Minor Latin Poets, Volume I: Publilius Syrus. Elegies on Maecenas. Grattius. Calpurnius Siculus. Laus Pisonis. Einsiedeln Eclogues. Aetna

by Publilius Syrus, Arnold M. Duff (Translator), Aetna

This is the first volume of an anthology of Latin poetry. The two-volume anthology covers a period of four and a half centuries, beginning with the work of the mime-writer Publilius Syrus, who flourished ca. 45 BCE, and ending with the graphic and charming poem of Rutilius Namatianus recording a sea voyage from Rome to Gaul in 416 CE. A wide variety of theme gives interest to the poems: hunting in a poem of Grattius; an inquiry into the causes of volcanic activity by the author of "Aetna"; pastoral poems by Calpurnius Siculus and by Nemesianus; fables by Avianus; a collection of "Dicta," moral sayings, as if by the elder Cato; eulogy in "Laus Pisonis"; and the legend of the "Phoenix," a poem of the fourth century. Other poets complete the edition.

Genres: Poetry, Philosophy, Classics

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1934

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Publilius Syrus alone is worth the price.* He is probably, with Ovid, a Shakspearean source--for one-liners!
One of my favorites: Plures amicos mensa quam mens concipit. "His dinner-table made more friends than his mind."(#549)
Of course, the Latin plays, puns on "mens" and "mensa," table and mind. How do this in English? His table made more friends than his tabula rasa. (?)
"Non novit virtus calamitati cedere": Strength does not yield to calamity: "When the going get tough, the tough get going" (#447)
"Nusquam facilius culpa quam in turba latent": Crime's easy to hide in a crowd. (#480)
"Viri boni est nescire facere iniuriam" A good man doesn't even know how to avenge. (#721)

* I read in the 1978 edition, one volume which includes Cato's couplets, "Catonis Disticha" like I.iv::
"Sperne repugnando tibi tu contrarius esse: Avoid inconsistencies [cf President Trumpster]
Conveniet nulli qui secum dissidet ipse" No-one can agree with anyone who fights with himself. (p.596)

Do not enjoy the man with blandishments;
"fistula dulce canit, volucrem dum decipit auceps" Bird-hunters call sweetly to delude their prey. I.xxviii.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Calpurnius Siculus & the Carmina Einsidlensia - loved them, but feel like they've been misinterpreted quite a bit