Collected Fragments of Ennius
Page 3
Priscianus: In ‘nominationes,’ that is in onomatopoeias whether nouns or verbs, of unusual structure, we must not look for all the turns of inflexion... ‘taratantara.’ Ennius —
And the trumpet in terrible tones taratantara blared.
Servius on Virg., Aen., II, 486: ‘And the dwelling within.’ This passage (II, 486 ff.) is taken from the Sack of Alba.
144
The reign of Ancus Marcius. His accession:
Servius (supplemented), on ‘reddita’ in Virgl: ‘Reddita’ must, as an archaic usage, be taken to mean ‘data’... — and that day when Ancus Marcius received the kingship,
Here ‘recepit’ stands for ‘accepit.’
145
The foundation of Ostia: fortifications and other works:
Macrobius: A most happy express’ on of Virgil’s is ‘belches forth a flood,’ and archaic too, for Ennius says — and belches the river Tiber into the salt sea,
146–7
Festus: ‘Quaesere’ is put by archaic writers instead of ‘quaerere’... —
Ostia was fortified. He likewise made the channel clear for tall ships and for sailors seeking a livelihood on the sea.
148
Servius (supplemented): Some say that ‘texamus’ is the right term to use because the places in which ships are made are called in Greek ναυπήγια, in Latin ‘textrina.) Ennius —
that same plain holds a workshop for their long ships.
149
The Caelian:
Festus: Ennius seems to have made a joke... and in the second book —
the blue-dark meadows
Book III. The Reigns of Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Tarquinius Superbus; Establishment of the Republic
150
Jupiter’s omen to Priscus on his way to Rome:
Nonius: ‘Laevum.’ The old critics believe this word to take its meaning as it were from ‘levare.’... Ennius in the third book of Annals —
The All-glorious sent down one day from the sky a favourable sign.
151–2
The omen:
Probus, on ‘anima’ in Virgil: ‘Air’ is here taken, by inductive reasoning, to mean ‘winds’; in proof of this we have taken an example of Ennius from the third book of the Annals —
and there came flying on thick-set wings an eagle, battling with the breeze which the Greek nation calls in its tongue ‘aer’
153
Taqnaquil(?) accepts the omen as favourable:
A scholiast; ‘Laeva,’ prosperous... as Ennius says —
on the left hand and duly taken as good.
154
The death of Ancus Marcius:
Festus: ‘Sos’... now and then writers put it for suos... Ennius —
After good Ancus quitted the light with his eyes,
aquila
trib. lib. III St.
155
Tarquinius Priscus is made King:
Festus: ‘Solum,’ earth. Ennius in the third book — gave to Tarquin both sway and soil of the kingdom.
156
War of Priscus with the Latins (or Etruscans?):
Festus: ‘Sos’ for ‘eos.’... E. in the third book —
The clans of might and wealth which are around them.
157
Tanaquil decks dead Priscus:
Servius, on ‘And they wash and anoint his body in the chill of death’ in Virgil: a line from Ennius, who says —
The good woman washed and anointed Tarquin.
158
The funeral of Priscus:
Festus: ‘Prodinunt,’ the same as ‘prodeunt’... —
The thralls moved on: then beamed bright lights.
159
The reign of Servius Tullius; wars with Etruria. Speech of an Etruscan (?) general before battle?:
Macrobius: We must notice that he used even ‘qua noctu.’ And this he put in the seventh book of the Annals, in the third book of which he wrote the same sort of thing more clearly —
‘On this night all Etruria’s fate will hang by a thread.
160–61
A battle in Servius’ Etruscan wars:
Macrobius: ‘The unruly husbandmen engage with javelins on all sides.’ Ennius in the third book —
After they were tired out from standing and spattering each other with loop-handled lances, they engaged with javelins on all sides.
162
Tarquinius Superbus. Lucretia outraged:
Macrobius: (Atlas) ‘whirls on his shoulder the sky dotted with blazing stars’... —
She looked up at the sky dotted with shining stars.
163
Lucretia prepares for death:
Gellius: We used to investigate the question whether ‘superesse’ in the archaic writers was a term used for ‘remain and be lacking for the completion of a thing’... we find in the third book of Ennius’ Annals this line —
Then she says that for herself one labour still waits over:
‘superesse,’ ’is left’ and ‘remains’ undone; this being the meaning, it must be spoken as two words.
stare et V stando Pontanus stantes Scriver. stant et cdd.
prospexit Macrob. suspexit V
Book IV. The Early Republic, probably to the Gallic Invasion of 390 or 387 BC
164
The siege of Anxur by the Romans:
Macrobius: ‘They strain with all their might and main’ (Virgil). Ennius in the fourth book —
The Romans on their ladders strain with all their might and main
165
Anxur is stormed, 406 b. c.:
Paulus: The town which is now spoken of as Tarracina, belonging to the Volscian tribe, used to be called Anxur, as Ennius’ words show —
The wretched Volscians lost Anxur.
166
Eclipse of the sun, 21st of June, 400 BC:
Cicero, on the true cause of solar eclipses:
In later times this did not escape the notice even of our Ennius, who writes that, about three hundred and fifty years after the foundation of Rome —
On June’s fifth day the moon blocked out the sun in darkness.
Book V. Samnite Wars and the Rise of Pyrrhus, to BC 295
167
A single combat; Manlius and a Gaul?:
Festus: ‘Occasus.’... E. used it for ‘occasio’... in the fifth book —
Vexation drives him on, the chance holds him to it, the fact helps him.
168
Defence of Fregellae against the Romans?:
Nonius: ‘Ansatae,’ missiles with loop-handles... —
They send down loop-handled lances from the towers.
169
Appeal of women at Fregellae at its capture, 313 BC:
Priscianus: ‘Misereo’... was used by the oldest writers... —
They caused even the enemy to have pity on them shedding tears.
170
A battle between the Romans and the Samnites?:
Aero: At one time the Romans fought with Samnite enemies until nightfall; whence Ennius also says —
The dead of night wrested from them a drawn battle.
171
The River Liris at Interamna Lirenas, where the fields were laid waste in 294 BC:
Macrobius: It is not inelegant to put ‘agmen’ in the sense of a certain ‘actus’ and ‘ductus’; for example, ‘Thybris flows with gentle train.’ Indeed it is also an antique usage; for Ennius in the fifth book says —
because the river flows with gentle train through the pleasant town.
172
Rise of Pyrrhus:
Nonius: ‘Stirps’... Ennius has it in the masculine in the fifth book of the Annals —
by name Burrus, a man they say of highest stock.
VI and VII
Book VI. The War with Pyrrhus, 281–271 BC
NOTE ON BOOKS VI AND VII
There can be no doubt that Ennius did not include the First Punic War in
the detailed narrative of his Annals; the statement of Cicero (see pp. 82–83) is explicit, and it is unreasonable to believe that we know better than he did. He tells us that Ennius did not desire to rival Naevius, who had already written a poem about this war (see Remains of Old Latin, Vol. II); it is further probable (see St., pp. 163–4) that Ennius had before him other poems covering the same ground. It is quite possible that in Book VII Ennius gave a mere sketch, or enumerated only the chief events of this war; but I have no hesitation in following Miss Steuart in her refusal to attribute to it a number of fragments on which she offers attractive suggestions (St., pp. 149 ff.). Cf. also Norden, Enn. u. Verg., 63 ff., 143 ff., 170. For the old view, which goes back to Merula, see V., CLXXIX ff.; Müller. Q. Enn., 166 and C. Q. XIII, 113 ff.; Skutsch, Pauly, s.v. Ennius, 2607, etc.
On the other hand, I cannot believe that Ennius allowed his history of Pyrrhus to extend into the seventh book so that at the beginning of that book it was interrupted by three things: (i) the elaborate prologue to the book; (ii) an account of the origin of Carthage; (iii) an apology for not describing the First Punic War. I suggest that the war with Pyrrhus was contained wholly in Book VI, which was thus devoted to a man whom Ennius, it is clear, admired; and that Book VII, after a prologue and an apology, sketched the origins of Carthage, brushed aside, as it were, the First Punic War with a short outline, and narrated the winning of Sardinia and Corsica by Rome, her reduction of the piratic Illyrians to submission (here we may put some of the disputed fragments), and the conquest of Cisalpine Gaul. It is possible that the achievements of Hamilcar, Hasdrubal, and Hannibal in Spain were also sketched. Thus Book VIII began with the outbreak of the Second Punic War and carried events down to the departure of Scipio Africanus for Africa in 204 BC This left Ennius free to devote all Book IX to the crowning achievement of his friend Scipio.
173
Prologue:
Servius, on ‘Unroll ye this great war from end to end,’ in Virgil: that is... Tell ye not only the beginnings, but also the conclusions of these wars; for by ‘orae’ is meant ‘extremities.’ An augmenter of Servius adds: It is further an expression of Ennius —
Who can unroll this great war from end to end?
174–6
Pyrrhus receives an oracle of Apollo:
Cicero: Why should I take Herodotus to be more truthful than Ennius? Surely he was quite as capable of inventing stories about Croesus as Ennius was about Pyrrhus. For who is there who could believe that Apollo’s oracle gave this answer to Pyrrhus? —
‘I say that you, O man sprung from Aeacus, The Romans can defeat.’
In the first place, Latin is a tongue in which Apollo never spoke; again, that particular reply is not known among the Greeks; and, moreover, in the time of Pyrrhus Apollo had already ceased to make verses; and lastly, although it has always held good, as we find in Ennius, that— ‘That tribe of blockheads, stock of Aeacus Are war-strong more than wisdom-strong’;
still, Pyrrhus would have had the sense to see that the double meaning of the line ‘you the Romans... defeat’ applied equally to himself and to the Romans.
177
Pyrrhus’ stormy crossing to Italy; his ship:
Valla: ‘Stlataria.’ Probus expounds: ‘alluring:’ Ennius —
and a better ship than such as carries foreign fripperies.
178
Pyrrhus was at first welcomed in Tarentum, 281 BC:
Festus: ‘Navus,’ swift and active.... E. in the sixth book —
A man of deeds was found, a Greek son of a Greek father, a king.
179
but he shewed himself a stern master:
Festus: ‘Summussi’ is a term which was applied to murmurers.... Ennius in the sixth book... —
Within (the people?) grumbled in secret.
180
A sudden raid near Tarentum by Lucius Aemilius Barbula?:
Macrobius, quoting Virgil: ‘Through the dust the horsemen raged; all cried for weapons.’... —
He harried the bleating sheep; all cried for weapons.
181–5
Preparations for burning the dead after the battle of Heraclea, 280 BC:
Macrobius, quoting Virgil:
They went into an old forest, deep dens of the wild; forward fell pitch-pines, clattered holms under hatchet-blows, clattered beams of ash-trees against wedges; splitting oakwood too they cleft, and rolled along lofty rowans of the mountains.
Ennius in the sixth book —
Then strode they through tall timber-trees and hewed With hatchets; mighty oaks they overset; Down crashed the holm and shivered ash outhacked; Felled was the lofty fir; they wrenched right down Tall towering pines; and every woody tree In frondent forest rang and roared and rustled.
Homer has:
And they went holding in their hands hatchets for cutting wood, and ropes well twisted, while mules walked on in front of them. And oft strode they uphill and downhill and sideways and crossing. But when they came nigh unto the shoulders of Ida which is full of fountains, then straightway they hewed leafy-topped oaks, pressing on with the long edge of bronze; and the trees crashing mightily fell; whereon these the Achaeans split up and hung from the mules, and these tore up the ground with their feet through thick underwood, eager for the plain.
186–93
Pyrrhus replies to Fabricius, who came to ransom prisoners taken at Heraclea:
Cicero: And of Pyrrhus too there is that illustrious speech on the restoration of prisoners —
‘Gold for myself I ask not; no, to me ye shall not pay a price. Not chaffering war but waging war,
not with gold but with iron — thus let us of both sides make trial for our lives. To see what Mistress Chance may bring, whether it be you or I she wishes to be king — let it be by bravery that we make the test. And withal hear this word of mine: of those warriors to whose bravery war’s fortune has been kind, to the freedom of those same have I too planned to be kind. I give them to you, take them home — and with them I give you the blessing of the great gods.’
194–5
Fruitless embassy of Cineas to Rome. Appius Claudius Caecus protests against any acceptance of Cineas’ offers (cf. B. Luiselli,in Annali d. Facolta di lettere. Cagliari Univ. XXVIII. 1960):
Cicero: To Appius Claudius’ old age was added the infirmity of blindness; nevertheless, when the opinion of the Senate was inclined towards peace and alliance with Pyrrhus he did not hesitate to utter those famous thoughts which Ennius set forth in poetry —
‘Whither on your road have senseless turned your senses which hitherto were wont to stand upright?
196
Donatus on ‘in animo parare’ in Terence: the addition of ‘animo’ is graceful. Ennius in the sixth book —
‘But wherefore do I grieve now in my heart?
197
Cineas reports to Pyrrhus his failure at Rome:
Varro: In a passage of Ennius —
The spokesman came back without a peace, and brought the news to the king, ‘spokesman’ is a term derived from speech.
libertati me L m.l. cdd.
viai Lambinus via cdd.
198–9
The courage of the Romans?:
A scholiast, on ‘Here the conqueror towering in pride of soul’ in Virgil: Ennius in the sixth book —
‘Or they mount high in pride, and the rough beginnings... of war they spurn.
200–2
The battle of Ausculum, 279 BC Deems Mus devotes himself to the ‘di manes’:
Nonius: ‘Prognariter,’ actively, valiantly and steadfastly. (Non. is wrong. O. Skutsch, C.Q., Nov. 1960, 190, 193 ff.)... —
‘Ye gods, hear this my prayer a little while: just as from my body I breathe my last for the Roman people’s sake, with foreknowledge and awareness, in arms and in battle,
203
Pyrrhus’ mahouts cut the traces of the Roman chariot-horses in the battle of Ausculum?:
Festus: ‘Scitae’ is a term applied by poets s
ometimes to women of good looks, sometimes to women who are of good accomplishments.... Ennius in the sixth (?) book —
The skilled driver...... the beasts.
204
Operations of Pyrrhus against the Carthaginians in Sicily, 277–276 BC:
Macrobius, quoting Virgil: ‘The four-footed beat of the hoofs shook the crumbling plain.’ Ennius in the sixth book —
The Numidians went scouting; their hoofs shook the whole ground.
205
The battle of Beneventum, 275 BC; Pyrrhus moves to attack the Roman camp by night?;
Macrobius, quoting Virgil: ‘Meanwhile round rolls the sky and night sets in from the Ocean.’ Ennius in the sixth book —
Meanwhile the sky rolls round with its vast constellations.
206
[and dawn reveals his approach:
Achilles Statius: ‘He scanned the white ether’... Ennius on the sun... in the sixth book... —
When for the first time darkness was cast away and the day was whitening, ]