Beeson. Isidore's Institutionum Disciplinae and Pliny The

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Isidore's Institutionum Disciplinae and Pliny the YoungerAuthor(s): Charles H. BeesonSource: Classical Philology, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Jan., 1913), pp. 93-98Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/261409.

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NOTES AND DIsCUSSIONS 93(p. 190) Alles was zur Sprechmelodiegeh6rt, d.h., also in erster Reiheder Akzent,wird besonders eicht nachgeahmt, and in applicationof thisprinciple he attributes to Etruscan influencethe fixing of the accent inpre-literaryLatin on the initial syllable, and maintains that the three-syllable aw of incidencewas adoptedfromGreek. Now it is easy to believethat Rome's literary men in their effortsto make literary Latin as muchlike literary Greekas possible cultivated the pitch-elementat the expenseof the stress in the accent used in formal Latin, if it appears,as Skutsch'sarticle makes highlyprobable, hat the entireRoman people in their every-day speech, withoutconsciouseffort, changed wice the principlesgoverningthe incidenceof their accent, first under the influenceof the Etruscans,andlater, of the Greeks.

FRANK FROST ABBOTTPRINCETONUNIVrERSITYPLATO Timaeus37 C

&s .U . . Jv6bjae v dc8lcvOeGwvyeyows &cyac,lao yeivHas 7rarhp.And when the father who begat it perceived the created image of the im-mortal gods.-JowETT.On this passageDr. Archer-Hind omments: This is a very singular

phrase . . . . the dSiot Ocotcan be nothing else than the ideas. Butnowhereelse does Plato call the ideasgods, and the significance f so callingthem is very hard to see. If howeverPlato wrote OdGv-which cannothelp regarding s doubtful-I am convinced hat he used this strangephrasewith somedeliberatepurpose.Others ake ayaoA&Aas delight or glory, ratherthan in the derivedsense;but this still leavesthe difficulty hat, at this stage of the Timaeus,nogods exist beyond the one Artifex of the universe-o yEvvcm-as 7raTnp.Is the following a possible hypothesis? Plato wrote rwv a&totv y. ay.,an imageof the things eternal. An early copyist added the gloss18iv,which in process of time became incorporated in the text. From daLLWV{&E'v he change to I &%v 0EJv would be easy to a tired or hurried copyist,especiallyas the latter phrase wouldbe familiar o him in othercontexts.

MARGARETE. HIRSTUNIVERSITYHOUSEBIRMINGHAM, NGLANDISIDORE'S INSTITUTIONUM DISCIPLINAE AND PLINY THE

YOUNGERThe editorof the worksof Isidoreof Sevillefacesdifficulties hat perhapssurpass hose offeredby any other Latin author. In the case of the Ety-mologiae, the examinationof the manuscriptsalone involves an enormousamountof labor,and the attemptto bringorderout of the chaos of variants,interpolations, tc., might well frightenthe most conscientious cholar. It

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94 NOTES AND DISCUSSIONSis not this difficulty,however, hat has discouraged he variouseditorswhohave begunthe work and has forcedus to be contentso long with Arevalo'stext. The main textual problemshave probablybeen solved by Lindsay(IsidoriHispalensisEpiscopiEtymologiarumiveOriginum ibriXX, Oxford,1910),whois an idealeditorfor a workof this sort,being a rarecombinationof a Latinistof the highestorder,a paleographer f the first rank, and anexperienced nd skilfuleditorof classical exts.The great problemconnectedwith the editing of the text of Isidoreisthe discoveryof his sources;we cannotbe sureaboutthe text until we knowits source,and in the case of Isidorewe must assumea sourcefor almosteverything hat he wrote,forhe is the least originalof Latinwriters. Verylittle has been done in the way of preliminary nvestigationto make thetask of the editoreasier,partlybecausethe sourcescannotbe satisfactorilystudieduntilwe have a criticaledition; the logicalescapefromthis dilemmais to have the two problemsworkedout by the same scholarpari passu, ifhis time and strengthpermit; and we undoubtedlyshall have much lightthrownon this difficultproblemwhenAnspachhas finishedhis work.The difficultyof breakingup a literarymosaicsuchas Isidoreoften con-structed s best shownby the model investigationby Traubeon the sourcesof Etymologiae, 22 ( Die Geschichteder tironischenNoten bei Suetoniusund Isidorus, Archiv iurStenographie, III [19011,198if.); the historicalandgeographicalourcesof the Etymologiaeave beencarefully nvestigatedby Philipp (Quellenund Forschungenur alten Geschichte nd Geographie,Heft 25, Berlin,1912).Perhapsno one of Isidore'sworks contains,within an equal space, somuch classicallore as the tract on Education publishedby Anspach nRheinischesMuseum,LXVII (1912),556 ff. fromthe ParisMS Lat. 2994A,the latter half of which is written in the Spanishscript of the end of theeighthor the beginningof the ninth century.' I madea copyof the text inParisin the springof 1910 with the intentionof publishing t in my Isidor-studiennowin the press,and of indicating he sourceswhere t was possibleto do so. Inasmuchas I have been forestalledby AnspachI contentmyselfwith this brief note.This document s remarkablen manyrespects; the contentspoint to alate authorand a Christian. The importantquestion,however, s notwhenit was writtenor who wrote it; what we want to know most is, wheredidthe writer get his material? The subject-matterplainly belongsfor themost part to the old Romancivilization,and it is clear at the firstglancethat no writerbelonging o the MiddleAges or to the periodimmediately

lAnspach puts the MS at the end of the eighth century; Delisle, Melanges dePal6ographieet de Bibliographie, p. 54, and Loew, whose studies of the Spanish scriptentitle his opinion to considerable respect, assign it to the ninth century. A facsimileof the superscription of the tract on Education may be found in Nouveau TraitW,III, 108.



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NOTES AND DISCUSSIONS 95precedingpossessed ucha masteryof phraseas we findhere,howevermuchthe sentencesmay limpin theirsequence.In the firstplace, there can be no reasonabledoubtthat the workis byIsidore. It is attributed to him in the MS, the MS itself is Spanish, and,as Anspachpoints out, the omissionof the verb of saying,thinking, etc., isin Isidore'smanner; as will appearbelow, the method of compilations thatadopted by Isidore elsewhere. The parallelismbetween 11.51 ff. of thistract (I cite according o Anspach'snumbering)and EtymologiaeI, 16.2is in itself almostconvincingproofof Isidore'sauthorship. Other nstancesmightbe added; e.g., 11.60, 61 of our tract read: amorempecuniaevelutomniummateriam scelerumevitantem ; cf. De officiis i. 2. 1: amorempecuniae quasi materiam cunctoruim riminumfugiant ; other reminis-cencesoccurin this same chapter.Whether he tractis an earlyworkof Isidorewe cannottell; the parallelpassages from other works cannot be cited as evidence because Isidoreapparentlyrarelyrepeats a passage from his own writings, but cites directfrom his originalsource. Neither can we feel sure as to Isidore'spurposein writingthe tract. It may have beenintendedas a part of a largerwork.That it was intended as an actualguideforthe instructionof the childrenofSpanishnobles, or, as Anspachsuggests, fulreinen K6nigssohnals Erzieh-ungsbrevier estimmt is not likely; as a programmeoractual use it leavestoo muchunsaid, and I venturethe assertionthat Isidorewould have beenhardput to it to interprethis owntext intelligentlythroughout. His inter-est is purelyacademic. The stress on athletics is not Christian;the climaxathlete, perfectorator,philosopher-kings heathen; we have here a collec-tion of materialbearingon educationmadeby a man with a taste for anti-quarian earning. He had no practicalend in view andwas not troubledbythe fact that his schemewas an anachronism. This is not the only case inIsidore where gems gatheredfrom classical authorsfind themselves in astrangesetting.There is a certain resemblanceto the Fulrstenspiegel, s Anspachpointsout, but the inspiration or ourtract came from a classicalprototypeof the Fulrstenspiegel, he panegyric,and in particular from Pliny'sPanegyricon Trajan. The praiseof the hero inevitably takes the form ofpraising,amongotherthings, the educationthat produced he hero and sofurnishesan idealfor imitation.Pliny was an authornot much read in the MiddleAges. We find notracesof an acquaintancewithhis writings romthe fifthcentury o the timeof Einhard. For the Panegyricwe have no MSS olderthan the fifteenthcenturyexceptthe Milanpalimpsest-fragments hichbelong to the seventhoreighthcentury. It is of interest,therefore,o findthat a MS was in exist-ence in Spainas late as the seventh century. It is possiblethat Spain hasin this caseas in many othersbeenthe land of the tradition.' The late dateof the existingMSS makes a proofon paleographical videnceimpossible.



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96 NOTES AND DIscussIoNsThe Spanishsymptoms quur, quum, etc., are lacking, but these spellingscouldhardly be expectedto survive the numerous ranscriptions f the textdowninto the fifteenthcentury. Muchstresscannotperhapsbe laid on thefact that the prepositions er andpro areconfused n a numberof cases.I give the parallelpassagesfromIsidoreand Pliny. The text is contin-uousin both columnsunlessotherwise ndicated. Parts not included n theparallelareitalicized.

ISIDORENulla in audiendo difficultas, in re-spondendo nulla mora ....

Si quando adulescerecoeperitannisatque vernantis vestiri floribus iuven-tutis, adsit in eo apta et virilis figuramembrorum, duritia corporis, roburlacertorum et quod his validior ipsocorpore animus fortior inperitet, nonillum desidia et voluptas otii vel opu-lentiae, non rerumindulgentia molliatneque copiae parentum ad segnitiemluxum perducant sed continuolabore ingenioquemagistra virtus edo-ceat. Tum plene seu montibus seseseu mari exerceat et laetum opere cor-pus et crescentia laboribus membramiraberis. Hinc iam noniaculotantumdebetaut equo uidere(=ludere?), sed etcursu atque saltu spatia transmittere,equitare, iaculare, dimicare, palaestracum aequalibusconcertare,ustrare sal-tus, excutere cubilibus feras, primusquoqueferire, superare inmensa mon-tium iuga et horrentibusscopulis gra-

dum inferre; certare cum fugacibusferis cursu, cum audacibusrobore,cumcallidis astu. Et enimvero,si quandoplacet id idem pedem in maria pro-ferre, non ille fluitantia velKa>oculistantum sequatur, sed nunc guberna-culis insidere, nunc cum valentissimoquoque sodalium certans discat fran-gerefluctus, domareventosreluctantes-que remistransferreobstantia freta.

PLINY79. 6 Nulla in -udiendo difficultas,nulla in respondendomora.

82. 6 Nec veroperse magnooperelaudaverimduritiam corporisaclacertorum; sed si his validioripsocorpore animus imperitet,quem non fortunaeindulgentia emolliat,non copiaeprincipalesad segnitiemluxumquedetorqueant,tunc ego seu montibusseu mari exerceatur, et laetum operecorpuset crescentialaboribusmembramirabor.

81. 1 Quaeenim remissiotibi nisilustraresal-tus, excuterecubilibus feras,superare mmensa montiumiuga et horrentibusscopulis graduminferre . . ? (2) Olim . . hisartibus uturi ducesimbuebantur,certarecum fugacibus feriscursu, cum audacibusrobore,cum cal-lidis astu. . (4) Enimvero, si quandoplacuit idem corporis robur in mariaproferre, non ille fluitantia vela autoculis sequitur aut manibus,sed nunc guberna-culis adsidet, nunc cum valentissimoquoque sodalium certat frangerefluctus, domitare ventos reluctantesremisquetransferreobstantia freta.



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NOTES AND DiSCUSSIONS 97The words illum desidiaet voluptasotii vel opulentiaeare apparentlytaken fromthe Panegyric79. 5, si non continuose desidiaeac voluptatidedisset,otio tamen et quiete recreasset.Pliny is not,however, he onlyauthorwhohas beenplunderedby Isidorein the abovepassage. Anspachhasbracketed he words equitare, aculare,dimicare as a gloss on palaestracumaequalibus oncertare, nd the factthat they are not found n Pliny wouldseemat firstsight to confirmhisview.The assumptionof a gloss or interpolation n a text of Isidore has moreinherentprobability n it than in the caseof most Latinwriters, or no othertext has been so subjectto change at the handsof the scribe. On the otherhand, in scrutinizinghis text we cannothold Isidore to such strict accountas otherauthorsbecausehis method of compilationoften resultsin a looseconstructionor actual inconsistencies. In point of fact, the words whichAnspachrejects form part of a passage taken from Sallust'sJugurthavi.1; qui (Jugurtha)ubi primumadolevit,pollensviribus,decorafacie, sedmulto maximeingenio validus,non se luxu neque inertiaecorrumpendumdedit, sed uti mos gentis illius est, equitare, aculari,cursucum aequalibuscertare t, cum omnibusgloriaanteiret,omnibus tamen carusesse; ad hocpleraquetempora in venando agere, leonem atque alias feras primusautin primisferire. The only changemade by Isidoreis the substitutionof

palaestra or cursu; he has just mentionedrunning n the previousclause,and does so again a few lines below. That he had Sallustbeforehim whenhe wrote is shownby the insertionof the words primusquoqueerire n themidst of the excerptfromPliny 82. 2.1In a numberof placesmy reportas to the readingof the MS differs romAnspach's: 1.5, I readerudiant;Anspachgivesthe MS readingas erudiunt,but he readserudiantn the text; 1.7, Anspachreads indicium psainfantiacrescat n the text,but givescrescants theMSreading; he suggests hat thearchetypemay have had indicia. My copy reads indiciacum ipsa infan-tia crescant, and I suspectthat Anspachhas committed he paleographicalerrorof haplography, ndicium;1. 15 whereAnspachreads colorumreadcoloret whichcertainlymakes a better sentence, interhaec erit puruset liquidusin verbis coloret venusta subtilitas ; 1.16, the reading s cer-tainlyomnis,corrected romhomnisby erasure,notnominisasAnspachgivesit; 1. 20 I read precursantiummitare nstead of precurrantiummitari; 1. 43the reading s surely tenenda atio,not tener(=tenor) duratio; the passageruns: post haec erit gravitas maturaeaetatis tenenda,ratio, constantia,consilium, tc.In 1.9 I should preferto keep the reading of the MS, oportet eumprimumconmunes itteras scire ac (=hac of the MS) demumhonestis etliberalibus tudiisenitere ; Anspachemendshac o harum;1.32 (thepassage

1As an interesting parallel to the passage from Pliny might be cited the statementabout Pompey quoted by Vegetius Ep. rei mil. I. 9 from Sallust: cum alacribussaltu, cum velocibus cursu, cum validis vecte certabat.



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98 NOTES AND DISCUSSIONSis printed above) Anspach emends videre o utere,assuming that Isidorehas used a late Latin form of the infinitive; ludereseems to me an easieremendation; 1. 42 transferre onfirms he reading of the best MSS of thePanegyric; the editionsoffer varioussubstitutes, but Bahrensis undoubt-edly right in restoringthe MS reading in his text; Kukula still retainstransiliren the newedition of Pliny'sletters (1912).The citationfrom Plato is new in this form: tunc bene regi rempubli-cam quando imperant philosophi et philosophantur mperatores. Thissententia is found in Cicero, Valerius Maximus, Apuleius, Capitolinus,Lactantiusand Boethius,attributedto Plato; it is quoted or referred o byRutilius Lupus, AureliusVictor, and Prudentiuswithout the mention ofPlato'sname. In noneof these authorsdoes the wordingagreewith that ofIsidore; this fact may furnisha clue to the discoveryof anothersourceforourtract.

CHARLESH. BEESON

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