TUMULTUS ET REBELLIO

Introduction.

The following three extracts on the subject of "riot and rebellion" are translations of texts taken from  the "Cambridge Latin Anthology", Cambridge School Classics Project, Cambridge University Press, 1996. The first two come from the historian Tacitus, and the third from the "Acts of the Apostles" in the "Vulgate" edition of the New Testament.   

The riot at Pompeii (from Tacitus: "Annales", Book XIV, Chapter 17).

In 59 A.D. a gladiatorial show in the amphitheatre at Pompeii was being watched by citizens of both Pompeii and neighbouring Nuceria. The two groups became rivals in their support of the gladiators, and started hurling first abuse and then missiles at each other; by the end many Nucerians were wounded or killed. 

About the same time from a trifling beginning there arose a frightful slaughter between the inhabitants of Nuceria and those of Pompeii at a gladiatorial show which Livineius Regulus was presenting. For the townspeople with their customary hooliganism attacked (each other) in turn; they resorted to insults, then stones, and finally weapons, the people of Pompeii, among whom the show was being staged, (being) the stronger. So, many people from (amongst) the inhabitants of Nuceria were taken to the City, with their bodies mutilated by wounds, and many were mourning the deaths of children or parents. The Emperor referred the judgement of this matter to the Senate, (and) the Senate to the consuls. And the matter having been referred back again to the senators, the people of Pompeii were banned from (holding) a meeting of that kind for ten years; and associations which had been established contrary to the laws were dissolved; Livineius, and others who had provoked the disorder, were punished with exile.

Boudica's rebellion (from Tacitus: "Annales", Book XIV, Chapters 31, 34, 37).

In 60 A.D. Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman governor of Britain, was engaged in the conquest of Anglesey. Boudica, queen of the the Iceni tribe in East Anglia, took advantage of the absence of Suetonius to stage an uprising agaisnt the harshness of Roman rule.

Prasutagus, the king of the Iceni, famed for a long time for his wealth, had written in his will that Caesar (i.e. Nero) (was) his heir alongside his two daughters, thinking that by such submissiveness his kingdom and his household would be safe (lit. far) from harm. It turned out just the opposite, such that his kingdom was  plundered by centurions, and his household by slaves just as if (it had been) seized. To begin with, his wife (was) scourged, and his daughters were violated by rape: all the chief men of the Iceni, as if the Romans had received the whole region as a gift, were deprived of their ancestral estates, and the king's relatives were treated like slaves. Aroused by this humiliation and by the fear of worse (injuries), because they had been reduced to the status of a province, they take up arms; the Trinobantes were aroused, as well as others who, not yet cowed by servitude, had pledged themselves, in a secret conspiracy, to reclaim their freedom. Their hatred towards the veterans (was) very bitter; having settled recently into the colony of Camuloduum (i.e. Colchester), they were driving the Trinobantes out of their homes, forcibly expelling (them) from their fields, (and) calling (them) captives or slaves; and the soldiers encouraged the insolence and savagery of these veterans by a similarity of life and with the hope of the same licence. In addition to this, the temple to the divine Claudius was regarded as a citadel of perpetual tyranny, and those chosen (as) priests were having to pour out all their fortunes in the guise of religious observance. Nor did it seem difficult to destroy the colony, (as it was) enclosed by no fortifications, because this had been too little considered by our generals, since they had paid attention to the agreeable before the expedient.

The rebel forces fell upon Camulodunum, and after a two-day siege captured and destroyed the town. The available units of the Ninth Legion, some 2,000 men, marched south from Lincoln but were ambushed and massacred on the way. Boudica then moved on to hand out the same treatment to Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St. Albans). Suetonius gathered what troops he could quickly muster, and set off by forced marches to give battle. 

 Now with Suetonius were the fourteenth legion with a detachment of the twentieth and auxiliaries from the neighbouring areas, almost ten thousand armed men: he prepares to come to grips with the enemy and to join battle. And he chooses a position with narrow defiles and shut off from the back by woods; for he knew that there was no enemy except in front (of him) and that the plain was open without the fear of an ambush. Therefore, the legionaries were drawn up in close array, with light troops stationed around (them); the cavalry were standing by, massed together on the wings. But everywhere the troops of the Britons were rushing about wildly in groups of infantry and cavalry, as great as at no other time, and so fierce in spirit that they had dragged their wives with them also (as) witnesses to their victory, and they were put into wagons which they had placed at the very edge of the plain.

The battle begins.

At first the legion (was) motionless in its position and defended by the narrowness of its location, (but) when it had used up the javelins in sure aim against the advancing enemy, it burst forth as though in wedge-shaped formation. The auxiliaries also make an attack, and the cavalry with extended lances break through anything strong which was in the way. The rest of the Britons turned (lit. showed) their backs, escape (being) difficult, because the surrounding wagons had blocked the way-out. And our soldiers did not even spare the women, and the beasts of burden, transfixed by missiles, also swelled the pile of bodies. On that day our soldiers won a splendid reputation and (one) equal to our ancient victories: indeed, there are those who report that a little less than eighty thousand Britons fell, with almost four hundred of our soldiers having been killed and not much more than that having been wounded.  Boudica ended her life by poison.

Unrest at Ephesus (Vulgate: "Acts of the Apostles", Chapter 19).

The Apostle Paul was the first Christian missionary to preach in the countries of Asia Minor. He spent more than two years at Ephesus, from about 52 to 54 A.D., preaching the Christian Gospel. His success in winning converts to Christianity was mainly at the expense of the pagan cult of Diana, whose temple at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In this extract from the Acts of the Apostles, in the New Testament of the Bible, we are told of the angry reaction of those whose livelihood depended on the popularity of the cult of Diana. 

A certain silversmith, Demetrius by name, making silver shrines of Diana, brought no small business to the craftsmen. Gathering together these (craftsmen) and those who were workers of this kind, he said: "Men, you know that we have prosperity (lit. that there is prosperity to us) from this industry; and you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but in almost the whole of Asia, this Paul, (by) persuading (them), has led astray a great crowd, saying: 'They are not gods who are made with hands'. Moreover there will be a danger not only that we shall come into disrepute but also that the temple of great Diana will be neglected and that her majesty will begin to be destroyed, (she) whom the whole of Asia and the world worships."

These things having been heard, they were filled with rage, and cried out, saying: "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" And the city was filled with confusion, and with one accord they made a rush into the theatre, the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's companions, having been seized. But with Paul, wishing to enter the crowd, his disciples did not allow (him to do so). Also some of the chief men of Asia, who were his friends, sent (a message) to him, begging him not to go into the theatre.

Now in the theatre some cried (one thing, some) other things. For the assembly was confused: and most of them did not know for what reason they had come together. They dragged Alexander out of the crowd, the Jews pushing him to the front. And Alexander, silence having been demanded with his hand, wanted to make a defence to the people. When they recognised that he was a Jew, one voice was heard out of all of them, crying out for almost two hours: "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"

And when the town clerk (lit. scribe) had quietened the crowds, he said: "Men of Ephesus, who is there amongst you who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple-keeper of great Diana? Therefore, since no one can contradict these things, you ought (it behoves you) to be appeased, and to do nothing rashly. For you have brought these men here, (who are) neither sacrilegious nor blaspheming your goddess. So, if Demetrius, and the craftsmen who are with him, have any complaint against (anyone), the courts (lit. the legal assemblies) are open, and there are the proconsuls: let them bring charges against one another (lit. in turn). But if you seek anything concerning other matters, it can be settled in a proper assembly. For there is even a danger that we shall be accused of disorder, although no one is guilty of anything for which we could give a reason for this commotion." And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

THE DRUIDS: INFORMATION ABOUT THEM OBTAINED FROM FAMOUS LATIN AUTHORS

Introduction.

The passages below are taken from abridged texts of three Latin authors published in the "Cambridge Latin Authority", Cambridge School Classics Project, Cambridge University Press, 1996.

From Caesar: 

Julius Caesar encountered the Druids during his conquest of Gaul from 58 to 49 B.C. They were priests recruited mainly from the nobility, and they were the only men powerful enough to organise opposition to Roman rule throughout the Celtic tribes. 

The Power of the Druids (from "De Bello Gallico": Book VI, Chapter 13):

The Druids are concerned with divine matters, they perform public and private sacrifices, (and) they interpret religious questions: a great number of young men flock to them for the sake of learning, and they are (held) in great honour among them. For they decide in almost all disputes, (both) public and private, and, if any crime has been committed, if murder (has been) done, if there is a dispute about inheritance or boundaries, they decide the matter, and determine the rewards and the penalties. If anyone, in either a private (capacity) or a public one, does not abide by their decree, they ban (him) from the sacrifices. Those for whom there is such a ban are reckoned among the number of the impious and the criminal; all shun them (and) avoid their approach and conversation, lest they receive any harm from contact (with them); neither is justice administered to them, when they seek (it), nor is any honour given (to them). Moreover, over all these Druids there presides one man, who has the highest authority among them. When this man is dead, either the one who among the rest excels in dignity succeeds, or, if there are many equals, they contend for primacy by a vote of the Druids, (and) sometimes even by arms. Their rule of life is thought to have been discovered in Britain, and thence to have been transferred into Gaul, and now those who wish to understand this subject more thoroughly generally travel to Britain for the purpose of studying (it). 

Their education (from "De Bello Gallico": Book VI, Chapter 14):

The Druids are accustomed to hold (themselves) aloof nor do they pay taxes together with the rest; they have a dispensation from military service and from all liabilities. Induced by such great (advantages) many come to this training of their own accord and (many) are sent by their parents and relatives. There they are said to learn by heart a number of verses; and so some remain in training for twenty years. Nor do they consider that it is proper to commit these verses to writing, although in almost all other matters they employ Greek letters. They seem to me to have established this (practice) for two reasons, because they do not wish their training to be made known to the masses, nor do they wish that those who learn (by) trusting to letters should pay less attention to memory. They wish to persuade (people of) this especially, that souls do not perish, but pass after death from one person to another, and they think by means of this (belief) to encourage men to particular bravery, the fear of death having been cast aside. Besides (this) they discuss, and pass down to the youth, many things about the stars and their movement, about the size of the universe and the earth, about the nature of things, (and) about the strength and power of the immortal gods.

Their religion (from "De Bello Gallico": Book VI, Chapter 16):

The whole nation of the Gauls is very devoted to religious rites, and for this reason those who are smitten with the more grievous illnesses, and who are engaged in battles and dangers, either sacrifice men as victims or vow that they will sacrifice (them), and they employ Druids as the ministers for these sacrifices, because they believe that unless the life of a man is given up for the life of a man, the will of the immortal gods cannot be propitiated: and they hold established sacrifices of the same kind for the purposes of the state. Some have figures of immense size, the body (lit. limbs) of which, woven with twigs, they fill with living men; these (figures) having been set on fire, the trapped men perish in the flames. They believe that the execution of those who have been caught in theft or in robbery or in some (other) crime is more pleasing to the immortal gods; but, when the supply of this kind fails, they resort to the execution even of the innocent. 

From Tacitus:

The Druids' last stand (from "Annales": Book XIV, Chapters 29-30):

More than a hundred years after Caesar's visits, at the time of Boudica's revolt in 60 A.D., the Roman governor of Britain, Suetonius Paulinus, planned to conquer the island of Anglesey, which had given sanctuary to many enemies of Roman rule and was also an important centre of Druidism. The account is given by the historian Tacitus. 

(Suetonius), therefore, prepares to attack the island of Anglesey, well-supplied with inhabitants and a refuge for deserters: the infantry crossed in boats, the cavalry followed in the shallows or swimming alongside their horses. On the shore stood the opposing battle-line, thick with weapons and men, with women running about among (them); they in black clothing in the manner of the Furies, (and) with dishevelled hair, were brandishing torches; and, all around, the Druids, with their hands uplifted to heaven pouring forth imprecations, so overawed our soldiers by the strangeness of the spectacle that, as though with paralysed limbs, they exposed their immobile bodies to wounds. Then, with their general exhorting (them) and themselves urging one another (lit. themselves) not to fear a frenzied horde and (one composed) of women, they carried forward their standards and cut down those in the way and enveloped (them) in their own fire. After this, a garrison was placed over the conquered, and their groves dedicated to savage superstitions were cut down; for the Druids thought it right to make their altars wreak with the blood of captives and to consult their gods through the entrails of humans.

 From  Pliny the Elder: "Naturalis Historia": Book XIV, Chapter 95):

Pliny the Elder, uncle of Pliny the letter-writer, wrote a long work on science and nature; the following extract comes from an eight-volume section on botany.  

The Druids - (for) thus the Gauls call their magicians - hold nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the tree in which it grows, provided that it is the oak. Indeed, they choose groves of oak for their own sake, and they do not perform any religious rites without its foliage. Then they really think that whatever grows in this tree has been sent by heaven and is a sign of the tree being chosen by God himself. Yet the mistletoe is rarely found upon an oak, and, (when) discovered, is gathered with great religious awe, and especially on the sixth (day) of the (new) moon, [which amongst the Gauls makes the beginning of months and years]. Calling the moon in their own language the "all-healing", a sacrifice and a banquet having been solemnly prepared beneath the tree, they bring forward two white bulls, the horns of which are then bound for the first time. Dressed in a white robe, the priest then climbs the tree, cuts down the mistletoe with a golden sickle, (and) this is caught in a white cloak. Then, they sacrifice the victims, praying that God will render this gift of his propitious to those to whom he has (so) granted (it). (The juice of) the mistletoe having been drunk, they think that fecundity will be granted to barren animals, and that it is an antidote against all poisons: so great is the superstition of peoples generally with regard to trivial objects. 

NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS OF THE APOSTLES: AN EXTRACT

Introduction.

Chapter 17, verses 16-34.

St. Paul in Athens.

The "Acts of the Apostles" forms the second part of the literary work begun by the "Gospel of St. Luke". It describes the rapid spread of Christianity through the Mediterranean world, a process facilitated by the wide currency of Greek (now in "koine"  or "common"  form, having lost its earlier dialects.) "Acts" is our main source for the earliest history of the Church. 

In Chapter 17 Paul has just arrived in Athens after his missionary journey through Greece. The date is about 50 A.D. ("Acts" was written some forty years later.) Athens had lost its political power since its subjugation to Rome, but remained the cultural and intellectual centre of the ancient world. Its art and architecture were an impressive monument to its past glory. At the beginning of this passage Paul is waiting for his companions Silas and Timothy.

The Greek text of the passage translated below, and the the above introduction, is taken from "A Greek Anthology", JACT, Cambridge University Press, 2002. 

Now, as Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him seeing the city full of idols. And so he debated in the synagogue with the Jews and devout persons and on each day in the agora with those who happened to be present. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him and some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others (said), "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods", because he preached (about) Jesus and the resurrection. Taking hold of him, they led (him) to the Areopagus (i.e. the Hill of Ares), saying, "Can we learn what is this new teaching which is being spoken of by you?" For you bring some strange things to our ears; and so we wish to know what these things mean (lit. want to be)." Now all the Athenians and the visiting strangers spent their time in nothing other than saying something or listening to something quite new. Standing in the middle of the Areopagus, Paul said, "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in everything. For going along and observing your objects of worship I even found an altar on which had been inscribed 'To an unknown god'. And so what you are worshipping unawares, I announce this to you (now). The god who made the world and everything in it, he being lord of heaven and of the earth does not dwell in temples made by human hands nor is he served by human hands because he is in need of anything, (but) he himself gives life and breath and everything (else) to all men. From one (man) he made every race of men to dwell on the whole surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons and and the boundaries of their territory, that they should seek God (to see) if they could reach out for him and find (him), though he is really not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being, as some of the poets among you have also said, for we are his offspring too. And so, being the offspring of God, we ought not to think that divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, a work of art and the imagination of man. Therefore God, overlooking the times of ignorance, is now commanding men everywhere that they should all repent, for he has fixed a day on which he is going to judge the inhabited (world) through a man whom he has designated, providing assurance to all men that he has raised him from the dead."

Now hearing of the resurrection of the dead, some jeered, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this." Thus Paul departed from the midst of them. But certain men sticking to him, became believers, amongst whom also (were) Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman, Damaris by name, and others with them.

Postscript.

Though the number of immediate converts resulting from Paul's visit to Athens was small, the new faith had for the first time confronted - and shown some common ground with  - Greek philosophy.  

PLUTARCH: EXTRACT FROM "ON THE DECLINE OF ORACLES"

Introduction.

Sections 419B-420A (or 17-18).

Great Pan is dead.

This dialogue is set in Delphi in about 83 A.D. A group of learned men are discussing how oracular prophecy works, and why oracles have become less vocal and important than in the classical past. The conversation has turned to "daimones" (divine spirits, spoken of by Hesiod and Plato, as intermediaries between gods and men); the question whether divine beings can die elicits from a historian called Philip the haunting story of the death of Pan. Because the events described took place during the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius (14-37 A.D.), Christian legend was later able to claim that they coincided in time with the crucifixion of Jesus,  and  therefore that they represented the demise of paganism.

The story, and the general theme of the dialogue, have had considerable literary influence. John Milton wrote in his "Hymn: On the Morning of Christ's Nativity":

"The oracles are dumb,

No voice or hideous hum

Runs through the arched roofs in words deceiving."

And Elizabeth Barrett Browning in "The Dead Pan" (1844) reworked Plutarch thus:

"And that dismal cry rose slowly

And sank slowly through the air,

Full of spirit's melancholy

And eternity's despair!

And they heard the words it said - 

Pan is dead - Great Pan is dead - 

       Pan is dead."

In the final part of the passage the contribution of the grammarian Demetrius, who is on his way home from Britain to Tarsus, throws light on the exploration of the British Isles during the governorship of Agricola (77-85 A.D.)

The text of this extract from Plutarch's "De defectu oraculorum", and this introductory prologue, are taken from "A Greek Anthology", JACT, Cambridge University Press, 2002.  

But concerning the death of such beings I have heard the report of a man (who was) not foolish or deceitful. For he was Epitherses, the father of Aemilianus the orator whom some of you have even listened to, my fellow-citizen and a teacher of grammar. This man said that once, (while) sailing to Italy, he embarked upon a ship carrying commercial goods and many passengers. And in due course at evening time the wind dropped around the Echinades islands and the drifting ship came near to (the islands) of Paxi; and most of the passengers were awake, and many also still drinking after dinner (lit. having dined). And suddenly a voice was heard from (one) of the islands of the Paxi, of someone calling Thamus so loudly  that they were amazed. Now Thamus was an Egyptian pilot, but not known by name to many on board. And so, having been called twice, he was silent, but the third time he answered the person calling (him). And that person, raising his voice, said, "When you come opposite to the Palodes, announce that Great Pan is dead." Epitherses said that all who heard this were astounded, holding a discussion among themselves as to whether it was best to do what had been commanded or not to meddle and to let (things) alone, (but) Thamus decided thus, that, if there were wind, to sail past keeping a quiet stillness, but that, (if there were) a calm around the place, to announce what he had heard. And so, when they came to the Palodes, there being neither wind nor wave, Thamus, looking from the stern to the land, said (the words) as he heard (them) that Great Pan was dead. No sooner had he stopped (speaking) than a mighty groaning, mixed at the same time with (exclamations of) amazement, occurred, not from one person but from many people. And, as is natural with many being present, the word soon spread throughout Rome, and Thamus, having been sent for, came to be sent for by Tiberius Caesar. And Tiberius believed his word to such an extent that he made enquiry and investigated about Pan. And the scholars around him, who were (lit. being) many, conjectured that he had been born of Hermes and Penelope.  

Moreover, Philip had some of those present as witnesses (who were) scholars of old Aemilianus.

And Demetrius reported that many of the islands around Britain (i.e. the Scillies) were desolate (and) scattered, of which some were named after divine beings and heroes. And he himself sailed at the command of the emperor for the purpose of enquiry and observation to the nearest lying of the desolate (islands), having not many inhabitants, all being revered and unharmed by the Britons. And he, having just arrived, there occurred a mighty tumult in the air and many portents, and winds swept down and lightning-flashes fell; and, when this abated, the islanders said that the passing of one of the mightier (souls) had happened. "For, as a lamp (when) lit," they said, "does nothing terrible, but (when) extinguished is distressing to many, so these great souls give forth a gentle and inoffensive light, but the passing and dissolution of them often, as indeed now, foster winds and storms, and often infect the air with pestilential conditions." However, there was one island there, in which Cronus was confined, guarded by Briareus while he sleeps (lit. sleeping); for they had devised sleep as a bondage for him, and there were about him many daemonic attendants and servants. 

THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA: EXTRACT FROM PLUTARCH'S "LIFE OF ANTONY"

Introduction.

Plutarch (c. 46-120 A.D.), biographer, historian and moral philosopher, was born in Boeotia in central Greece, studied at Athens, visited Egypt and Italy, and spent the last thirty years of his life in Boeotia and Delphi. His most famous work is his "Parallel Lives", in which the life of an eminent Greek is paired with that of a famous Roman with whom there were, in his view, points of resemblance. For example, the "Life of Antony" is given in parallel with that of Demetrius I Poliorcetes of Macedon (336-283 B.C.): both are presented as great generals but flawed men and the victims of great changes of fortune. The most famous translation of Plutarch's "Lives" is that by Sir Thomas North (1579), which was Shakespeare's major source for "Julius Caesar", "Coriolanus" and, of course, "Antony and Cleopatra".

The extract below is a translation of the text included in "A Greek Anthology", JACT, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Sections 84-86.2.

The Roman world was torn apart in the late 30s B.C. by its two most powerful figures, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus, but here referred to as Caesar), and Marcus Antonius (Antony), who was involved in a passionate love affair with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. After Octavian had defeated Antony and Cleopatra off Actium in NW Greece in 31 B.C., they fled to Egypt, where Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra was then cornered by Caesar in Alexandria. Although in the immediate aftermath of Actium, Cleopatra was generally portrayed by Octavian's propaganda as someone who had been a dangerous enemy of the Roman people, in time her beauty, the romance of her relationship with Antony, and the pathos of her death, well brought out in this extract, began to prevail in the popular imagination. 

Cornelius Dolabella was a conspicuous young man among the companions of Caesar. This man was not on unfriendly terms towards Cleopatra. And so now, doing a favour to her at her request (lit. having been asked), having sent (a message) secretly, he reported (to her) that Caesar himself was starting out by land through Syria, and had resolved to send her with her children to Rome within three days (lit. on the third day). Having heard this, in the first place she asked Caesar to allow her to bring libations to Antony; on his agreement, having been brought to the tomb, and having fallen upon the funerary urn, together with her attendant women, she said, "O dear Antony, I buried you recently with my hands still free, and now I am pouring a libation, being a prisoner, and guarded so that I can, neither by beatings nor by lamentations, despoil this body, (which is) that of a slave, and watched over for the purpose of triumphing over you. Do not expect any other honours or libations. These (are) the last from Cleopatra the captive for you. For nothing separated us from each other (while) living, but in death we are likely to exchange places, you, the Roman, lying here, while I, the hapless one, getting only so much of your country as my portion. For if (there is) any strength in the gods there (i.e. in the Underworld) (for the gods here have betrayed us), do not forsake your wife while she lives (lit. living), nor allow yourself to be triumphed over in my person, but hide and bury me with yourself here, as nothing among these countless evils that there are is so terrible (lit. great) and dreadful as the short time which I have lived apart from you."

Having lamented such things, and having garlanded and embraced the urn, she ordered a bath to be prepared for herself. Having bathed and having reclined, she had a splendid dinner. And someone came from the countryside carrying a certain basket; when the guards enquired (lit. the guards enquiring) what he was bringing, having opened (the basket) and having removed the leaves, he showed that the dish (inside was) full of figs. (The guards) marvelling at their beauty and their size, smiling, he invited (them) to take (some); trusting (him) they bade (him) to bring (them) in. After her dinner, Cleopatra, taking a writing-tablet already written upon and sealed, sent (it) to Caesar, and, sending away (all) the others except her faithful women, she closed the doors. And Caesar opening the tablet, when he found prayers and lamentations, (she) asking that she should be buried with Antony, he quickly understood what had been done. To begin with he set out himself to bring assistance, but then he sent men in order to investigate as quickly as possible. But swift suffering had occurred. For, coming at a run and finding that the guards had perceived nothing, opening the doors, they found her lying dead on a golden couch arrayed as a queen. Of her women, the one called Iras was dying at her feet and another, Charmion, already tottering and heavy-headed, was trying to adjust the diadem around her head. When someone said (lit. someone saying) to her in anger, "(This is) a fine thing, Charmion," she said, "It is indeed a very fine thing and befitting the descendant of so many kings." She said nothing more but fell there by the side of the couch. It is said that the asp was brought in with those figs and was hidden by the leaves above (them), for thus Cleopatra had given orders that the creature should fasten upon her body with herself not being aware (of it). But when, having removed some of the figs, she saw (it), she said, "So here it is", and she held out her arm bared for the bite. 

APULEIUS: "THE WITCHES OF THESSALY" : AN EXTRACT FROM "THE GOLDEN ASS"

Introduction.

Lucius Apuleius was born in c 124 A.D. in Madaura, a town in North Africa. He was educated first at Carthage and afterwards at Athens, where he studied Platonic philosophy and was initiated into the rites of Isis. He then went to Rome, where, after studying Latin rhetoric, he practised with some success at the bar. After travelling extensively, he returned to Africa and married a wealthy widow Pudentilla. When she died after leaving him all her money, he was charged by her relatives with having gained her affections by magic and having poisoned her. His successful and very amusing speech in his own defence survives under the title "A Discourse on Magic". 

His most important work, "The Metamorphoses" (or" Transformations") is, with the exception of Petronius' "Satyricon", the only surviving example of the Latin novel. There is an autobiographical aspect to the work - the central character is called Lucius after Apuleius himself - and its title is based not only on his "transformation" into an ass, but in a secondary sense on his "spiritual transformation" into a devotee of Isis. The book's more popular title of "The Golden Ass" stems from the use of the word "golden" to describe popular stories. The eccentric Latin style, in which the book is written, reflects the story-telling genre. He probably did not invent the  stories which are included in the book but took them from a wide range of existing folk-tales. For instance the plot of the "Metamorphoses" comes from either the "The Ass" of Lucius of Patra, or the "Lucius" of Lucian of Samosata, who was his contemporary. Apuleius certainly possessed a good knowledge of witchcraft, and as a priest of Isis made use of beneficent magical rites performed in honour of the goddess. Behind the amusing stories of "The Golden Ass" there is a serious moral purpose, consistent with Apuleius' devotion to Plato and his status as a priest of Isis.

The text of the extract translated below is taken from the "Cambridge Latin Anthology", Cambridge School Classics Project, Cambridge University Press, 1996. It is an abridged version of the original Latin of Apuleius. 

Book 2: Chapters 21-30. The Story of Thelyphron.

"Sagae Thessalae" (The Witches of Thessaly)

Lucius is travelling through Thessaly, in Greece. By chance, he meets a lady called Byrrhaena, who invites him to a dinner party. At the party, Lucius is asked what he thinks of Thessaly; he replies that he is impressed but worried by stories he has heard about the local witches, who are in the habit of cutting pieces of flesh from corpses. One of the guests laughingly points to a man hidden away at a corner in the room, saying that he has suffered this fate while still alive. The man, whose name is Thelyphron, is urged by Byrrhaena to tell Lucius his story. He reluctantly agrees.  

(As) a young man, setting out from Miletus for the Olympic games, since I also wished to visit places in the famous province, the whole of Thessaly having been travelled through, I came to Larissa. And, while, wandering through the city, my travelling allowance having been diminished, I was seeking a remedy for my poverty, I catch sight of an old man in the middle of the forum. He was standing on a stone and proclaiming in a loud voice that, if anyone was willing to guard a corpse, he would receive a large reward. And I said to someone passing by, "What is this I am hearing? Are corpses accustomed to run away here?"

"Hush (lit. Be silent)," he replied. "For you are a boy and a mere stranger, and, naturally, you do not know that you are in Thessaly, where witches frequently bite pieces out of the faces of dead men, which are supplements for their arts of magic."

In reply, I said, "What sort of protection is needed?"

"Now first," he replied, "you must (lit. it is necessary [for you] to) stay fully awake for the whole night and with your open and sleepless eyes directed all the time at the corpse, and your gaze must never (lit. it is necessary  for your gaze not ever to) be diverted, since  these most wicked witches creep up secretly, their shape having been changed into whatever animal you wish. For they take the shape of birds and dogs and mice, (and) indeed even flies as well."

The man ends with a warning that, if anyone fails to deliver the body intact in the morning, he is forced to replace missing pieces of flesh with pieces sliced from his own face.

These things having been understood, I strengthen my mind, and, approaching the old man at once, I said, "Stop crying out now. There is a guard ready." I had scarcely finished when he led me at once to  a certain house, where he showed (me) a weeping lady wrapped in mourning clothes. She arose and led me into a bed-chamber. There she uncovered with her hand a body wrapped in shining white sheets. When she had anxiously pointed out the individual features, she went out.

Thelyphron begins his vigil.

(I was) left alone for the comfort of the corpse, my eyes having been rubbed and prepared for guard duty, while I soothed my mind with songs. Up to the middle of the night I stayed awake. Then, however, fear (was) built up within me, when suddenly a weasel, creeping in, stood in front of me, and fixed its eyes on me.  Such great boldness in so small an animal disturbed my mind. Finally. I spoke to it thus: "Go away, (you) dreadful creature, before you speedily experience my strength! Go away!"

The weasel turns its back and forthwith goes out of the bed-chamber. Without delay so deep a sleep suddenly overwhelms me that not even the god of Delphi himself (i.e. Apollo) could easily have decided, out of the two of us lying (there), who was the more dead.

At last, having been awoken at first light, and terrified by a great fear, I run over to the corpse, and, the lamp having been brought near, and his face having been uncovered, I inspect everything carefully: nothing is lacking. Behold, the poor wife bursts in weeping: the body having been inspected, she pays the reward without delay.

While I was recovering my strength in the street next to the house, the body was brought out. Because it was the body of one of the leading citizens, it was carried in procession around the forum according to local custom. As this was taking place, an old man suddenly appeared. He was weeping and tearing out his fine white hair. He ran up to the bier and embraced it. Amid sobs and groans he cried out:

For the sake of your honour, citizens," he said, "for the sake of your public duty, stand up for a murdered citizen and punish severely the most vile crime of this wicked and villainous woman. For she, and no one else, has killed with poison this wretched young man, the son of my sister, to please her lover and for the sake of inherited profit."

She, with tears pouring down, and swearing by all the gods (as) piously as she could, denied so great a crime.  Therefore, that old man (said): "Let us refer the judgment of the truth to divine providence. Here is Zatchlas the Egyptian, a very well-known prophet, who has promised me that for a large fee he will lead back the soul of this corpse from the nether regions and reanimate his body for a short time."

The prophet was stirred into action. He took a special herb and laid it three times on the mouth of the dead man. Then he took another and put it on his breast. Then he turned to face the east and in silence prayed to the sacred disc of the rising sun. The people waited in the expectation of a miracle.

I pushed myself into the crowd and standing on a stone behind the bier itself I watched everything with curious eyes. Now the chest of the corpse was raised by swelling, now the body was filled with breath. And the corpse arises and speaks out: "Why, I beg (you), do you bring me back to the cares of this transitory life? Stop now, I pray (you), stop, and allow me to remain in my rest!"

This voice from the body was heard, but the prophet said rather more forcefully: "Why do you not tell the people everything about your death?"

From the bier he replies and with a deep groan addresses the people thus: "Murdered by the evil arts of my new wife and sentenced by a poisoned cup, I have yielded up my warm bed to an adulterer. I shall give you very clear proof of the truth, and I shall reveal what absolutely no one else could have known or have predicted.

Then, pointing at me with his finger, (he said): "When this very keen-witted guard of my body was keeping his intensive watch over me, some witches eager for my remains appeared in a changed form. Since they could not elude his unremitting diligence, finally, a fog of sleep having been cast over (him), they buried him in a deep rest. Then they began to arouse me by name, nor did they stop until my sluggish joints and cold limbs struggles slowly in obedience to their magic arts. However, he who was alive, and only dead in a trance, has by chance the same name as I. So, at the sound of his name, he got up unwittingly, and proceeding mechanically in the manner of a lifeless ghost he goes to the door. Although the doors of the bed-chamber had been carefully locked, first his nose and then his ears having been nibbled through a certain hole, he suffered mutilation in my place. Then the witches attached to him wax shaped in the manner of the ears which had been cut off, and fitted on a nose similar to the one cut off. And now the poor fellow stands here, having earned a fee not for his hard work but for his mutilation."

Terrified by these words I begin to test my appearance. I grasp my nose with my hand: it comes away. I touch my ears: they fall off. And while the crowd identifies me with pointed fingers and with nods, I, dripping with cold sweat, escape between the feet of those standing around. Nor afterwards, thus maimed and  thus  ridiculous, could I return to my native land, but I have hidden the wounds of my ears with hair hanging down on this side and on that, and indeed, for the sake of decency, I have covered the disgrace of my nose with this piece of canvas.

MENANDER: EXTRACT FROM "PERIKEIROMENE" (THE GIRL WITH THE CUT HAIR)

Introduction.

Menander (342-292 B.C.) was the leading writer of Athenian New Comedy, a genre which replaced the world of Aristophanes' Old Comedy with a more romantic one, in which love entanglements, abandoned or kidnapped children, and recognition through trinkets play an important part. New Comedy also established character types such as the bragging soldier, the quick-witted slave, and the angry father, which have been central to comedy in the modern world. Howver complicated Menander's plots may be, the situations and the the characters still appear natural. Menander's plays were lost in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries A.D., but much of  his work, including substantial fragments of this play, came to light in the Twentieth Century on newly-discovered papyri. 

Lines 486-525.

Polemon, a young mercenary soldier, has quarrelled with his girl-friend Glycera as a result of a misunderstanding. He has already cut off her hair with his sword, and she has left him. Now, as he plans to regain her by violent means, their mutual friend Pataecus tries to persuade him to take a more diplomatic line. 

The text of this extract is taken from "A Greek Anthology", Joint Association of Classical Teachers, Cambridge University Press, 2002. 

PATAECUS: If what happened such as you describe was something like this and (you had lost) your wedded wife.

POLEMON: (It is) such as you say, Pataecus.

PA:                                                                                           It is a bit different.

PO: I have been regarding her as my wedded wife.

PA:                                                                                           Don't shout!

And who is the giver?

PO:                                                       Who (gave her) to me? She herself.

PA:                                                                                             Absolutely fine!

You pleased her, perhaps, but now no longer. And with you not treating her in a decent manner, she has gone away.

PO: What do you mean? Not in a decent manner? Saying this of all things, you have distressed me particularly. 

PA:                                                                                              You love (her).

I know this for certain. So that what you are now doing is crazy. And where are you now rushing to? Or are you intending to seize someone? She is responsible for herself. Persuasion is (the one course) left to the badly discontented lover. 

PO:                                                       Is he not wronging me, the man who has been corrupted her in my absence? 

PA:                                                                                          He is wronging you, so that you can bring a charge against (him), if ever you came to an argument. But if you kidnap (her) by force, you will incur justice. For wrongdoing is not a matter for (private) vengeance but a formal complaint.  

PO: Not even now!

PA:                                                          Not even now! 

PO:                                                                                             I don't know what I am to say, except, by Demeter, I shall hang myself. Glycera has left me, Glycera has left me, Pataecus. But, if indeed it seems good to you to do so - for you were intimate (with her) and have often chatted with her before now  - go in and talk (with her), be my ambassador, I beseech you. 

PA:                                                                                              It seems good to me to do this, you see.

PO:                                                          No doubt, you are able to make a case, Pataecus?

PA: Fairly well!  

PO:                                                           But, indeed, Pataecus, it is necessary.

It is the very way of saving the (whole) business. For if I ever yet did (her) wrong in any way at all - if I do not continue to love and to cherish (her) - if you would come and see her finery - 

PA:                                                                                              That's fine!

PO: Come and see (it), Pataecus, in the name of the gods! You will feel (all) the more sorry for me.

PA:                                                            O Poseidon!

PO:                                                                                              Come here!
And what dresses! And how (wonderful) she appears when she puts any one of them on! For perhaps you haven't seen (her).

PA. Indeed I have.

PO: For that spendour was surely worth a look. But why am I now bringing this into the discussion? Am I stark-staring mad, chatting about other things?

PA: (Not at all), by Zeus!

PO: Don't you think? But it is necessary, Pataecus, that you come and see (it). Step this way!

Postscript.

The lovers are eventually reconciled.