Jeffrey B. Gibson
2009-01-15 23:19:57 UTC
A friend raised the following question on another List:
*****
Is it possible to identify all the victims in Seneca, /On Anger/ 1.2.2?
/Aspice nobilissimarum civitatum fundamenta vix notabilia; has ira
deiecit. aspice solitudines per multa milia sine habitatore
desertas; has ira exhausit. aspice tot memoriae proditos duces mali
exempla fati; alium ira in cubili suo confodit, alium intra sacra
mensae iura percussit, alium intra leges celebrisque spectaculum
fori lancinavit, alium filii parricidio dare sanguinem iussit, alium
servili manu regalem aperire iugulum, alium in cruce membra diffindere./
Behold the foundations of the noblest cities which can scarcely be
noted; anger cast them down. Behold deserted solitudes [going on]
for many miles without inhabitant; anger wasted them. Behold so many
leaders who have been handed down to memory as examples of an evil
fate; anger stabbed one in his bed, struck another amidst the sacred
laws of the table, tore another to pieces amongst the laws and as a
spectacle for the crowded forum, forced another to give his blood by
the parricidal act of his son, another to have his royal throat
opened by the hand of a slave, another to have his limbs stretched
upon the cross.
It is possible that Seneca is being generic here, I suppose, but some of
the deaths seem pretty specific.
Sertorius was killed at a banquet, one of the Gracchus brothers (I
think) was killed by a slave, and Asellio was killed in the forum. (So
was Galba, but he died after Seneca.) Are these the intended referents
or not? Who suffered parricide? Who was stabbed in bed?
*****
Is anyone here able (and willing) to help with this?
Jeffrey
*****
Is it possible to identify all the victims in Seneca, /On Anger/ 1.2.2?
/Aspice nobilissimarum civitatum fundamenta vix notabilia; has ira
deiecit. aspice solitudines per multa milia sine habitatore
desertas; has ira exhausit. aspice tot memoriae proditos duces mali
exempla fati; alium ira in cubili suo confodit, alium intra sacra
mensae iura percussit, alium intra leges celebrisque spectaculum
fori lancinavit, alium filii parricidio dare sanguinem iussit, alium
servili manu regalem aperire iugulum, alium in cruce membra diffindere./
Behold the foundations of the noblest cities which can scarcely be
noted; anger cast them down. Behold deserted solitudes [going on]
for many miles without inhabitant; anger wasted them. Behold so many
leaders who have been handed down to memory as examples of an evil
fate; anger stabbed one in his bed, struck another amidst the sacred
laws of the table, tore another to pieces amongst the laws and as a
spectacle for the crowded forum, forced another to give his blood by
the parricidal act of his son, another to have his royal throat
opened by the hand of a slave, another to have his limbs stretched
upon the cross.
It is possible that Seneca is being generic here, I suppose, but some of
the deaths seem pretty specific.
Sertorius was killed at a banquet, one of the Gracchus brothers (I
think) was killed by a slave, and Asellio was killed in the forum. (So
was Galba, but he died after Seneca.) Are these the intended referents
or not? Who suffered parricide? Who was stabbed in bed?
*****
Is anyone here able (and willing) to help with this?
Jeffrey
--
Jeffrey B. Gibson, D.Phil. (Oxon)
1500 W. Pratt Blvd.
Chicago, Illinois
e-mail ***@comcast.net
Jeffrey B. Gibson, D.Phil. (Oxon)
1500 W. Pratt Blvd.
Chicago, Illinois
e-mail ***@comcast.net