Boethius: Consolatio Philosophiae
A Commentary. James O'Donnell.
Book One
Metrum 1: Boethius (hereinafter: B.), imprisoned and alone, bewails his condition.
Meter: Elegiac couplets. The first line is dactylic hexameter, the second (called the pentameter) contains two hemiepes. In the hexameter caesura is regular after the first syllable of the third foot. No substitutions are allowed in the second hemiepes of the pentameter.
n1.1.1m: qui: "(I) who . . ." studio florente: ablative absolute; studium here, "eagerness, enthusiasm." peregi: < perago , "accomplish, complete."
n1.1.3m : lacerae: "tattered, bedraggled." scribenda: < scribo ; neuter plural accusative, gerundive of necessity: "things that must be written." Camenae: the native Latin name for the Muses.
n1.1.4m : elegi: "elegiac verses." ora: < os , oris : "mouth, face." Plural for singular is common in poetry.
n1.1.5m : Has: sc. Camenas . pervincere: "prevail upon," treated as a verb of hindering governing ne -clause in line 6 ( AG 558b).
n1.1.6m : comites: predicative, "as companions."
n1.1.7m : Gloria: in apposition with the subject of solantur (i.e., Camenae ).
felicis: The final syllable is closed, and thus long, before the caesura.
n1.1.8m : maesti: modifies senis (genitive < senex ).
n1.1.9m : inopina: "unexpectedly"; adjectives in agreement with the subject often have adverbial force.
n1.1.10m : iussit: governs accusative/infinitive.
suam: the reflexive takes its antecedent from the subject of the sentence, hence dolor .
n1.1.11m : intempestivi: "out of season," because B. is too young for cani (sc. capilli ), "grey hair."
n1.1.14m : maestis: sc. annis (line 13).
n1.1.15m : quam: exclamatory, to be taken closely with surda . . . aure .
avertitur: here used in an active sense (comparable to the Greek middle voice: other Hellenisms will occur in B.): "[death] turns away [the wretches]."
n1.1.16m : saeva: with adverbial force: "cruelly."
n1.1.17m : Dum: In late Latin, dum with subjunctive is interchangeable with circumstantial cum .
levibus . . . bonis: ablative, "with good things [that are] insubstantial."
male: "scarcely, not at all," a common way of negating an adjective (here: fida ) in poetry.
n1.1.18m : merserat: pluperfect indicative (< mergo ) instead of perfect, for an unreal statement ( paene has the force of a negative); translate as simple past tense. Cf. LHS 328, Zusätze b, on the rhetorical pluperfect.
n1.1.19m : nubila: "cloudy, gloomy," modifies fortuna understood as the subject.
n1.1.21m : me felicem: sc. esse ; accusative/infinitive with iactastis (= iactavistis ).
amici: vocative.
n1.1.22m : stabili . . . gradu: ablative of description. Stabilis appears often in the Consolatio, in emphatic positions, to hint at the alternative to the mutability of fortune's world (cf. e.g., 1M4.16, 2M8.1, 3M9.3).
Prosa 1: A mysterious figure, female but more than human, appears at B.'s side and puts to flight the poetic muses.
n1.1.1p : stili officio: "with the help of a pen."
astitisse: perfect infinitive (< a(d)sto ): the woman was already there when B. noticed her.
verticem: < vertex , "topmost point," thus: "head."
reverendi vultus: genitive of description.
oculis ardentibus et . . . perspicacibus: ablative of description.
communem: take with hominum, "common to men."
quamvis: "although," with subjunctive.
foret = esset
ut . . . crederetur: subjunctive of result.
statura discretionis ambiguae: "with stature of uncertain measure."
n1.1.2p : quidem . . . vero: "on the one hand . . . but on the other," a common usage in B.
summi verticis cacumine: "with the very top of her head."
quae: connecting relative, i.e., relative pronoun in place of demonstrative + et : "and she."
extulisset: subjunctive of repeated action, with cum ("whenever").
intuitum: "gaze, view."
n1.1.3p : filis: ablative plural, "threads."
uti = ut ("as").
post: adverb.
eadem prodente: ablative absolute ( eadem = B.'s visitor).
fumosas imagines: The reference seems to be to the wax masks of deceased ancestors which hung in the atrium of a Roman house and gathered soot from the hearth fire between funeral processions, when they were worn by mourners in a masquerade of reincarnation.
solet: sc. obducere .
n1.1.4p :
Graecum: modifies
supremo: sc. margine .
vero: always used post-positively in its clause; best translated "but."
elementum: here, "letter [of the alphabet]."
esset: subjunctive in relative clause of purpose.
n1.1.5p : manus: nominative plural.
n1.1.8p : scenicas: "of the stage," used pejoratively, as usual.
foverent . . . alerent: subjunctive in relative clause of characteristic.
foverent: "take care of."
verum: the conjunction, "but."
n1.1.9p : infructuosis affectuum spinis: "with the sterile thorns of [that come from] the emotions."
fructibus: ablative with uberem: "rich in fruit."
assuefaciunt: "accustom" (transitive).
n1.1.10p : si quem: "if anyone"; the indefinite pronoun quis is commonly used after si , nisi , ne , or num .
vulgo: adverb.
solitum: sc. est .
vobis: i.e., Camenis .
ferendum: "to be borne, tolerated"; sc. esse mihi .
nihil: adverbial accusative, "not at all."
quippe: explanatory particle, "for, since."
eo: antecedent is quem profanum .
hunc vero . . . innutritum: ellipsis of main verb effectively expresses indignation.
Eleaticis et Academicis studiis: the teachings of Parmenides of Elea (d. shortly after 450 B.C.), Plato (founder of the Academy at Athens; d. 347 B.C.) and their disciples.
n1.1.11p : Sirenes: in mythology, birds with the faces of beautiful girls singing sweetly to lure mariners to shore and death.
usque in exitium dulces: "pleasant to the point of destruction."
meisque . . . Musis: dative of agent with curandum and sanandum .
n1.1.12p : His . . . increpitus: "rebuked by these [words]."
humi: locative.
acies: "gaze, sight."
n1.1.13p : caligaret . . . possem: subjunctives in relative causal clauses (not quite parallel).
dinoscere = dignoscere , "recognize, distinguish."
esset: subjunctive in indirect question.
visuque . . . defixo: ablative absolute.
esset actura: imperfect subjunctive + future participle represents a future in an indirect question.
conquesta: < conqueror , "bewail, lament bitterly."
Metrum 2: The visitor compares B.'s present enervated state to his former energy and vision.
Meter: Hemiepes + adonic with diaeresis.
n1.2.1m : praecipiti: "steep, dangerous."
n1.2.2m : relicta: ablative.
n1.2.4m : flatibus: ablative of means < flatus , "wind."
aucta: < augeo ; modifies cura (line 5).
in immensum: "to immense (size)."
n1.2.6m : Hic: i.e., Boethius.
n1.2.7m : in aetherios ire meatus: "to follow the courses of heavenly bodies."
n1.2.10m : recursus: accusative plural, "returns, recurrent courses"; with vagos , which alludes to the Greek word for the planets, "wanderers."
n1.2.12m : comprensam = comprehensam , "grasped, understood"; sc. stellam . B. translated a Greek treatise by Ptolemy on astronomy and perhaps wrote one of his own in Latin, in which he would have explained how the movements of the planets could be reduced to mathematical calculations.
n1.2.13-14m : unde . . . sollicitent: indirect question introduced by causas (13); similarly, quis volvat (15), cur . . . surgat (16-17), quid . . . temperet (18), and quis dedit (20).
n1.2.15m : quis = qui .
n1.2.17m : casurum: < cado , "fall, set."
n1.2.20m : dedit: indicative in place of subjunctive, to fit the meter (cf. Gruber).
n1.2.20-21m : ut . . . uvis: substantive result clause, after dedit .
influat: "flow, abound with."
n1.2.22m : rimari solitus: sc. est ; governs indirect questions of lines 13-21.
latentis: genitive, modifies naturae .
n1.2.23m : reddere: here, "declare, report."
n1.2.25m : pressus catenis colla: "pressed around the neck with chains." colla is neuter plural accusative of respect with the participle pressus ; this is a Greek construction.
Prosa 2: The visitor briefly diagnoses B.'s ailment and makes a first curative gesture.
n1.2.1p : medicinae . . . querelae: datives of purpose with tempus est .
quam = magis quam .
n1.2.2p : totis . . . luminibus: i.e., with both eyes, undistractedly.
Tune = tu + enclitic -ne (introducing a question).
evaseras: < evado , here, "emerged, came to."
n1.2.3p : Atqui: "and yet."
abiecisses: < abicio , "throw away, cast aside."
n1.2.5p : Cumque: "and when."
prorsus: "absolutely."
Nihil . . . pericli (= periculi ) : "no danger"; pericli is partitive genitive.
lethargum: a disease of drowsiness and forgetfulness.
illusarum: < inludo , "sport with, deceive."
n1.2.6p : Sui: "of himself," objective genitive with oblitus (< obliviscor , "forget, be unmindful").
Sui paulisper oblitus est: an ill for which the proper cure is a form of Platonic recollection (anamnesis), in line with the precept, "Know thyself."
recordabitur: future indicative in apodosis of a future-less-vivid condition (the protasis has cognoverit , perfect subjunctive). This mixed condition is a very common construction in the Consolatio .
quod ut possit: quod is the connecting relative (= et id ); supply recordari , or perhaps facere , to complement possit : "and so in order that he might [remember/do] this."
tergamus: "let us cleanse," hortatory subjunctive.
n1.2.7p : undantes: "awash." contracta . . . veste: ablative of means.
Metrum 3: Vision returns to B.'s eyes.
Meter: Dactylic hexameter alternating with dactylic tetrameter. The last foot of the tetrameter is always a dactyl.
n1.3.1m : discussa . . . nocte: ablative absolute.
n1.3.3m : ut: "just as," introduces a simile that fills the rest of the metrum: "just as, when . . . (lines 3-6), if Boreas (lines 7-8). . . , [then] Phoebus flashes (lines 9-10)."
glomerantur sidera: obscure; sidera may mean "bad weather," but some emend to nubila .
Coro: < Corus , the north-west wind.
polus: "the arch of heaven."
n1.3.5m : caelo: dative of place to which (a poetic usage).
venientibus astris: ablative absolute.
n1.3.7m : hanc: sc. noctem .
Threicio: "Thracian."
Boreas: nominative, "the north wind."
n1.3.8m : reseret: < resero , "unbar, unlock."
n1.3.10m : ferit: < ferio , "strike, smite."
Prosa 3: B. recognizes Philosophia (hereinafter: P.); she explains why she has come.
n1.3.1p : haud aliter: "in no other way," i.e., "similarly"; suggests that the whole preceding metrum is a comparison to illustrate what now occurs.
ad cognoscendam . . . faciem: "to recognize the face"; gerundive of purpose.
n1.3.2p : respicio: historical present.
cuius: with laribus .
laribus: < lares , "household gods" (by metonymy, "home").
obversatus: < obversor , "move about [in the presence of]."
fueram: used with participle to create the pluperfect, as often in post-classical Latin.
n1.3.3p : supero cardine: "from the highest vault (of the sky)."
delapsa: often used of the descent of a heavenly figure.
an: sc. venisti ; introducing a further question.
ut: introduces purpose clause to suggest why she may have come to B.
rea: nominative; "(as) a defendant."
n1.3.4p : desererem . . . partirer: potential subjunctive, imperfect tense indicating past time.
sarcinam: accusative singular, "burden."
invidia: ablative of cause.
sustulisti: < suffero , "undergo, bear."
n1.3.5p : relinquere: governed by fas erat , a common construction in B.; for the idea, cf. 1M1.6.
scilicet: ironical: "so doubtless I should fear . . ." The idea is that P. is constantly a victim of such slanders.
n1.3.6p : primum: adverb, "for the first time."
lacessitam: < lacesso , "strike."
Nonne: introduces question expecting affirmative answer ( Nonne . . . certavimus : "didn't we struggle . . .?").
Platonis aetatem: Plato lived c. 429-347 B.C.
eodem superstite: ablative absolute, "[although] the same [Plato] survived."
Socrates: d. 399 B.C.
n1.3.7p : Epicureum . . . Stoicum: adjectives modifying vulgus ("rabble"). Stoicism and Epicureanism arose about a century after Socrates' lifetime.
raptum ire: supine of purpose, "to [make a movement to] snatch."
renitentem: "resisting, struggling."
velut in partem praedae: "as if to be part of their booty."
panniculis: "scraps of cloth."
totam me: literally, "all of me," hence with cessisse , "I had yielded totally."
abiere = abierunt , < abeo .
n1.3.8p : rata: < reor ("think"), modifies imprudentia (subject of pervertit ) and governs the indirect statement meos esse familiares .
pervertit: "ruined, destroyed."
n1.3.9p : Quodsi: "But if"; common in B.
Anaxagorae: genitive < Anaxagoras , an Ionian philosopher and friend of Pericles; he left Athens c. 432 B.C. (or c. 450?) after a charge of impiety was raised against him.
Zenonis tormenta: The steadfastness under torture of Zeno of Elea (born c. 490 B.C., disciple of Parmenides; cf. 1P1.10) was proverbial, but different versions of the story gave different names for the torturer.
novisti: < nosco , "learn." The perfect means "to know" (i.e., "to have learned").
at: "yet, on the other hand."
Canios: Canius was killed by the emperor Gaius (= Caligula, who reigned 37-41 A.D.); see 1.P4.27 for an anecdote on his fate. The plurals are used only to generalize the fate of philosophers.
Senecas: L. Annaeus Seneca ("the younger", d. 65 A.D.), once tutor to Nero, later driven to suicide by his pupil.
Soranos: Soranus, like Canius and Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher (it is only the Stoicum vulgus for which P. has just indicated a distaste); like Seneca, he was driven to suicide by Nero after false accusations.
n1.3.11p : ammirere = admireris (subjunctive in characterizing relative clause).
salo: < salum , "the high sea."
quibus: "(we) to whom."
pessimis displicere: in apposition with hoc .
n1.3.12p : spernendus: "to be despised."
lymphante: < lympho , "madden"; modifies errore .
n1.3.13p : Qui: sc. exercitus .
si quando: "if ever," followed by perfect subjunctive incubuerit (< incumbo , "throw oneself upon, oppress").
valentior: modifies the subject, with virtually adverbial force.
dux: here feminine (modified by nostra ); perhaps Philosophy herself is meant, perhaps Sapientia (with an echo of a similar scene in Prudentius's allegorical battle of virtues and vices, the Psychomachia [lines 875ff]). This army at least has a dux , while the other has none ( nullo duce regitur ).
illi: sc. pessimi .
diripiendas: gerundive for gerund, as usual; with sarcinulas (diminutive < sarcina , "pack").
occupantur: "are occupied, are busy."
n1.3.14p : vilissima rerum quaeque: "every thing of least value" (with comparative and superlative adjectives, quisque means "every"). The phrase is the object of rapientes ("[those] snatching"), a participle which is itself the object of irridemus .
securi: nominative, "free from care"; agrees with nos and governs the genitive phrase totius furiosi tumultus .
quo: "whither."
grassanti: < grassor , "prowl, attack."
sit: subjunctive, characteristic relative clause.
Metrum 4: B.'s goal is indicated by a portrait of the truly wise man, serenely above all the hopes and fears of worldly life.
Meter: Phalaecean hendecasyllable (which is composed of glyconic - - - u u - x - + bacchiac u - - ). Word end often occurs after the sixth syllable, but there are exceptions.
- - - u u - x - u - -
n1.4.1m : composito aevo: "of a settled age" (ablative of description).
serenus: cf. 3M9.26, where God is called serenity itself.
n1.4.2m : fatum sub pedibus egit: cf. 3M12.1-2; compare Vergil's famous lines:
felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas
atque metus omnis et inexorabile fatum
subiecit pedibus . . .
( Georgics 2.490-492)
["Happy the man who can understand the causes of things and trample under foot all his fears, and fate deaf to prayer as well."]
pedibus: final syllable closed (hence long) before word end.
n1.4.3m : fortunam . . . utramque: both good fortune and bad.
rectus: "upright, erect," unlike B., whose head is bowed to gaze upon the ground.
n1.4.6m : versum: "turned over" (< verto ), with the adverb funditus ("from the bottom, completely").
exagitantis: modifies ponti .
The line contains 12 syllables, with two short syllables in the seventh position.
n1.4.7m : caminis: "furnaces."
n1.4.8m : Vesaevus: i.e., Mt. Vesuvius.
n1.4.9m : soliti: modifies fulminis (line 10) and takes a complementary infinitive ( ferire ).
n1.4.10m : via: subject of movebit ; via fulminis , "path of the lightning," i.e., "lightning bolt."
n1.4.11m : tantum: adverbial, "so much."
n1.4.13m : Nec speres . . . nec extimescas: subjunctive of the negative command.
Stronger punctuation (a colon) would be possible at the end of this line.
n1.4.14m : exarmaveris: future perfect, "you will have disarmed."
impotentis: genitive, "not master of himself."
n1.4.16m : quod: "because."
sui . . . iuris: predicative genitive, "[subject to] his own law," i.e., "his own master."
valeat: valeo in late Latin is almost interchangeable in meaning and syntax with possum .
Prosa 4: B. gathers his strength for a long outburst against the injustice of his condition, recounting the principal events of his public career.
n1.4.1p : illabuntur: "make their way into," with dative.
manas: < mano , "flow, drip."
oportet . . . detegas: "it is necessary that you uncover."
n1.4.2p : collecto in vires animo: ablative absolute, "when I had gathered my mind for strength," i.e., "my mind's strength."
Anne: introducing question: "really?"
eget: "lack, need," governing the ablative ( ammonitione ).
n1.4.3p : Haecine = Haece + ne . Hice, haece, hoce is an emphatic form of hic, haec, hoc.
laribus: see on 1P3.2.
de humanarum . . . scientia: Cicero, De Officiis 2.5: "Sapientia . . . est, ut a veteribus philosophis definitum est, rerum divinarum et humanarum . . . scientia": "Wisdom, as it was defined by the ancient philosophers, is knowledge of the affairs of gods and men."
n1.4.4p : habitus: "manner of dress."
rimarer: cf. 1M2.22.
radio: < radius , a mathematician's instrument for measuring and drawing.
referimus: < refero , here, "bring back."
obsequentes: < obsequor , "comply with, yield to."
n1.4.5p : sententiam Platonis: Plato, Republic 5.473D, and elsewhere.
fore = futuras esse .
rectores: accusative subject of studere .
studere . . . contigisset: contingo ("come about") can take accusative/infinitive in late Latin.
n1.4.6p : capessendae rei publicae: "for entering upon public life."
ne . . . ferrent: purpose clause explaining causam in the preceding clause.
relicta: participle modifying the nominative gubernacula and governing preceding datives.
n1.4.7p : quod . . . didiceram (< disco, "learn"): object of transferre .
n1.4.8p : Tu . . . et deus conscii: sc. sunt .
nullum (sc. studium ) . . . detulisse: accusative/infinitive, governed by conscii [ sunt ] treated as a verb of knowing.
n1.4.9p : Inde: "from this," i.e., studium .
discordiae: sc. erant .
quod: in apposition with the phrase, "pro tuendo . . . offensio."
conscientiae: "conscience" (a new meaning in late Latin).
pro tuendo iure: "for guarding the law" ( tuendo is gerundive in place of gerund).
spreta: < sperno , "reject, scorn."
potentiorum: comparative < potens , "powerful [person]."
n1.4.10p : Conigastum: a Goth, holding a public office of the highest rank. Though Goths and Romans coexisted peaceably in the Ostrogothic kingdom, there was some friction. No Goths appear in a good light in the Consolatio , for B. had given up currying favor by this time.
imbecilli cuiusque: "of every weak [man]."
Trigguillam: a Goth, in charge of the royal household and thereby able to exercise influence over many spheres of activity.
regiae . . . domus: genitive with praepositum .
ab incepta . . . iniuria: i.e., ab incepta iniuria, ab iniuria iam prorsus perpetrata .
obiecta periculis auctoritate: ablative absolute, "by exposing my influence to danger."
n1.4.11p : fortunas . . . pessumdari: accusative/infinitive governed by indolui (< indolesco , "grieve").
n1.4.12p : indicta coemptio: coemptio was a compulsory sale of produce to the state (at a price below market rate), imposed ( indicta ) on a province in time of special need.
profligatura: "about to ruin."
inopia: ablative of means.
The date of this particular episode is not known; it is natural but not necessary to assume it happened while B. served as magister officiorum . Campania was the site of the country estates of many wealthy senators.
praefectum praetorii: originally colonel-in-chief of the praetorian guard, later something like prime minister; he handled all but strictly military affairs, especially matters of taxation and expenditure. He would have been a wealthy (native Roman) senator like Boethius.
rege cognoscente: ablative absolute, "when the king was hearing the case."
ne . . . exigeretur: result clause after evici ( ne often replaces ut non in later Latin).
n1.4.13p : Paulinum: consul in 498 (hence a consularis , "of consular rank"), who later opposed B.'s father-in-law in a lawsuit. The episode alluded to here is otherwise unknown.
Palatinae: "of the palace."
iam . . . devorassent: past potential subjunctive: "had all but devoured [but didn't]."
hiantium: < hio : "gape, yawn" (adjective used as a substantive).
n1.4.14p : Albinum: consul in 493, whose troubles with the regime were the beginning of B.'s downfall.
Cypriani: a Roman unusually close to the Gothic regime, one of few known to have served in a military capacity and to have had his sons learn Gothic.
delatoris: "informer, denouncer" (< defero , deferre \304\304 cf. deferentibus three lines below).
n1.4.15p : B. thinks his refusal to ingratiate himself with corrupt courtiers should have won him friends away from court, but his accusers were members of his own senatorial class.
qui: i.e., Boethius.
aulicos: "people of the aula," i.e., courtiers.
quo magis essem tutior: The antecedent of quo is nihil ; "nothing by which I might be safer" (note redundant double comparative).
deferentibus: See on delatoris (sec. 14).
perculsi: < percello , "overthrow, ruin."
n1.4.16p : Quorum: sc. delatorum .
Basilius: a senator, but not of the highest rank.
alieni aeris: literally, "another's money," hence in the Latin of all periods, "debt."
n1.4.17p : Opilionem atque Gaudentium . . . ire in exilium: accusative/infinitive, object of decrevisset . Opilio was brother of Cyprianus and son-in- law of Basilius. He and his brother remained fiercely loyal to whatever Gothic regime held power, and prospered after B.'s death. Gaudentius was another minor senatorial figure.
sacrarum . . . aedium: genitive with defensione ; the expression is classical, but clearly a Christian church is implied. The etiquette of late Latin style encouraged writers like B. to avoid neologisms like ecclesia .
compertumque . . . foret: "and when the king found out about it"; foret = esset .
uti . . . pellerentur: indirect command, and hence subjunctive, after edixit .
notas insigniti frontibus: "marked on their foreheads with brands" (an old Roman punishment).
n1.4.18p : astrui: passive infinitive < astruo , "build on, add" (< ad + struo ).
Atquin = atqui .
deferentibus eisdem: ablative absolute.
n1.4.19p : praemissa damnatio: "prearranged condemnation"; the idea is that B. has been framed and the accusers play only a secondary role.
puduit: < the impersonal verb pudet , "put x [accusative of person] to shame for y [genitive of cause of shame]";
vilitas: it is better to read vilitatis (cf. Gruber ad loc.) as a genitive of the cause of shame with puduit , to parallel innocentiae .
n1.4.20p : Construe: At quaeres summam criminis cuius arguimur?
criminis: < crimen , means either "crime" (here) or "accusation" (sec. 22 infra).
n1.4.21p : ne . . . deferret: clause of hindering with impedisse .
quibus . . . faceret: relative clause of purpose.
maiestatis reum: "guilty of treason."
n1.4.22p : volui: sc. senatum salvum esse .
n1.4.23p : Sed . . . cessavit: "But the attempt to hinder the delator has ended [in failure]."
illius ordinis: i.e., of the Senate.
suis . . . decretis: otherwise unrecorded senate resolutions supporting the king against B.
uti . . . esset: clause of result after effecerat .
n1.4.24p : sibi semper mentiens: "always lying to itself"; ( mentiens < mentior , "lie").
rerum merita: "the merits of the case, the facts of the matter"; merita is accusative plural.
fas . . . mendacium: almost a translation of Socrates' words in Plato's Theaetetus 151D.
n1.4.25p : quoquo modo sit: indirect question after aestimandum ("to be evaluated").
tuo sapientiumque iudicio: "by your judgment and [that] of wise [people generally]."
latere: here takes direct object, posteros : "to escape the attention of posterity."
stilo . . . mandavi: could be taken to mean that B. had earlier written a fuller, more detailed statement in his own defense.
n1.4.26p : falso: "falsely."
libertatem . . . Romanam: an old label habitually and meaninglessly used by Roman senators to describe any regime or policy that seemed preferable to the status quo, to which they continued to give supine acquiescence.
quid attinet: "what does it accomplish?"
n1.4.27p : quod: antecedent is ipsorum confessione delatorum uti .
uti: infinitive < utor (+ ablative).
utinam posset: the imperfect subjunctive shows the wish is incapable of fulfilment.
Canii . . . Gaio Caesare: cf. 1P3.9. Germanicus was the father of Caligula.
se: antecedent is Gaio .
n1.4.28p : hebetavit: "dulled, blunted."
scelerata: "criminal deeds"; accusative.
molitos: sc. esse .
effecisse: the subject is impios , while the object is the relative clause quae speraverint (subjunctive in relative clause in indirect discourse).
n1.4.29p : deteriora velle: "to want [to do] worse things."
fuerit: hortatory subjunctive to express concession: "[Suppose/grant] it was."
nostri . . . defectus: "a mark of our [common human] weakness," genitive of characteristic.
posse: sc. deteriora ; "[but] to be able [to do worse things]"; the phrase is the subject of est .
inspectante deo: ablative absolute.
monstri: genitive with simile ; monstrum is literally a portentous event contrary to nature.
n1.4.30p : iniuria: ablative (with adverbial force, "unjustly").
quidam: The source of the quotation is doubtful, but may be a fifth century (A.D.) commentary by Proclus on the Parmenides of Plato.
n1.4.31p : fas fuerit: "[Granted] it was right"; governing accusative/infinitive; this sentence establishes a concession to which the following sentence ("Sed num . . . ?") responds.
perditum ire: "to aim at destroying," supine of purpose (cf. note on 1P3.7); with voluisse , the force is almost the same as perdere .
n1.4.32p : num: interrogative particle expecting a negative answer.
me dicturum quid facturumve: "me [when I was] about to say or do anything."
Veronae: locative; the Ostrogothic kings held court at several cities in northern Italy, principally Verona, Pavia, and Ravenna.
avidus: "greedy for" + genitive.
Albinum: see on 1P4.14.
delatae: transferred epithet, i.e., applies more precisely to crimen than to maiestatis .
quanta . . . defenderim: indirect question governed by meministi .
securitate: stronger than English 'security'; here, "heedlessness, confident disregard."
n1.4.33p : haec: the contents of this prosa.
et . . . et: "both . . . and," connecting proferre and iactasse .
mei: objective genitive with laude : "praise of myself."
minuit: intransitive, "grows smaller."
se: object of probantis .
secretum: "separateness, autonomy," with an overtone of integrity.
quis: indefinite, "someone, anyone."
factum: accusative object of ostentando .
n1.4.34p : subimus: < subeo , here "undergo."
n1.4.35p : Eccuius: < ecquis , "any," always interrogative.
summitteret: here, "placate, soften."
n1.4.36p : iugulare: literally, "to slit the throat."
bonis omnibus: dative of reference; here, as often, it can be translated almost like a genitive.
struxisse: < struo , "prepare, contrive."
praesentem: sc. me .
sententia: abstract subject of punisset .
quingentis . . . milibus: ablative, to express distance, with procul , adverb, "at a distance [of]."
The location of B.'s imprisonment is not certain, but was probably in or near Ticinum (mod. Pavia), about 20 m. south of Milan. Distance must be calculated by tracing the standard Roman roads through the Apennines, not by air mileage or modern highways, and by using the Roman mile (approx. 95 yards shorter than the English).
propensius: comparative of < propensus , "well-disposed"; here, "too well-disposed"; modifies studium .
morti: this is the only explicit indication in the Consolatio that B. foresaw his own imminent death.
meritos: sc. senatores (accusative of exclamation). The senate no longer deserves another such protector.
neminem posse convinci: accusative/infinitive governed by meritos .
n1.4.37p : dignitatem reatus: a conscious oxymoron; reatus ("status as defendant in a criminal case") is genitive, modified by the connecting relative cuius.
quam: sc. dignitatem .
fuscarent: "blacken, stain."
ob ambitum dignitatis: "for the sake of achieving [by questionable means] public office."
sacrilegio: cf. 41 below. B.'s arcane scientific and philosophical studies may have been the pretext of a charge of black magic (two senators had been tried and executed on a similar charge in 510, while B. was serving as consul).
me conscientiam polluisse: accusative/infinitive after mentiti sunt .
n1.4.38p : insita: "innate" (< insero ), nominative singular feminine, agreeing with tu .
n1.4.39p : conveniebat: "was it appropriate" with accusative/infinitive.
vilissimorum . . . spirituum: i.e., demons, believed by Christian antiquity to be the agents of magic and witchcraft.
quem: antecedent is me.
ut . . . faceres: purpose clause.
n1.4.40p : penetral: "inner chamber, sanctuary"; nominative singular neuter.
socer: "father-in-law," i.e., Symmachus, consul in 485, a learned Roman grandee, not often in public office but influential nonetheless. (See Introduction .)
aeque ac tu ipsa reverendus: "just as worthy of deep respect as you yourself."
n1.4.41p : illi: B.'s accusers.
maleficio: literally "evil-doing," often used specifically of magic and witchcraft (cf. sacrilegio : sec. 37).
hoc ipso: correlative with quod, "for this reason . . . because."
nihil: adverbial, "not at all."
n1.4.42p : tuam . . . reverentiam: B.'s devotion to P.; tuam here = tui (objective genitive).
mea . . . offensione: mea here = mei (objective genitive); "by the injury directed against me."
lacereris: present subjunctive in mixed condition.
n1.4.43p : accedit: "is added to" with dative.
rerum merita: See on 1P4.24.
tantum: "only."
provisa: providence is prominent in Books 4-5; here it is first glimpsed in a mistaken notion held by the doubtful populace.
quo fit ut: "whereby it happens that" (common expression in B.).
prima: has adverbial force.
n1.4.44p : Qui . . . rumores, quam . . . sententiae: sc. fuerint ; indirect questions governed by reminisci .
hoc tantum dixerim: "I would say only this." hoc is in apposition with the indirect statement sarcinam esse .
n1.4.45p : exutus: "stripped" (< exuo ), with ablative
n1.4.46p : officinas: "workshops, factories," with a sneer.
B.'s vision includes: the guilty rejoicing, others threatening new accusations, the good laid low by fear, the criminal egged on to dare and to accomplish evil by the prospect of reward, the innocent bereft of confidence and protection.
novis fraudibus: instrumental ablative.
impunitate: "without [fear of] punishment."
Metrum 5: If the world at large is so harmoniously governed, B. complains (lines 1- 24), why are human affairs alone the toy and sport of arbitrary Fortune (lines 25-48)?
Meter: Anapestic dimeter, with diaeresis between the metra. Dactyls may replace anapests except that there are no dactyls in the last foot and dactyls and anapests may not appear in the same metron. A spondee may appear in any foot, but there may be no more than three spondees in a line.
n1.5.1m : conditor: in later Latin usually "creator."
n1.5.2m : perpetuo . . . solio: "an enduring throne."
nixus: < nitor , "rest upon."
n1.5.5m : ut: governs through line 12.
pleno . . . cornu: a way of saying that the moon is full.
lucida: modifies luna (line 7).
n1.5.6m : fratris: i.e., Phoebus (the sun); final syllable closed before diaeresis.
obvia: "opposite" (with dative), modifies luna (line 7).
n1.5.7m : condat: "dims."
n1.5.9m : Phoebo propior: "closer to Phoebus" i.e., as day nears.
n1.5.10-13m : Hesperos (evening star) and Lucifer (morning star) are the names given to whatever planet (usually Venus or Jupiter) shines brightest at dawn and at dusk. B.'s point in these lines is that the same planet can be evening star now, and morning star a few weeks from now.
n1.5.11m : algentes . . . ortus: "chilly risings."
Hesperos: Greek nominative form, "[as] the evening star."
Lucifer: "[as] the morning star."
n1.5.14-18m : Winter and summer.
n1.5.14m : frondifluae: "leaf-flowing"; a word not otherwise attested in surviving Latin authors, perhaps coined (on Greek models) by Boethius himself.
n1.5.17m : agiles: since in ancient time-reckoning there were twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of darkness every day, in every season, then in summer the night hours would seem unusually swift.
nocti: dative of reference (with force of a genitive: see on 1P4.36).
n1.5.19-20m : Fall and spring.
n1.5.20m : Zephyrus: "the west wind."
n1.5.21m : Arcturus: "Bear-watcher" (hence the aptness of vidit ), prominent in the evening sky in early spring.
n1.5.22m : Sirius: the "dog-star"; it rises just before dawn in the hottest part of summer, whence we speak of the "dog days."
segetes: < seges , "cornfield."
n1.5.24m : stationis: "post," a military term.
n1.5.26m : respuis: "you refuse," takes complementary infinitive ( cohibere ).
n1.5.30m : debita: nominative singular, modifies poena and takes a dative.
n1.5.33m : nocentes: nominative.
n1.5.36m : crimen iniqui: a monometer (one metron).
n1.5.37m : ipsis: sc. nocentibus .
n1.5.41m : gaudet: The subject is effectively fortuna (29), but a better reading (cf. Gruber) is gaudent ; subject is then drawn from ipsis (37).
n1.5.45m : homines: in apposition with pars .
fortunae salo: this second metron consists of a spondee plus a cretic ( - - - u -).
n1.5.47m : quo: the antecedent is foedere (48).
n1.5.48m : firma: imperative < firmo .
Prosa 5: P. reacts to B.'s complaint calmly and indicates his illness is so serious that his cure will require two kinds of remedy.
n1.5.1p : delatravi: "barked."
nihil: adverbial.
ilico: "instantly."
n1.5.2p : Take id with exsilium ; longinquum is predicate nominative.
n1.5.3p : quam procul a patria: almost an exclamation.
aberrasti = aberravisti , "strayed."
id: antecedent vague; must be drawn from whole preceding clause.
n1.5.4p : oriundo: gerund < orior , "arise, originate"; here therefore, "by origin." Not to be confused with the classical adjective, oriundus .
cuius . . . patriae: predicate genitive in an indirect question.
reminiscare = reminiscaris .
uti Atheniensium quondam: sc. patria , subject of regitur .
laetetur: characteristic subjunctive.
iustitiae: dative after obtemperare .
n1.5.5p : sanctum est: < sancio , "ordain, decree."
ei . . . exsulare (< ex(s)ulo , "live as an exile") : "for him [ quisquis . . . maluerit ] to live as an exile."
qui = ei qui , where ei is dative with nullus metus est.
ne . . . mereatur: clause of fearing.
desierit: < desino , "cease."
n1.5.6p : loci huius: sc. facies .
N.B. tam . . . quam , then potius . . . quam in separate clauses.
id: followed by a relative clause ( quod . . . facit ) and a phrase in apposition ( librorum . . . sententias ).
n1.5.7p : obiectorum (< obicio ) tibi: "things that have been charged against you," i.e., "the charges you face."
n1.5.8p : nota: object of memorasti .
strictim: "superficially, cursorily"; adverb with gerundive attingendum [sc. esse ].
ea: i.e., scelera fraudesque .
recognoscentis . . . ore: "on the lips of the common people, who find out about everything."
n1.5.10p : conquestusque: the participle governs the accusative/infinitive non aequa praemia pensari .
in extremo Musae saevientis: "at the end of your raging Muse," i.e., in the last lines of 1M5.
uti . . . regeret: substantive purpose clause, defining his vota ; "that the peace which rules heaven may rule earth as well."
n1.5.11p : mentis: genitive of reference [LHS 74ff]; translate, "in your present state of mind."
Metrum 6: Success attends those who adapt their actions to the pattern of nature. (Thus, we deduce, it makes sense for P. to proceed cautiously with milder remedies at the outset.)
Meter: Glyconic.
- - - u u - u -
n1.6.2m : Cancri sidus: Cancer is burned by the sun's rays from 20 June to 20 July.
n1.6.3-4m : negantibus sulcis: i.e., at that season the furrows refuse to nurture seeds planted too late.
credidit: < credo , here "entrust."
n1.6.5m : Cereris: objective genitive, "the faith placed in Ceres"; Ceres was the goddess of harvest and grain.
n1.6.6m : quernas . . . arbores: "oak trees"; acorns were traditionally the food of prehistoric times, when agricultural arts were unknown; the phrase "nuts and berries" has the same force in English.
n1.6.8m : lecturus: < lego , "gather"; the future participle has some of the force of a purpose construction, here "to pick."
n1.6.9-10m : cum . . . inhorruit: indicative temporal clause; Aquilo (the north wind) blows in winter.
n1.6.11m : quaeras: subjunctive in a future-less-vivid condition (cf. libeat [13]), governing stringere ("prune, trim").
n1.6.12m : palmites: "vine-shoots."
n1.6.13m : frui: "to enjoy" with ablative.
n1.6.15m : Bacchus: god of wine, hence of the grape-harvest.
contulit: perfect tense < confero .
n1.6.17m : aptans: sc. tempora from line 16.
n1.6.19m : vices: "alternations"; here, "seasons."
n1.6.20m : quod = id quod .
Prosa 6: P. questions B. closely to determine the exact nature of his philosophic ailment and to plan the course of her own argument for the rest of the dialogue. Note the sequence of questions and answers:
1. Q. Is the world governed by chance or reason?
A. By the rational power of God (secs. 3-4).
[Boethius is correct, and this is maximum tuae
fomitem salutis (sec. 20).]
2. Q. By what instruments is the world governed?
A. B. barely understands the question, cannot answer (secs. 7-8).
3. Q. What is the goal or purpose of all things?
A. B. has heard the answer but forgotten it (sec. 10).
4. Q. What is a human being?
A. Rationale animal atque mortale (sec. 15).
[This is an answer, but an unsatisfactory one. B.
does not in fact know what he himself is.
Specifically, he has forgotten the immortality of
the soul.]
P. summarizes B.'s answers in secs. 18-19, then plots her cure in 20-21.
n1.6.1p : paterisne: future, "will you allow?"
pauculis: diminutives and superlatives are so common in later Latin that they lose much of their force.
attingere: "touch," a verb used elsewhere of a physician feeling for a pulse.
qui modus sit: indirect question.
n1.6.2p : ut responsurum: sc. me , "as one who will answer."
rogato: future imperative < rogo .
n1.6.3p : Huncine: see on 1P4.3.
ei: dative.
n1.6.4p : ut . . . moveantur: indirect statement; see 1P4.17.
certa: nominative plural neuter.
verum: "but."
operi suo: dative with the compound verb praesidere ("to preside over").
fuerit: future perfect, "nor will there ever have been a day."
depellat: subjunctive of characteristic.
n1.6.5p : paulo ante: "a little earlier [in this work]," cf. 1M5.25f; used often to refer to earlier parts of the dialogue.
cecinisti: < cano , "sing."
tantum: adverb, "only."
ceteris: sc. rebus , i.e., other than homines .
quin . . . regerentur: quin introduces the subjunctive after a negative with a verb of doubting, which is the force here of nihil movebare , but the subject of regerentur is supplied from ceteris . Translate, "You are not at all troubled about the others, but that they should be ruled by reason," i.e., you have no trouble believing that non-human affairs are ruled by reason.
movebare = movebaris .
n1.6.6p : Papae: exclamation of surprise or wonder.
aegrotes: "be ill."
nescio quid: "something"; literally, "I know not what."
coniecto: first person singular, "infer, guess."
n1.6.7p : deo: dative of reference (with a passive verb, indicating agent).
n1.6.8p : gubernaculis: "rudders," often metaphorical.
sententiam: here, "meaning."
nedum: "much less."
n1.6.9p : fefellit: < fallo , "deceive," but in the impersonal as here, "I am mistaken, I am deceived."
hianti (< hio , "gape, yawn") valli robore: ablative absolute; for the idea, cf. 1P3.13-14.
n1.6.10p : quove: "or whither?"
n1.6.11p : novi: "I know"; see on 1P3.9.
n1.6.12p : qui: adv., "how."
principio cognito: ablative absolute.
n1.6.13p : valentia: "strength."
quidem . . . autem: "on one hand . . . on the other."
sibique totum exstirpare: "to uproot [him] entirely from himself."
n1.6.15p : Quidni: "why not?"
Hocine: "Is it this?"
an . . . sciam: "whether I know"; indirect question.
rationale animal atque mortale: a commonplace philosophical definition in late antiquity; e.g., Epictetus, 2.9.2; Augustine, De Ordine 2.11.31, etc.
n1.6.17p : vel maximam: "the very greatest."
quid. . . nosse desisti: cf. 1P2.6, sui paulisper oblitus est ; oblivione tui (sec. 18 here).
nosse = novisse < nosco .
n1.6.18-19p : Note three quoniam sentences, each corresponding to one of the ill-answered questions above.
n1.6.19p : nequam: indeclinable adjective, "wicked."
potentes felicesque: predicative, sc. esse .
non . . . modo, verum . . . quoque: "not only, but also."
causae: sc. sunt .
grates: feminine plural nominative, "thanks," sc. sint , with dative, auctori .
n1.6.20p : fomitem: < fomes , literally, "tinder, kindling," in a world where fire meant light: enlightenment is P.'s gift.
veram . . . sententiam: i.e., sec. 4 above.
eam: antecedent is gubernationem .
iam: "soon."
illuxerit: < illucesco , "blaze."
n1.6.21p : veras: sc. opiniones .
ex quibus: i.e., opinionibus .
hanc: sc. caliginem .
fomentis: "poultices."
dimotis . . . tenebris: ablative absolute.
Metrum 7: P. recapitulates the first book's imagery (clouds fly away to restore the light) and doctrine (cf. 1M4.13ff: banish hope and fear).
Meter: Adonic with diaeresis after the dactyl in most lines.
- u u || - -
n1.7.6m : Auster: south wind.
n1.7.8m : dudum: "a short time before."
n1.7.9m : par: adjective, "like, similar to," with dative.
n1.7.11m : resoluto: "stirred-up."
n1.7.13m : visibus: "sight, vision," dative after obstat , "impedes."
n1.7.17m : resistit: "stops still."
n1.7.18-19m : "With the barrier ( obice ) of a rock ( saxi ) loosed ( soluti ) from a cliff ( rupe )."
n1.7.27m : fugato: future imperative < fugo, -are , "put to flight."
n1.7.30m : vincta: < vincio , "bind."
book 2
Book Two
Prosa 1: P. argues it is foolish to complain of adverse fortune, for B. should have known that fortune is always arbitrary and unjust.
n2.1.1p : obticuit: < obticesco , "be struck dumb."
exorsa: < exordior , "begin."
n2.1.2p : penitus: "deeply, thoroughly."
tantum animi tui: "so much of your soul" (but not all: cf. 1P6).
sicuti tu tibi fingis: to be taken closely with mutata ; cf. sec. 9 of this prosa.
n2.1.3p : illius prodigii: i.e., Fortuna.
fucos: literally, "dyes, rouges," here, "false appearances, deceptions."
eo usque: "up to this point" (a point specified by the dum [="until"] clause).
n2.1.4p : si . . . reminiscare . . . cognosces . . . laboraverim: mixed future condition with subjunctive in protasis, indicative (future, then future perfect) in apodosis; cf. on 1P2.6.
n2.1.5p : solebas . . . insectabare: the continuative force of the imperfect is strong in both verbs: "you used to . . . (regularly)."
praesentem . . . blandientemque: sc. fortunam .
prolatis . . . sententiis: ablative absolute, "rendering your judgment."
n2.1.6p : contingit: "happens, occurs."
descisceres: "digress, deviate"; subjunctive in result clause.
n2.1.7p : transmissum: "passed along"; modifies quod .
n2.1.8p : rhetoricae suadela dulcedinis: rhetoric is what is employed in the prosae, music (cf. hac musica laris nostri vernacula ) in the metra.
cumque hac: "and with this [i.e., rhetoric]"; the two main verbs of the sentence are the jussive subjunctives adsit and succinat . The construction would be clearer with a comma after deserit .
n2.1.10p : sui: i.e., "of fortune" \304\304 objective genitive, not possessive.
blandiebatur . . . alluderet: this vacillation of verb mood has no effect on meaning.
n2.1.11p : innotuit: < innotesco , "become known."
n2.1.12p : Si . . . queraris: "If you approve (of her), use (i.e., take advantage of) her ways of behaving, don't complain."
utere: imperative.
ne queraris: subjunctive with ne in a prohibition.
perniciosa ludentem: "[someone (i.e., Fortuna)] making a game of ruination."
esse: sc. causa .
debuisset: past potential subjunctive.
quam: sc. ea as antecedent.
non relicturam: sc. esse ; indirect discourse governed by poterit esse securus (taken as verb of thinking/feeling).
n2.1.13p : abituram: translate, "that is going to pass away."
manendi fida: literally, "faithful in remaining," here "that may be relied on to remain."
allatura: future active participle < adfero , "bring"; translate, "that is going to bring."
n2.1.14p : ex arbitrio: "at (your) choice."
calamitosos: predicative, sc. homines .
fugax: "transient, fleeting"; though this word is in all the manuscripts, it may be an interpolation \304\304 cf. Gruber.
n2.1.15p : suffecerit: future perfect.
exitus: accusative plural.
prudentia: nominative; cf. imprudentia , 1P3.8.
in alterutro: i.e., in good fortune and in bad.
formidandas . . . exoptandas: future passive participles (gerundives) of necessity: "that are to be feared . . . to be desired."
n2.1.16p : oportet: "it is necessary" + subjunctive.
intra fortunae aream: "on fortune's turf." Fortune is like a cruel and arbitrary empress presiding in the amphitheater.
n2.1.17p : iniurius: "wrongful, unjust."
fueris . . . exacerbes: the variation between perfect and present subjunctive is without significance for the meaning.
n2.1.18p : quo . . . quo: "whither."
promoveres: intransitive, "move forward."
inter se: here, "with each other."
n2.1.19p : volventis rotae: From as early as the fifth century B.C. Fortune is depicted as the mistress of a wheel whose revolutions govern the fates of men; largely through Boethius the image impressed itself vividly on the Middle Ages. In the commonest form of illustration, four figures appear at the cardinal points of the wheel (cf. 2P2.9): at the top, a king wearing a crown (labeled: regno ); at the right, a falling man, losing a crown ( regnabam ); at the bottom a figure prostrate with no crown ( sine regno ); and at the left, an ascending figure reaching for a crown ( regnabo ).
incipit: sc. Fortuna .
fors: predicative.
Metrum 1: P. continues to describe Fortuna.
Meter: Scazons ("limping" iambic trimeter). The limping effect is produced because the last foot is always a spondee.
n2.1.1m : Haec: sc. Fortuna .
n2.1.2m : et aestuantis: this is the reading of the manuscripts, but it creates a cum-clause with two verbs in different moods ( verterit . . . fertur ). The emendation exaestuantis has proven attractive; on that reading, line 1 is the cum -clause.
Euripi: The narrow churning strait separating the island of Euboea from the Greek mainland.
n2.1.3m : dudum: "just now"; adverb with tremendos .
n2.1.6m : ultroque = ultro ("moreover, furthermore") + -que .
n2.1.8m : su<ae v>is: "of her power," genitive with ostentum . The letters in brackets are an emendation designed to heal the meter; the manuscripts read simply suis ("to her [followers]"), but the line then has one syllable too few. Other possible emendations include su<biti>s ("by sudden [occurrences]") and <de>monstrat ; but cf. Gruber: "The suggested emendations are not satisfactory."
n2.1.9m : stratus: < sterno , "lay low."
Prosa 2: P. speaks as if she were Fortuna stating her case. This second powerful female figure is quoted but does not actually appear; hence she remains a creature of P. and is seen through P.'s eyes, not as she might appear if B. encountered her directly. For this reason, we are meant to infer, the portrait is accurate.
n2.2.1p : postulet: subjunctive of an indirect question.
n2.2.2p : Quid . . . quam . . . quae: introducing three separate questions.
ream: "defendant."
n2.2.3p : quovis iudice: "with any judge you like."
cuiusquam mortalium proprium: "belonging to anyone of mortals," i.e., "the property of any mortal"; predicative.
quid horum: "any of these."
tua: accusative plural neuter, antecedent of the following quae .
sponte: adverb, "voluntarily, freely."
n2.2.4p : te: object of all the verbs in this sentence.
opibus: < ops ; in plural, "wealth."
quod . . . facit: almost parenthetical, "[a thing] which makes . . ."
nostri: objective genitive.
prona: nominative singular, "well-disposed."
mei iuris: "in my power."
n2.2.5p : habes gratiam: "you have thanks [which you owe]."
usus: past participle < utor .
alienis: "[goods] belonging to someone else"; ablative.
prorsus: "entirely."
tua: accusative plural neuter.
n2.2.6p : talium: "of such things [like opes and honores ]."
n2.2.7p : si . . . forent (= essent ) . . . perdidisses: mixed condition contrary to fact.
n2.2.8p : Licet . . . proferre: licet with a dative and infinitive often has virtually the force of the concessive subjunctive: "[Although] it is permitted for the sky to bring forth. . ."
redimire: "to crown, encircle."
frigoribus: < frigus , "chill, cold weather."
ius est mari: continues the construction with licet above; "[though] it is lawful for the sea . . ."
strato: see on 2M1.9; here, "smooth."
n2.2.9p : rotam: cf. note on 2P1.19.
volubili orbe: "in a whirling circular course."
n2.2.10p : ea lege, ne, uti cum . . . : "with this provision: that you not think it unjust to descend, when the pattern of my game demands." Either uti or cum is strictly superfluous (some scholars follow a tenth century manuscript and delete cum ) but some doubling of conjunctions with cum is possible in late Latin (LHS, 620).
n2.2.11p : Croesum: cf. Herodotus 1.86ff; in 1.207.2, Croesus tells Cyrus, "But if you recognize that even you are a man and that you rule over others like yourself, learn this lesson first, that there is a wheel in human affairs and that as it goes around it does not allow the same men always to be fortunate."
formidabilem . . . miserandum . . . traditum . . . defensum: modify Croesum in two pairs, while specifying three stages in his career ( miserandum and traditum speak to the same moment).
n2.2.12p : Paulum: L. Aemilius Paulus (consul in 170 B.C.) defeated the last king of Macedonia, Perseus (genitive: Persi ); Livy and others told of Paulus's sober reflections on the instability of mortal prosperity.
se: Paulus; where the subject is impersonal, the reference of the reflexive pronoun is directed by common sense.
Quid . . . vertentem?: A ninth-century commentator, Remigius of Auxerre, attributes this definition of tragedy to the early Roman tragic poet Pacuvius; the words indiscreto . . . vertentem may indeed be such a citation, but Pacuvius's works are lost. The definition was much quoted and discussed in the Middle Ages.
indiscreto: "indiscriminate."
n2.2.13p :
iacere: subject is
n2.2.14p : mei: objective genitive.
tamen ne: Read as tamenne (i.e., tamen + interrogative ne ), "do you still [in spite of all this] . . . ?" (Cf. Gruber)
proprio . . . iure: "as [your] own master."
Metrum 2: Mankind is reproached (still in Fortune's words) for a greed insatiable by any riches.
Meter: Asclepiad (glyconic internally compounded with a choriamb [ - u u -]) alternating with pherecratic:
n2.2.1m : Si: take with fundat . . . nec retrahat . . . Copia (lines 5-6).
n2.2.1-3m : quantas . . . quot: correlative with tantas (l. 5).
n2.2.6m : Copia: "Plenty"; the image of the cornucopia goes back to earliest Latin literature.
n2.2.7m : ideo: "for that reason."
n2.2.8m : cesset flere querelas: "would cease to weep out its laments."
n2.2.10m : prodigus: "lavish," governs genitive.
n2.2.12m : nil iam parta (< pario ) videntur: "Things that have already been gained seem as nothing."
n2.2.13m : quaesita: accusative plural neuter, "that which is sought-for."
n2.2.16m : retentent: "hold fast, keep back"; potential subjunctive.
n2.2.17m : cum potius: "when instead [of the restraints mentioned in line 15]."
n2.2.18m : sitis: "thirst."
n2.2.19m : dives agit: "is rich"; ago here = sum or vivo .
Prosa 3: P. recalls the happiness B. enjoyed during the years fortune smiled upon him.
n2.3.1p : His: sc. verbis .
quid . . . non haberes: "you would not have anything to blurt out in return"; hisceres : < hisco , "open the mouth"; subjunctive in indirect question.
iure: "justifiably."
n2.3.2p : oblita: < oblino , "smear, daub."
rhetoricae et musicae: cf. 2.P1.8.
tum . . . oblectant: almost parenthetical; should not obscure the contrast: "Speciosa . . . sunt . . . sed miseris . . . ."
n2.3.3p : contumacis: modified by the adverb adhuc , and governs adversum curationem .
n2.3.4p : ammovebo: "I will apply."
ne . . . velis: ne with subjunctive for prohibition.
n2.3.5p : Taceo, quod: "I say nothing [concerning the fact] that"; cf. sec. 7, praetereo . This stylized mention-by-not-mentioning ( praeteritio ) was a recognized rhetorical ploy.
summorum . . . virorum: Symmachus and his friends.
delectus: "chosen, taken up."
quod . . . genus est: parenthetical, antecedent is the clause to follow.
n2.3.6p : cum . . . cum . . . tum: "both . . . and . . . and."
coniugis: Rusticiana, daughter of Symmachus.
masculae . . . prolis: B. had two sons, Boethius and Symmachus.
n2.3.7p : sumptas . . . dignitates: "offices assumed"; dignitas throughout the Consolatio is the specific term for "public office." Adulescentia (the stage between pueritia and iuventus ) could extend as far as age 30 or so. Born c. 480 or shortly after, B. was consul in 510.
n2.3.8p : lucis: here = "day."
quantalibet . . . mole: "however great a mass."
ingruentium: < ingruo , "assail, fall upon."
duos pariter consules liberos tuos: in 522, just before B.'s rise to the post of magister officiorum . For two westerners to hold the consulship together was unusual at this time; two from the same family had not done so since 395 A.D. This is a sign that B. had friends in high places at Constantinople, where final decisions about the consulship were taken.
alacritate: "exuberant enthusiasm."
curules: sc. sellas , the official consular chairs; object of insidentibus .
regiae laudis: The biographical note about B. in the Ordo Generis Cassiodororum fragment specifies that this speech was in honor of Theoderic (who did not come closer to Rome than Ravenna after one ceremonial visit in 500) rather than the emperor Justin.
in circo: the circus at Rome, as at Constantinople, was still the site of the games and shows that the consuls (or their wealthy and doting fathers) were expected to stage.
duorum medius consulum: "in the middle [between] two consuls."
triumphali: i.e., on a scale worthy of an imperator's triumph.
n2.3.9p : Dedisti . . . verba: "you deceived, you hoodwinked." The idiom dare verba is classical.
dum . . . demulcet, dum . . . fovet: the historical present is common with dum meaning "while."
nulli: dative.
abstulisti: "carried off."
calculum ponere: "put the stone [on the counting-board]," i.e., "settle accounts," "come to a reckoning."
n2.3.10p : liventi: "envying."
praestrinxit: "touched" (post-classical meaning).
laetorum tristiumve: sc. hominum .
n2.3.11p : idcirco . . . quoniam: correlative: "for this reason . . . since."
non est, quod: "there is no reason why."
n2.3.12p : reris: < reor , "think."
fortuitis: "things that come by chance."
manendi fides: see on 2P1.13.
n2.3.13p : mors quaedam: "a kind of death."
etiam manentis: "that lasts even so long."
n2.3.14p : referre: "be important, matter."
-ne . . . an: "whether . . . or."
Metrum 3: Vacillation between peace and turmoil is common and characteristic of all the world of nature.
Meter: Sapphic hendecasyllable alternating with glyconic. The sapphic consists of a cretic ( - u -) + a headless hipponactean, i.e., a hipponactean that has been shortened by one element at the beginning (x - u u - u - -). It has a caesura after the fifth syllable.
n2.3.3m : albentes . . . vultus: accusative of respect, governed by hebetata (< hebeto , "make dull, blunt").
n2.3.7m : spiret: sc. si .
insanum: adverb, "madly," a colloquialism.
n2.3.9m : radiat: "shines."
sereno: noun, "clear, bright sky."
n2.3.13m : sua: i.e., mundi .
n2.3.15-16m : crede: with dative, "trust in." Ironic.
n2.3.17m : lege est: elides.
n2.3.17-18m : constat . . . constet: to capture the pun, try "it is certain . . . nothing . . . is certain."
n2.3.18m : genitum nihil: "nothing that is begotten."
Prosa 4: P. complements the last section's summary of past happiness with a positive view of B.'s present condition.
n2.4.2p : fuisse felicem: "to have been happy."
n2.4.3p : quod . . . luas: in apposition with id , "the fact that you are paying the penalty."
mecum reputes licet: "please consider with me . . . ," governing the indirect question quam . . . abundes .
n2.4.4p : quod . . . possidebas: antecedent is id .
divinitus: "by divine influence."
meliora quaeque: "all the better things"; see note on 1P3.14.
de infortunio . . . causari: "to complain about misfortune"; iure is adverbial (see on 2P3.1).
n2.4.5p : quod: antecedent is to be inferred from following main clause ( vir . . . iniuriis ).
emeres: < emo , "buy."
securus suarum (sc. iniuriarum ) : "without fear of injuries of his own."
n2.4.6p : pudicitia pudore: both ablatives governed by praecellens ; the two terms are very close in meaning, but are used together without a connective (cf. Sallust, Catilina 12.2).
dotes: < dos , literally, "dowry," figuratively, "gifts"; B. plays on both meanings here.
tibique tantum: "for you alone."
vitae huius exosa spiritum servat: "(although) detesting this life, (yet) keeps breath [in her body]"; vitae huius is a very rare use of the objective genitive (see Gruber).
quoque uno: "and in which thing alone"; the antecedent is the whole clause tui desiderio . . . tabescit : enclitic -que correlates with tibique in the preceding line.
vel ipsa: "even I."
tui desiderio: "with longing for you."
n2.4.7p : quorum: the clause is marked by anacoluthon, a shift in grammatical structure in midstream; it would be easier to translate if quorum were in quibus .
id aetatis: "at that age." ( AG 397a).
n2.4.8p : o te . . . felicem: accusative of exclamation, "O happy you!"
suppetunt: "are available."
vita: ablative of comparison with cariora .
n2.4.9p : nondum . . . fortuna: literally, "Fortune has not yet hated all, to [the last] one." Omnes must be Boethius's loved ones.
n2.4.11p : aliquantum: adverb, "somewhat."
nondum: "not yet."
piget: constructed with accusative of the person affected and genitive of the source of the emotion: "you are not yet vexed with your lot as a whole."
delicias: if applied to inanimate objects, "triflings, whimsicalities"; metaphor for self-indulgence.
qui . . . conqueraris: subjunctive in a causal relative clause ( qui = cum tu ).
n2.4.12p : et quae: "and one which."
n2.4.13p : census: literally, "register of property," hence the property itself; here, "wealth."
pudori: dative of purpose; "a source of shame," i.e., "an embarrassment."
rei familiaris: "property, wealth."
n2.4.14p : utroque: "with both," i.e., wealth and nobility.
orbus: "bereft of," with ablative.
n2.4.15p : inest . . . exhorreat = inest singulis [rebus aliquid] quod inexpertus ignoret [et quod] expertus exhorreat . ( expertus: "one who has experienced [it].") Roughly, "Every silver lining has a cloud."
n2.4.16p : delicatissimus: "most fastidious."
ad nutum: "according to his whim."
insolens: "unaccustomed to"; with genitive.
minimis quibusque: "every least thing."
fortunatissimis: dative of separation.
n2.4.17p : Hic ipse locus: see on 1P4.36.
n2.4.18p : omnis tolerantis: possessive genitive: "of every (person) enduring . . ."
n2.4.19p : dederit impatientiae manus: dare manus + dative = "to yield to, to give in to."
n2.4.20p : respersa: < respergo , "besprinkle, splash."
quominus . . . abeat: clause of prevention after retineri ; the subject of the verb is dulcedo .
n2.4.21p : liquet: "it is clear"; with indirect question, quam sit misera . . . ("how wretched is . . .").
n2.4.22p : Construe: Quid ("Why") petitis extra [vos] felicitatem positam intra vos?
n2.4.23p : cardinem: literally, "hinge, axis"; here, "crucial element."
inquies: "you will say."
tui compos: "in control of yourself."
n2.4.25p : naturae . . . ratione degentis: "of a nature living by reason" ( degentis < dego , "live").
manifestum est, quin: "it is clear that"; quin after a positive statement is rare, even in later Latin, but manifestum est has the force of non est dubium ( AG 558a); cf. dubitari nequit . . . quin in sec. 28 below.
n2.4.26p : Ad haec: "moreover."
vel si amiserit: "if he does in fact lose [it]."
n2.4.27p : perexile: literally, "very thin, meagre."
n2.4.28p : nequit: "cannot."
haec: sc. fortuita felicitas .
quin: cf. on sec. 25 above.
in miseriam . . . labatur: "slides toward wretchedness."
mortis fine: "at the end, which is death"; mortis is epexegetic (i.e., explanatory) genitive.
n2.4.29p : multos: e.g., Zeno (1P3.9); it is not necessary to see here an allusion to Christian martyrdom (though medieval readers would have).
praesens: sc. felicitas fortuita .
Metrum 4: The wise man lives quietly in humble circumstances.
Meter: Iambic dimeter catalectic (i.e., lacking final syllable) alternating with pherecratics.
n2.4.1m : volet: future instead of the present vult (cf. line 6, curat ) for sake of meter.
n2.4.3m : stabilis: nominative singular masculine.
n2.4.4m : Euri: the east wind.
n2.4.8m : vitet: hortatory subjunctive in main clause.
n2.4.9m : illud: sc. cacumen .
n2.4.11m : hae: sc. harenae .
pendulum: "pulled downward by gravity"; modifies pondus .
n2.4.15m : memento: imperative < memini , "remember."
n2.4.19m : quieti: ablative of place where with conditus .
n2.4.20m : valli: genitive < vallum , "rampart."
Prosa 5: Wealth cannot truly be owned and is of no value: not money (4ff), not precious stones (8ff), not land (11ff), not fine clothes (17), not a crowd of slaves (18ff).
n2.5.1p : paulo . . . puto: "I think somewhat stronger [remedies] must be used."
paulo: ablative of measure of difference with validioribus .
utendum (sc. esse ) : "one must use"; the impersonal passive must be used for the passive of intransitive verbs (i.e., verbs that do not govern an accusative object).
n2.5.2p : Age: imperative < ago ; here colloquially, "go on."
caduca et momentaria: predicate nominative.
n2.5.3p : vestrae: predicative, in the question ("are riches yours?").
n2.5.4p : effundendo . . . coacervando: gerunds, hence active; "in the pouring out . . . in the heaping up"; but a passive sense is required in translating: "by being poured out . . . by being heaped up."
n2.5.5p : potest: subject is the implied antecedent of quod .
largiendi usu: "by the act of being given away." For voice, see on sec. 4 above.
n2.5.6p : At eadem . . . congeratur: construe: At si eadem [pecunia] (quanta est ubique gentium) apud unum [hominem] congeratur .
sui: objective genitive with inopes .
fecerit: subject is eadem (sc. pecunia ).
comminutae: < comminuo , "break into pieces."
faciant . . . relinquunt: subject is divitiae .
n2.5.7p : o . . . divitias: see on 2P4.8.
pluribus: dative of reference with licet .
veniunt: sc. quae as subject.
n2.5.8p : praecipui: partitive genitive with quid .
n2.5.9p : motu atque compage: ablatives after carens .
compage: "structure."
animatae rationabilique naturae: dative with videatur .
opera: ablative.
n2.5.10p : suique: "and of [the gems] themselves."
distinctione: literally, "differentiation"; here effectively approaches English "distinction"; cf. distingueris (sec. 13 below).
postremae: "final, lasting, ultimate," modifies pulchritudinis .
mereantur: subjunctive in apodosis of a mixed condition; but merebantur (the reading of the manuscripts) is equally possible. If merebantur , the reference would be to B.'s earlier life; if mereantur , to his present plight.
n2.5.12p : attingit: "touch, concern."
audes: < audeo, audere .
n2.5.13p : tua: word position emphasizes the absurdity.
n2.5.14p : raperis: < rapio .
tua . . . aliena: "yours . . . not-yours"; both predicative (accusative plural neuter), contrasted with each other.
n2.5.15p : animantium: "animate beings"; take closely with alimentis.
procul dubio: "doubtless."
quod naturae satis est: the antecedent is the clause replere . . . velis .
n2.5.16p : quod infuderis: "what you shall have sent flooding in."
fiet: future < fio , "become."
n2.5.17p : intuitu: "to look at," ablative supine with grata .
artificis: < artifex , "craftsman, maker."
n2.5.18p : famulorum: < famulus , "servant, attendant."
domus: genitive.
ipsi: dative.
sin: "but if."
n2.5.19p : liquido: adverb, "clearly."
Quibus: dative of possession; "if these have . . ."
amissis . . . retentis: ablative absolutes, "[when they] have been lost . . . [when they] have been kept."
laeteris: < laetor , "rejoice, be glad."
n2.5.20p : natura: ablative.
quid . . . refert: "what has it to do with you?" ( tua : ablative, sc. re ).
placuissent: pluperfect subjunctive in an implied past contrary to fact condition (the protasis is inferred from a tuis quoque opibus sequestrata = si sequestrata essent ).
n2.5.21p : idcirco . . . quod: correlative, "for this reason . . . because."
venere = venerunt .
n2.5.22p : fortunae: objective genitive.
n2.5.23p : cedit: here, "goes"; cf. incedo, accedo , etc.
amminiculis: "props, supports."
opus est: "there is need of," + ablative.
supellectilis: < supellex , "furniture, apparatus."
permultis . . . possideant: proverb, phrased in indirect statement after verum . . . est ; permultis is ablative after indigere .
minimum: sc. eos [ qui . . . metiantur ] indigere , in a continuation of the proverb with a change from ablative to accusative after indigere .
n2.5.24p : vobis: dative of possession.
n2.5.25p : versa: "turned upside-down."
merito: ablative of cause with divinum .
n2.5.26p : alia: sc. animalia .
deo mente consimiles: cf. divinum merito rationis animal in the preceding sentence.
captatis: < capto , "hunt, try to get."
n2.5.27p : praestare: "to stand out among, to be superior to," with dative.
n2.5.28p : si omne cuiusque bonum . . . pretiosius: "if it is clear that the good of anything is more valuable than the thing to which it belongs."
vilissima rerum: "the cheapest of things."
vosmet: intensive for vos .
summittitis: < summitto , "place one thing [accusative] below another [dative]."
cadit: "happens, falls out."
ceteris rebus: dative after excellat .
n2.5.29p : cum se cognoscit: cf. the Socratic command, "Know thyself."
nosse = novisse , "to know." (On tense, see note on 1P3.9.)
naturae: genitive of characteristic.
hominibus vitio venit: supply a "but" in translating. There is no explicit connective with previous clause ("adversative asyndeton").
vitio: dative of purpose, "as a vice."
n2.5.30p : qui: antecedent is vos , inferred from vester .
n2.5.31p : appositis: "things set beside [itself]."
nihilo minus: "nonetheless"; nihilo is ablative of measure of difference.
foeditate: < foeditas , "foulness."
n2.5.32p : habenti: dative after noceat (< noceo , "harm").
n2.5.33p : eoque: "and for that reason" (i.e., because he is pessimus ).
se solum . . . putat: "thinks himself alone most worthy to have it."
n2.5.34p : contum: "pole, club."
vacuus: here, "empty of pocket."
intrasses = intravisses .
coram: "in the presence of," with ablative.
Cf. Juvenal 10.20-22:
nocte iter ingressus gladium contumque timebis . . .
cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.
"Going on a journey by night, you will fear the sword and club. . .; the traveler with empty pockets will sing in the robber's face."
adeptus: < adipiscor , "attain, acquire."
Metrum 5: The Golden Age found happiness without riches. (The ideas and images of this poem are part of a long, rich tradition of poetic depictions of an idyllic past.)
Meter: Anapestic dimeter catalectic. Diaeresis between the metra occurs only in lines 1 and 27.
n2.5.4m : facili: "ready-to-hand, easy-to-find," picked up randomly from the earth where they lay abundantly. Cf. 1M6.6, where acorns are a less attractive food.
sera: "tardy," modifying ieiunia ; people in olden days were less hastily attentive to their hunger.
glande: "acorn, nut."
n2.5.6m : Bacchica: "Bacchic"; see on 1M6.15.
norant = noverant ; here, "knew [how to]."
n2.5.7m : melle: < mel , "honey"; honey wine or mead ( mulsum ) was a luxury at Rome.
n2.5.8m : lucida vellera Serum (< Seres , "the Chinese"): "gleaming fleeces of the Chinese," i.e., silk from China (not long after B.'s death the emperor Justinian sought to import silkworms to the empire to satisfy demand for the fabric).
Tyrio . . . veneno: "Tyrian dye," extracted from shellfish and exported from Tyre in Phoenicia to adorn the richest garments. ( Venenum is ordinarily "venom," but with proper adjectives is regularly used for "dye" as well.)
n2.5.10m : herba: "grass."
n2.5.13m : secabat: < seco , "cut, cleave"; subject is hospes (line 15).
n2.5.14m : mercibus undique lectis: "having gathered merchandise from all over."
n2.5.16m : classica: < classicum , "battle signal, trumpet."
n2.5.21m : viderent: effectively "foresaw" for providerent ; the shorter form is metrically convenient.
n2.5.23m : Utinam . . . redirent . . . tempora: "If only our times might return"; imperfect subjunctive in a present wish incapable of fulfillment.
n2.5.25m : Aetnae: the volcano in Sicily.
n2.5.26m : amor ardet habendi: cf. 2M2.18, sitis ardescit habendi .
n2.5.29m : latere volentes: "preferring to remain hidden."
n2.5.30m : fodit: "dug [up]," less precise than effodit , but metrically easier.
Prosa 6: Worldly offices and power bring a happiness no more certain than what is brought by wealth.
n2.6.1p : dignitatibus: see on 2P3.7.
qua: sc. potentia , ablative of means, with vos as object of exaequatis . Some editors read quas (i.e., dignitates potentiamque ), making it the object of exaequatis . Cf. Gruber.
quae. . . Aetnae . . . quod diluvium: "what Aetnas [i.e., volcanoes] . . . what deluge?"
n2.6.2p : uti: "as."
consulare: adjective, "of the consuls." The allusion is to the rise of the tribunes of the people as a balance to oligarchic power, itself the result of revolt against the kings.
veteres: here, "ancestors."
n2.6.3p : deferantur: "are conferred upon," with dative; sc. dignitates as subject.
n2.6.4p : expetibilis: "desirable."
Nonne . . . quibus qui . . . videamini: "Do you not, mere earthly animals, consider over what creatures you who [seem to rule] seem to rule?"
mures: < mus , "mouse."
cachinno: < cachinnus , "derisive laughter."
n2.6.5p : imbecillius: < imbecillus , "weak."
quos: sc. homines .
muscularum: < muscula , "little fly" (diminutive of musca ).
reptantium: "of [creatures] creeping."
in secreta quaeque: see on 1P3.14.
n2.6.6p : Quo: "How, in what way?"
quempiam: "anyone [else]," masculine or feminine accusative singular of quispiam .
exserere: < exsero , here "exert."
imperabis: < impero ("command, give orders") is constructed with accusative of the command and dative of the one commanded.
sibi: with cohaerentem ; where the subject of the sentence is in the second person, the reflexive points to the nearest noun.
n2.6.8p : adacturum (sc. esse ) : < adigo , "compel" governs ut -clause to follow. The "free man" was Zeno of Elea (see on 1P3.9).
adversum se: i.e., adversum tyrannum .
proderet: < prodo , "betray."
momordit: < mordeo , "bite."
cruciatus: "tortures," accusative plural.
virtutis: sc. materiam .
n2.6.9p : possit . . . possit: Bear in mind that possum has the same root as potentia and potestas .
sustinere: here, "suffer."
n2.6.10p : Busiridem: < Busiris , king of Egypt; his story was told in Herodotus 2.45 and often elsewhere.
solitum: < soleo , "be accustomed"; since soleo is semi-deponent, the perfect participle is active in meaning.
n2.6.11p : Regulus: Roman hero of the first Punic war (264-241 B.C.); captured by the Carthaginians, he was released to report (ignominious) peace terms back to Rome, under oath to return if his mission failed. At Rome, he argued eloquently against the proposed treaty and when it was rejected returned honorably to Carthage, where he was put to (gruesome) death.
plures: literally "more," but here there is no comparative force: "many."
victorum: < victor .
n2.6.12p : potest: sc. facere .
ne . . . valeat: substantive clause of result after efficere ("to bring it about").
n2.6.13p : Ad haec: see on 2P4.26.
pessimis: dative with provenirent , "come to."
adversa: "opposites" (subject of solent ).
sociari, natura: connective omitted (asyndeton); English punctuation would replace the comma with a semicolon.
contraria quaeque: "any opposites whatever."
n2.6.14p : pessimos . . . fungi: accusative/infinitive after dubium non sit .
natura sui = natura sua (ablative); antecedent of sui is bona .
n2.6.15p : dignius: adverbial < dignus ; modifies existimari .
n2.6.16p : nemo . . . cui: "no one doubts that [that person] is brave, in whom."
n2.6.17p : effectibus: "things brought about, effects."
n2.6.18p : fecerit: future perfect.
collata: < confero , "confer upon," with dative.
non modo . . . sed . . . potius: "not only . . . but rather [i.e., instead]."
n2.6.19p : provenit: "happen."
Gaudetis: ironic address: "You [mortals] take pleasure . . ."
res . . . habentes: "things that regard themselves otherwise," object of compellare ("to call").
quae: sc. nomina .
redarguuntur: "are contradicted."
divitiae . . . potentia . . . dignitas: each is predicative.
n2.6.20p : idem . . . concludere: "to conclude the same thing," i.e., to draw the same conclusion.
Metrum 6: A famous example of wickedness unimproved by attaining supreme power.
Meter: Sapphic hendecasyllable (cretic + headless hipponactean).
n2.6.1-2m : The great fire at Rome of A.D. 64; rumors of an imperial arsonist were spread by well-placed citizens.
quantas dederit ruinas: indirect question; the subject is the relative clause (lines 3-7).
n2.6.2m : urbe . . . caesis: ablative absolute.
patribus: "senators."
n2.6.3m : fratre interempto: Tiberius Claudius Caesar, son of Claudius, murdered by his adoptive brother in A.D. 55.
n2.6.4m : matris effuso . . . cruore: ablative of means with maduit. Refers to the murder of Agrippina in 59 A.D.: the rumor that the murderous son cast a coolly appraising eye over his mother's corpse is repeated by Tacitus ( Ann. 14.3ff), but neither endorsed nor scotched by him.
n2.6.5m : visu: < visus , "sight, vision."
n2.6.7m : censor: here, "evaluator, judge."
n2.6.9-13m : Rome's sway reaches from west to east and from north to south.
n2.6.11m : septem . . . triones: literally, "the seven plough-oxen," i.e., the seven stars constituting the constellation known variously as the Wain, Ursa Maior, the Big Dipper),
n2.6.12m : Notus: south wind.
n2.6.15m : vertere: last syllable is closed (thus long) before pr- .
Neronis: the name is postponed as long as possible; the identity was clear to B.'s readers as early as line 3.
n2.6.16m : gravem sortem: accusative of exclamation.
Prosa 7: Worldly fame is weak in true consolations.
n2.7.1p : minimum: adverb, with nobis .
dominatam: < dominor , "rule over," here as often in later Latin, with dative (of the object of rule).
quo ne = ne (or quominus ).
n2.7.2p : nondum . . . perductas: take the whole phrase together to modify mentes .
ad extremam manum: "to the finishing touches."
gloriae scilicet cupido: in apposition with hoc unum . Cf. Milton's Lycidas: "Fame . . . that last infirmity of a noble mind."
n2.7.3p : ambitum: "encirclement, encompassing."
astrologicis: "of the science of the stars"; there was not in B.'s time any hard and fast distinction between astronomy and astrology; here we would think of astronomy.
ad: "[compared] to."
puncti . . . rationem: "the ratio of a point"; ratio was already used in later Latin in the modern arithmetical sense.
id est, ut: introducing the result of the comparison just made.
n2.7.4p : The "known world" was believed to fill only one-fourth of the globe, from Europe to Asia, bounded by the arctic, by the oceans, and by uninhabitable burning desert to the south. ( Ptolomaeo: see on 1M2.12.)
nobis: dative depending on cognitis .
n2.7.5p : Even in the inhabited portion of the globe, there is so little habitable land that the arena for human activity is as small compared to the whole planet as the planet is small compared to the cosmos.
Huic quartae: dative with verb of taking away.
quantum . . . quantumque: relatives corresponding to an implicit tantum (object of subtraxeris ). The first quantum is accusative; the second is adverbial.
n2.7.6p : quodam: here, "as it were, so to speak."
artata: < arto , "compress."
n2.7.7p : habitaculi: "dwelling-place."
saeptum: used of any small penned-in area.
insolentia: "un-accustomedness, infrequency."
non modo: for non modo non .
urbium: sc. fama .
n2.7.8p : M. Tulli: Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 - 43 B.C.), the orator.
quodam loco: Cicero, De Republica 6.22, recounting the famous dream of Scipio ( Somnium Scipionis ) on which Macrobius wrote a commentary in the fifth century. B.'s father-in-law Symmachus had arranged for the Macrobius work to be copied under his aegis.
Caucasus: Cicero and B. seem to have used this name for different mountains: Cicero the Himalayas, B. the modern Caucasus between the Black and Caspian Seas.
adulta: sc. res publica .
Parthis . . . ceterisque . . . gentibus: datives with formidolosa .
id locorum: see on 2P4.7.
n2.7.9p : quam
dilatare: "to broaden, expand."
ubi: here virtually of place "to which," for quo .
n2.7.10p : Quid quod: "What of the fact that . . . ?"
n2.7.11p : conducat: here impersonal: "it is advantageous, profitable," with dative.
n2.7.12p : pervagata ("far-wandering") . . . gloria: ablative.
n2.7.13p : scriptorum inops . . . oblivio: literally, "forgetfulness, poor in writers"; i.e., a lack of writers of history leaves many great men to be forgotten.
proficiant: "avail, profit."
n2.7.15p : pertractes: "consider, handle"; object is famam understood.
ad: "[in comparison] to."
quid habes, quod . . . laeteris: i.e., "what reason do you have to rejoice?"
n2.7.16p : The argument used above to show the spatial insignificance of human deeds (3f) recurs to prove temporal insignificance.
utrumque: "each."
minimam licet: sc. esse portionem .
eiusque quamlibet multiplex: sc. numerus , "and however great a multiple of that one [it may be]."
n2.7.17p : "There could be some [comparison] to each other in turn for finite [i.e., measurable] things, but of infinite and finite there could never be any comparison."
n2.7.18p : Ita fit, ut: "so it happens that."
quamlibet: take with prolixi , "long."
n2.7.19p : ad: here, "in the face of."
facere nescitis: "you don't know how to act."
relicta . . . praestantia: ablative absolute.
n2.7.20p : festive: "wittily."
adortus esset: < adorior , "attack, assail."
sciturum: sc. esse .
velut insultans: "as if to taunt [him]."
intellexeram: In a contrary to fact condition, the indicative may be used to express what was likely, intended, or already begun ( AG 517b).
n2.7.21p : post resolutum . . . corpus: "after dissolution of the body."
attineat: "pertains, belongs."
n2.7.22p : nostrae . . . vetant: cf. 2P4.28.
toti: "as a whole, completely."
n2.7.23p : This ascent to heaven and disdain for the cares of this world is the subject of the Somnium Scipionis and the commentary by Macrobius.
quae: sc. mens .
se . . . exemptam: sc. esse ; accusative/infinitive after gaudet .
Metrum 7: The arguments of prosa 7 (on gloria ) are restated with little variation.
Meter: Iambic trimeter alternating with iambic dimeter. In the trimeter, the anceps (x) of the first and third metra may be either u or - or uu; caesura always occurs after the first element of the second metron.
n2.7.2m : summum: sc. bonum esse .
n2.7.3m : cernat: jussive subjunctive: "let him perceive."
n2.7.4m : artum: "narrow, hemmed-in."
n2.7.5m : replere non valentis: "not able to fill."
n2.7.6m : pudebit: sc. eum . For the construction, see on 1P4.19.
n2.7.8m : levare: "lighten, ease."
gestiunt: translate as second person plural after the vocative o superbi ; B. seems here to have erred. (For an attempt to defend B., see Gruber ad loc.)
n2.7.10m : explicet: "loosen."
n2.7.11m : titulis: "titles, inscriptions."
n2.7.14m : aequat summis infima: cf. 2P2.9.
n2.7.15m : Fabricii: Fabricius, the hero of the war with Pyrrhus (c. 280 B.C.), renowned for an austere and virtuous way of life.
n2.7.16m : quid: "[to] what [purpose]?"
There is no need to decide which Brutus (the expeller of kings or the assassin of Caesar) and which Cato (the consul of 195 and later censor renowned for strict morals and hostility to Carthage or the contemporary and opponent of Caesar) B. has in mind; all were proverbial heroes.
n2.7.17m : superstes: nominative, modifies fama .
n2.7.19m : quod: "because."
vocabula: i.e., "names."
n2.7.21m : iacetis: sc. superbi (line 7).
n2.7.24m : aura: ablative.
n2.7.25m : hoc: i.e., the "immortality" of fame.
Prosa 8: P. concedes that 'Fortune' has its uses.
n2.8.1p : est aliquando: "There is a time when"; use of the adverb virtually as a noun is not classical.
nihil: accusative of respect with fallax : "not at all false"; adverbial in effect.
mereatur: here, "behaves," with de hominibus , "towards men"; subjunctive in circumstantial cum -clause.
tum scilicet, cum: "namely then, when"; the cum -clauses to follow are temporal (specifying a time) hence the verbs are indicative.
n2.8.3p : Fortuna is now distinguished as prospera and adversa . Good fortune falsely seems desirable, but bad is always sincerely hostile. The vivid personification with which this book began can now be dispensed with.
n2.8.4p : illa = prospera fortuna .
haec = adversa fortuna .
mendacium: genitive plural < mendax , "false, untruthful"; with bonorum .
fruentium: sc. se (ablative object).
absolvit: "frees," sc. mentes fruentium se .
fluentem . . . succinctam: "ungirdled . . . belted."
suique . . . ignaram: "and ignorant of herself."
exercitatione: "training, testing."
n2.8.5p : devios: "off the path"; predicative.
reduces: accusative plural < redux , "led back."
n2.8.6p : tibi: with detexit .
secrevit: "set apart, distinguished."
n2.8.7p : Quanti: genitive of price.
hoc: i.e., this separation of faithful and faithless friends.
integer: "unimpaired, intact," i.e., before his fall from power.
querere: imperative, ironic (cf. similar expression at 2M3.15-16).
quod . . . genus est: see on 2P3.5.
Cf. Cicero, De amicitia 6.20: Est enim amicitia nihil aliud nisi omnium divinarum humanarumque rerum cum benevolentia et caritate consensio; qua quidem haud scio an excepta sapientia nihil melius homini sit a dis immortalibus datum. Divitias alii praeponunt, bonam alii valetudinem, alii potentiam, alii honores, multi etiam voluptates.
"For friendship is nothing less than the harmony of divine and human affairs through generosity and esteem. I know no better gift granted to men by the immortal gods than friendship, except wisdom. Some prefer riches, some good health, some power, some high office \304\304 many even prefer pleasure."
Metrum 8: The world is governed by love.
Meter: Glyconic.
n2.8.1-6m : Each couplet is a self-contained noun clause, ( quod = "that") in apposition with hanc rerum seriem (line 13).
n2.8.2m : concordes: < concors , "of one heart, at one, harmonious."
n2.8.7-12m : Each couplet is a purpose clause after ligat (line 13).
n2.8.7m : Hesperos: see on 1M5.11.
n2.8.8m : Phoebe: the moon, sister of Phoebus, the sun.
n2.8.9m : fluctus: last syllable long, therefore accusative plural.
n2.8.15m : imperitans: < imperito , frequentative < impero , with dative.
amor: the thematic word appears at the center of the poem.
n2.8.16m : Hic: sc. amor , as again in 22, 24, 26.
n2.8.17m : invicem: "reciprocally, in return."
n2.8.19m : quam: sc. machinam (line 21).
n2.8.20m :