Ecce Romani III Fabulae

Chapter 66: Background Information

Culture/History: A return to everyday life as seen in one of the great comic masterpieces in Latin Literature - Burial Customs, continued

Grammar: iussive and hortatory subjunctives (Let's go, May you have peace etc.) and a review of commands.

The Readings

The Satryicon - a book of satiric matters was originally about 2/3 the length of War and Peace with as many as 400,000 words. It is a mixture of a novel, satire and comedy with an occasional lyric poem tossed in.

The story details the adventure of a disreputable pair, Encolpius and Giton as they travel in Italy and what is today the south of France. Only fragments of this work exist today.

The story is that the two meet an impoverished teacher of rhetoric, named Agamemnon, who arranges that the three be invited to the home of a nouveau-riche former freedman, named Trimalchio. The account of the dinner paints a humorous image of the affair.

You begin with a translation of what happened when the protagonists arrive an the home of the wealthy man and then progress to the Latin passage.

Philosophy

In the passage which precedes that of Reading A in the text, Trimalchio has invited his slaves to share the dining couches with his guests in order to demonstrate his adoption of the popular philosophy of the time, stoicism. There is a link from the Web site Mores, Religion and Philosophy section of Latin 3 which gives more details about stoicism.

As you read the Latin passages, you will recognize that Trimalchio is certainly no stoic. Neither was the author Petronius. It is thought that he wrote this satire in response to the Epistulae Morales #47 of the Stoic philosopher and tutor of Nero, Seneca, or he may be merely responding to some popular misconceptions of this philosophy.

F. Scott Fitzgerald used this tale as a model for his novel, The Great Gatsby. If this story is not one you have read, you might want to rent the video of the movie after reading these selections and draw your own conclusions.

A second point that is made in the story is that often one longs to be regarded as having skills or talents that are more longings than reality. Trimalchio is obviously trying to demonstrate knowledge of history,literature etc. that he doesn't have. Consider here how one very nice piece of art can be better appreciated in itself than vying for recognition with three of four others. Trimalchio feels that he must provide for his guests every elaborate dish possible.

Moliere uses much the same idea in the Bourgeoise Gentilhomme. I believe that there is a contemporary movie based on this play but cannot recall the name. Let me know if you are aware of it.

Consider as you read not just the character flaws but any other aspects that you see demonstrated in the text.

Reading Notes

Passage A

Review the image on p. 135 after reading the description of Trimalchio's tomb in the passage. This one shares with the thoughts of Trimalchio, the inclusion of every funerary convention, an ostentatious display of wealth (crane v. shops) and references to family life. Haterius' elaborate tomb is in the shape of a heroona memorial chapel for a deified person.

  1. lactem - line 1 -- grammatical mistake to show he grew up speaking Greek; also refers to the fact that slave women acted as wet-nurses for both slave children and the children of the 'well-born'.
  2. non sequatur- line 14 -- should read 'ne' as a iussive subjunctive; recall here the placement of tombs outside the city as seen in Ostia, Pompeii and Via Appia.

Passage B

  1. ne sedentem- lines 15-16 -- The office of Sevir Augustalis, one of the 6 priests in charge of the imperial cult, was normally filled by freedmen. Recall emperor worship mentioned in previous chapters.
  2. binos denarious-line 17 -- It was the custom for the wealthy to give free meals and sometime case handouts.
  3. faciatur - line 17 -- iussive subjunctive
  4. facias, ponas - lines 18-19 -- This can be with rogo to indirect command OR parallel the iussives to faciatur.
  5. Consider the thoughts in line 26. What are your ideas?

Passage C

  1. putares - line 8 -- potential subjunctive- relating to unreal conditions.
  2. nihil facti - line 10 -- facti is a partitive genitive

Passage D

  1. libertos - line 19 -- Consider the role of freedmen during the Empire.
  2. mathematicus - line 20 -- Many Romans believed in astrology and magic.
  3. hanc domum - line 24 -- Consider Roman housing types. what gender is 'domum'?

J. Jahnige, September 2003

Fabulae ^



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