Tu quoque qui solus lecto sermone, Terenti,

Conversum, expressumque Latina voce Menandrum

In medio populi sedatis vocibus effers,

Quicquid come loquens, ac omnia dulcia dicens.

“And thou, also, O Terence, whose pure style alone could make Menander speak the Latin tongue, thou, with the sweetest harmony and grace, hast given him to Rome.”

Also Caius Julius Cæsar[46],

Tu quoque tu in Summis, O dimidiate Menander,Poneris et merito, puri sermonis amator,Lenibus atque utinam scriptis adjuncta foret visComica ut æquato virtus polleret honore,Cum Græcis neque in hac despectus parte jaceres,Unum hoc maceror, et doleo tibi deesse Terenti.

Tu quoque tu in Summis, O dimidiate Menander,

Poneris et merito, puri sermonis amator,

Lenibus atque utinam scriptis adjuncta foret vis

Comica ut æquato virtus polleret honore,

Cum Græcis neque in hac despectus parte jaceres,

Unum hoc maceror, et doleo tibi deesse Terenti.

“And thou, also, O thou half Menander, art justly placed among the most divine poets, for the purity of thy style. O would that humour had kept pace with ease in all thy writings; then thou wouldest not have been compelled to yield even to the Greeks; nor could a single defect have been objected to thee. But, as it is, thou hast this great defect, and this, O Terence, I lament.”

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