Roman History Books and More

another online translation of horace

Update:  Robert found the same translation at Wikisource: The Works of Horace, translated by By C. Smart. No date given though either, but looks like it's this Christopher Smart (1722 - 1771).  (Works by Christopher Smart).

• First Book of Satires
• Second Book of Satires

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At Authorama: 

Horace: The Works of Horace  (no translator name given)

• The First Book of the Satires of Horace
• The Second Book of the Satires of Horace

reading horace satires (ctd.)

Now here is a true satire!

Book II Satire V – Legacy Hunting

BkIISatV:1-22 Ulysses questions Tiresias. 4

BkIISatV:23-44 The path to riches. 4

BkIISatV:45-69 Will-hunting!5

BkIISatV:70-88 Try every trick, but be careful!6

BkIISatV:89-110 Be discrete even after inheriting

reading horace satires (ctd.)

Comparing Horace with Juvenal, I perceive Horace' Satires much less over the top, which when he describes scenes, gives us moderns a pretty good first hand impression of life in the Rome of his times.  A good example, I think, is Satire 1, V – Journey to Brundisium:

BkISatV:1-33 Off to meet Maecenas, going to Brindisi4

BkISatV:34-70 Onward to supper at Cocceius’ villa. 4

BkISatV:71-104 And so by stages to journey’s end

Of course, one has to chuckle quite a bit over Satire 2, VIII – A Dinner Party:

BkIISatVIII:1-19 Nasidienus’ dinner-party. 4

BkIISatVIII:20-41 The guests. 4

BkIISatVIII:42-78 The trials of being a host5

BkIISatVIII:79-95 The guests disperse!

Texts from A.S. Kline (Poetry in Translation)

reading horace satires …

… sitting outside on a nice summer day, with some iced tea by my side, reading Horace.  But a bit unhappy, as most translations of the Satires don't read well … Going back to A.S. Kline (Poetry in Translation) online, still the best (it also has the advantage of a linked glossary).  Somewhere I read that Horace is most difficult to translate.

Anyway, here is what Horace has to say about satire:

gaius maecenas, patron of the arts

Gaius Maecenas, friend and counselor of Augustus (until he fell from grace) was an important friend of Horace, whose Satires we will be discussing next week.  N.S. Gill has more: 

Who Was Maecenas

Definition: A wealthy descendant of Etruscan kings, Gaius Maecenas was a Roman literary patron and writer whose works have not survived except as titles and in fragments.  He was born April 13, c. 70 B.C.

The equestrian Maecenas was an advisor and friend of Augustus. Maecenas as well as Agrippa fought for Augustus during the civil wars;  Agrippa the more so since Maecenas was often in Rome where he served as magistrate. Maecenas is mentioned as having fought at Mutina, Philippi and Perusia, according to Propertius, in the 1911 Encyclopedia.

The name and patronage of Maecenas is associated with Vergil, Horace, Propertius, and Varius.  read on

Here is a typical 19th century Schinken, At Maecenas' Reception by Stepan Bakalovich:

Image Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
click on image to enlarge

musica romana

The Ensemble Musica Romana

…is bringing sounds of times long past to life again. By research of ancient music and reconstruction of ancient instruments they successfully revive archaic sounds and forgotten melodies.

The group Musica Romana was founded in 2001 and unites archaeologists, historians,ethnologist, musicians and interested technicians sharing an interest in Experimental Archaeology, Living History, museal paedagogics and of course, music and dance. We are having a lot of fun researching, planning and reconstructing our instruments correctly in detail, as well as studying, composing and rehearsing our music. We aim to make the music of times long gone comprehensible to our modern audience, to express our love for unconventional and non-commercial music and to respect scientific correctness towards the ancient sources of musical theory as well as towards contemporary research.

German site

Hat tip: Caroline Lawrence

gaius lucilius, writer of satires, and his influence on horace

Gaius Lucilius (Wikipedia, handle with care), c.160–103/2 BC, is considered the earliest Roman satirist.  (Other sites give his dates a c.180–102.)  Only fragments of his work remain.  He was a Roman citizen of the equestrian class and belonged to the circle of Scipio Aemilianus.  Horace was influenced by him, and Lucilius appears in several of the latter's satires:

BkISatIV:1-25 Horace praises and also criticises him.
BkISatIV:26-62 An example of a great Satirist.
BkISatX:1-30 Horace’s criticism of his style.
BkISatX:50-71 Lucilius’ own criticism of others.
BkIISatI:1-23 He wrote about Scipio Africanus.
BkIISatI:24-46 Horace considers Lucilius a better man than himself.
BkIISatI:47-86 Lucilius’ satires were tolerated.

Jacques Perret in his Horace points out similarities, such as being part of a circle around the patron:  Aemilianus/Maecenas, the independence of being an equestrian, chroniclers of little groups, etc.  He writes, "[Horace found], in Lucilius, the assurance that one could build a literary work around one's own person.  Perhaps no Greek author would have have encouraged him in that direction."

reading about horace

From what I can see, biographies of Horace do not abound – information to the contrary is greatly appreciated – but I found one at a library today when I searched for a print edition of the works of Horace:

Jacques Perret: Horace
with a foreword by Jotham Johnson
translated by Bertha Humez
New York University Press, 1964

AbeBooks.com has a number of inexpensive copies.

A glance through the book indicates that it is very readable.  Perret, a professor of Latin at the Sorbonne, has written about Vergil too.   JSTOR has several reviews indicating that the book is written for a general audience, i.e., us; three out of four reviews are favorable, with some reservations which probably would pass by the general reader.

polyaenus: strategemata, 'on strategems'

When reading Adrienne Mayor's Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological & Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World,  December 2008 paperback edition – a fascinating, gruesome read – I found a very different take from the usual on Caesar and the pirates, and it comes from Polyaenus who wrote Strategemata,

… which was presented to Lucius Verus on the occasion of his war against the Parthian Empire.  According to the author himself, the dedicatees did indeed read the books, and there is some evidence that Marcus Aurelius had the Strategemata with him during his Marcomannic war.

Polyaenus is interested in the technique of war, not in history for its own sake. Therefore, he often carelessly confuses the names of the generals. Yet, there is some structure.

(Polyaenus: Greek-Roman author (second century CE) of a collection of stratagems at livius.org)

another upcoming release: death at pompeia' s wedding by rosemary rowe

Book 10 of the Libertus mysteries by Rosemary Rowe, Death at Pompeia's Wedding, is scheduled to be released August 1 in the U.S.

Product Description
This is the tenth book in the "Libertus Mystery of Roman Britain" series. Libertus attends a society wedding as his patron's representative, but before the ceremony can begin the father of the bride is discovered dead – poisoned – after testing the wedding wine. Pompeia, the bride, hysterically declares that she has caused the death, but Libertus believes otherwise, and is retained by the potential bridegroom (who needs the substantial dowry) to prove her innocent. His investigations uncover hidden tensions in the house and when another guest, Antoninus, is discovered a little later murdered at his home, moments before Libertus was due to call on him, events take a different and more sinister turn.

third ruth downie 'ruso' mystery out: persona non grata

Persona Non Grata: A Novel of the Roman Empire, Ruth Downie's third Gaius Petreius Ruso mystery novel, will be out in the US in early July. (Title in the UK: Ruso and the Root of all Evils)

… in which Ruso takes Tilla home to southern Gaul, only to find that his brother in law has disappeared and his family is on the brink of bankruptcy. In the midst of the crisis, his sisters are demanding dowries and his stepmother is busy organising dinner parties to which Tilla isn’t invited. Then the family’s chief creditor winds up dead, and the real trouble begins…

Ruth Downie's Blog

    

For UK titles, go here and scroll down.

Hat tip Robert Greaves

lod mosaic in israel will be re-exposed

 Satisfying my affinity to mosaics …

After 13 Years of Being Covered –One of the Most Impressive and Largest Mosaics in the Country will be Re-exposed  (click on photo to enlarge)

Thirteen years after one of the most beautiful mosaics ever to be seen in the country was covered over, the Israel Antiquities Authority, in cooperation with the municipality of Lod and its residents, is beginning an archaeological excavation that will re-expose the mosaic, once and for all.   read on

Project details:

The Lod mosaic was excavated in 1996 by Miriam Avissar and it is part of a salvage excavation that was conducted on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Municipality of Lod, which wanted to widen He-Halutz Street. The mosaic dates to the Roman period, to the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century CE. The mosaic was covered over with soil at the conclusion of the excavation after funds were not found for the conservation and development of the site.   read on

Hat tip Adrian Murdoch

City of Lod (also known as Lydda)

Image courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority – click on above photo to enlarge

mythology: isis and osiris on matters arising

Robert of Matters Arising in his mythology series is blogging Isis and Osiris, with nice images.

The story of the Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris, their brother Set, their child Horus, and the sun god Ra is well known from a mixture of native Egyptian texts and from texts written by the 2nd century AD Greek biographer and philosopher Plutarch, and the slightly later Roman novelist Apuleius.    read on

Roman fresco from the temple of Isis in Pompeii, Io is welcomed in Egypt by Isis.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Naples), courtesy Wikimedia Commons

next book discussion, july 1: the satires by horace

Update June 23: Google Books has limited previews of The Cambridge Companion to Horace and The Cambridge Companion to Roman Satire.

Scroll down here.

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Next we are going back to Roman satires, it's Quintus Horatius Flaccus this this time.

In print:  The Satires by Horace.  There are plenty more editions.

An excellent companion book is The Cambridge Companion to Roman Satire (Cambridge Companions to Literature), summarized in this BMCR review:

In sum, this volume proves to be a worthy companion.  Each author hands the traveler on to the next author, never isolating the reader but always providing connections by which to find a way back and to make the current scenery familiar.  Egressum magna me accepit Freudenburg Roma hospitio magno ...

quick afterthought after tonight's chat: bagaudae

Wikipedia seems to have a reasonable page on them:

Bagaudae

did you know that …

… Julius Caesar tweets?

Julius_Caesar checks in daily on Twitter.

• Name Gaius Julius Caesar
• Location Rome
• Bio Descendent of Venus, conqueror of all Gaul, dictator for life

looking ahead: the satires by horace a.s. kline's online translation – update & correction

Update:  I originally downloaded the wrong file   :(

Our next read on July 1 is Horace: The Satires.

A.S. Kline (Poetry in Translation) translated the entire Horace and put it online:

HORACE (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)
Translated by A. S. Kline © 2003, All Rights Reserved
This work may be freely reproduced, stored, and transmitted, electronically or otherwise, for any non-commercial purpose.

Those of you who like me prefer reading a PDF file rather than a browser file can download the entire file, and here it is for your convenience:

Download Horace: THE SATIRES, EPISTLES AND ARS POETICA (fully interactive)

There are other download options of the above file too.  Google Books has various editions of the Satires – look for "full view;" or you could search the Internet Archive if you like flipbooks.

imperial timeline during the period of 'the skystone'

Table excerpt courtesy The Roman Empire  (sans minor usurpers)
biography links from De Imperatoribus Romanis

Split of the Empire - Western Empire
364 - 375	Valentinian I (c. 321 - 375)	Flavius Valentinianus / Imperator Caesar Flavius Valentinianus Augustus	House of Valentinian, emperor in the west
367 - 383	Gratian (c. 359 - 383)	Flavius Gratianus / Imperator Caesar Flavius Gratianus Augustus	House of Valentinian, emperor in the west
375 - 392	Valentinian II (c. 371 - 392)	Flavius Valentinianus / Imperator Caesar Flavius Valentinianus Augustus	House of Valentinian, emperor in the west
379 - 395	Theodosius I The Great (c. 347 - 395)	Flavius Theodosius / Imperator Caesar Flavius Theodosius Augustus	Theodosian Dynasty / joint emperor in the west, emperor in the east
383 - 388	Magnus Maximus (c. 335 - 388)	Magnus Maximus	Rival in the west
392 - 394	Eugenius (c. ? - 394)	Flavius Eugenius	Usurper in the west
395 - 423	Honorius (c. 384 - 423)	Flavius Honorius	Theodosian Dynasty

'the skystone' – page 72

the skystone makes its first appearance …

The Skystone (The Camulod Chronicles, Book 1)
by Jack Whyte

'the skystone' – page 56

the plot thickens …

The Skystone (The Camulod Chronicles, Book 1)
by Jack Whyte