Off Limits: A Friend's Advice on Love, Plautus Curculio 35-38

Off Limits: The Ultimate Dating Guide to Ancient Rome

Name:  Plautus Date:  254 – 184 BCE Region:  [modern Italy] Citation:  Curculio 35 - 38

In the play Curculio, Palinurus offers Phaedromus advice on navigating dating in Rome. This offers insight into Roman customs on who was eligible for romance (i.e., single adults) and who was off limits (i.e., married people and children).

 Nobody’s going to stop you from walking down a public street, 

But don’t step on anybody else’s metaphorical lawn.

As long as you stay away from a bride, a widow, a young woman,

A young man, and freeborn children, you can love whomever you’d like.

 

 
Latin Text: 

Nemo ire quemquam publica prohibet via;

dum ne per fundum saeptum facias semitam,

dum te abstineas nupta, vidua, virgine,

iuventute et pueris liberis, ama quid lubet.

Plautus [Titus Maccius Plautus; 254 – 184 BCE, modern Italy] was one of the earliest Roman authors that remain extant. He was born in northern Italy in the 3^rd century, and spent the entirety of his life in and around the stage. Although many of his works are lost, we have nearly two dozen of his comedies still extant. The impact of Plautus is still seen today; his works were the basis for the famous musical A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum.

Boys and Girls: Grammatical Gender in Early Roman Literature

 Latin classrooms tend to teach puella / puer as binary opposites [girl / boy], but the etymology of these terms is very complex. Puer originally meant "child of any gender," and there are numerous fragments of early Roman literature that show it was used as a feminine noun: 

·          Saucia puer filia sumam  I am a wounded girl, a daughter…  [from the Carmen Nelei]  

·         sancta puer Saturni filia  sacred child, daughter of Saturn [Livius Andronicus fr. 12]

Moreover, the word puella is the diminutive form of puer, and also has masculine forms:

·         Cumque hic tam formosus homo ac te dignus puellus. This guy is a handsome man, a youth worthy of you. [Nonius 158.14; Lucilius fr. 162-163]

·         Inde venit Romam tener ipse etiam atque puellus. He came to Rome when he was still a young kid [Lucilius fr. 450-2]

·         Poeni suos soliti dis sacrificare puellos  The Carthaginians are accustomed to sacrifice their children to the gods [Ennius, fr. VII.4]

These examples show that grammatical gender was not initially rigidly fixed to either of these words, but the meanings of the words changed over time.

ENNIUS	MAP:
Name:  Quintus Ennius Date:  239 – 169 BCE Works:  Annals	REGION  1
BIO:	Timeline:
Although widely considered the father of Roman literature, little is known about the works of Ennius and even less is known about his life. It is said that he was born in Rudiae (modern Italy) and served in the Second Punic War. Although he was a prolific author, composing the Annals, (Rome’s first historical epic) and other epic poems, only fragments of these remain extant.	EARLY ROMAN LITERATURE

LIVIUS ANDRONICUS	MAP:
Name:  Livius Andronicus Date:  3rd c. BCE Works:  [fragments]	REGION  1
BIO:	Timeline:
Livius Andronicus is one of Rome’s earliest poets. He is known for translating the works of Homer into Latin, and for his numerous plays. Unfortunately, only fragments of his works remain.	EARLY ROMAN LITERATURE

LUCILIUS	MAP:
Name:  Gaius Lucilius Date:  2nd century BCE Works:  Satires	REGION  1
BIO:	Timeline:
Lucilius was an Italian poet and one of Rome’s earliest satirists. Although his works and his style deeply influenced the genre of Roman satire, most of his writings are lost to history and only fragments remain.	REPUBLICAN ROME

 

The Double Standard: Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights x.xxiii.1-5

  An excerpt of Marcus Cato’s speech about traditional gender norms of women, which mentions the right for a husband to kill his wife caught in adultery.

1. Those who write about customs and norms of the Romans say that women both in Rome and Latium lived their lives in sobriety, always abstaining from wine (which in the olden days was called “moonshine*”).  Furthermore, women were conditioned to kiss their relatives, so that the menfolk could catch them if they were drinking, by smelling the alcohol on their breath.

2. They say that women were accustomed to drink sweet drinks—ice wine, grape juice, second-pressed [diluted] wine. And you can read more about this in the books I’ve already mentioned.

3. But Marcus Cato declared that women were not only convicted but also punished by a magistrate if they were drunk—and punished at the same level as adultery (even more so!)

4. I’m quoting a passage of Marcus Cato from his speech “About Dowries,” where he wrote that husbands had the right to kill their wives caught in adultery:

“When a husband divorces his wife, he acts as the woman’s judge and magistrate, and has the authority as he sees fit, to condemn his wife if she has done a shameful or offensive act. She is punished severely if she drinks wine; if she does something shameful with another man, she is condemned to death.

5. And Cato writes this about the husband’s right to put his wife to death:

“If you have caught your wife in adultery, you may kill her with impunity, without a trial; but whether you commit adultery with a woman (adulterares) or a man (adulterarere), your wife cannot lay a finger on you, nor does she have the right.”

*using an archaism here to reflect the archaism in the text

XXIII. Verba ex oratione M. Catonis de mulierum veterum victu et moribus; atque inibi, quod fuerit ius marito in adulterio uxorem deprehensam necare. I. Qui de victu atque cultu populi Romani scripserunt, mulieres Romae atque in Latio aetatem abstemias egisse, hoc est vino semper, quod "temetum" prisca lingua appellabatur, abstinuisse dicunt, institutumque ut cognatis osculum ferrent deprehendendi causa, ut odor indicium faceret, si bibissent. II. Bibere autem solitas ferunt loream, passum, murrinam et quae id genus sapiant potu dulcia. Atque haec quidem in his, quibus dixi, libris pervulgata sunt; III. sed Marcus Cato non solum existimatas, set et multatas quoque a iudice mulieres refert non minus, si vinum in se, quam si probrum et adulterium admisissent. IV. Verba Marci Catonis adscripsi ex oratione, quae inscribitur de dote, in qua id quoque scriptum est in adulterio uxores deprehensas ius fuisse maritis necare: "Vir" inquit "cum divortium fecit, mulieri iudex pro censore est, imperium, quod videtur, habet, si quid perverse taetreque factum est a muliere; multatur, si vinum bibit; si cum alieno viro probri quid fecit, condemnatur." V. De iure autem occidendi ita scriptum: "In adulterio uxorem tuam si prehendisses, sine iudicio inpune necares; illa te, si adulterares sive tu adulterarere, digito non auderet contingere, neque ius est."

 --Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, x.xxiii.1-5

 

 Famous for his line “Delenda est Karthago,” Cato the Elder is an Italian-born Roman statesman who vociferously touted conservative and xenophobic values throughout his political and literary career.

  

Insights into Gender Norms of Early Rome: fragments of Accius and Naevius

 GENDER ROLES IN EARLY ROME:

Never was a girlfriend (amica) more faithful to her lover (amanti)

Than a boyfriend (amico) is to his [lover] (amanti);

Nor is any woman ever known for being pleasant.

Numquam quisquam amico amanti amica nimis fiet fidelis,

Nec nimis erit morigera et nota quisquam.

--Naevius fr. 88-89

 

Unfortunately, gender-based slurs were just as common as they are today: 

You teenagers have a womanly spirit,

But this girl’s got the spirit of a man. [meant as an insult]

Vos enim iuvenes animum geritis muliebrem,

Virgo viri.

--Accius fr. 33-34

 Naevius was an Italian poet who wrote comedies, tragedies, and satires during the 3^rd century BCE. His works were often considered salacious; he was imprisoned, freed, and later exiled because of his works. Although he wrote dozens of plays and a history of the First Punic War, these are no longer extant; his works only survive in fragments and quotes preserved by other authors.

Accius was a freeborn child of a freedman parent; he was born in Umbria (modern Italy) but later moved to Rome. He wrote several tragedies based on Greek myths, but these are no longer extant; only fragments remain of his writings.

Insights on the Treatment of Women in Early Rome: A Fragment of Naevius

Name: Naevius Date:   3rd century BCE Region:   [modern Italy] Citation:  Fragment 12

 

Desubito famam tollunt si quam solam videre in via.

--Naevius fr. 12, quoted in Nonius

Suddenly, they raise hell if they see a woman alone on the street.

Naevius was an Italian poet who wrote comedies, tragedies, and satires during the 3^rd century BCE. His works were often considered salacious; he was imprisoned, freed, and later exiled because of his works. Although he wrote dozens of plays and a history of the First Punic War, these are no longer extant; his works only survive in fragments and quotes preserved by other authors.

M/M: A Health Scare, Fronto Ad Caes. 4.12

Name:  Fronto and Marcus Aurelius Date:  100 – 170 CE Region:  Cirta [modern Algeria], Rome [modern Italy] Citation: Fronto, Letters to Caesar 4.12

From Fronto, to my Caesar

O gods! I was so upset reading the beginning of your letter! The way you wrote it sounded like you had some mysterious illness! But later, when you revealed that the illness was your daughter Faustina’s, my panic shifted--not only shifted, but it lessened a little bit.

And now you’ll say, “Do you think my daughter’s dangerous illness is less important than mine? Doesn’t it seem so to you, who thinks Faustina is a ray of sunshine, a weekend, a hope at hand, a wish fulfilled, a wholesome joy, a noble and pure glory?”

And in turn, I don’t know why I felt the way I did as I read your letter, I don’t know why I am more upset about the thought of you getting ill than your daughter. But, I guess, even though they’re supposedly of equal value, I think I am more upset about the news of your illness because I heard about your illness first.

(2) You should know the reason why this is so better than I would, since you know about human nature & psychology and you are more learned about it than I am. I learned about this to the best of my ability [humblebragging] from my magister & parent Athenodotus, in examples & comparisons, which he called εἰκόνας. I guess I have an example, why my fear seems alleviated [when transferred to your daughter’s health]: those who are carrying a heavy load on one shoulder, when they shift the weight to the other shoulder, it seems that the weight is lessened, even though it remains the same. (3) And when finally, in the last bit of your letter when you told me that Faustina’s health improved a little bit, I tossed away all of my fear & concern, it seemed like an appropriate time for me drop a line to let you know about my love for you, for once I have let go my great fear and panic, I need to loosen up a bit and have a bit of fun. For I know how great I care for you [diligam], not only in big, serious matters, but even more in frivolous ones.  And let me tell you about this kind of frivolity:

(4) Whenever I am “bound in light and peaceful sleep,” [as the poet Ennius calls it], if I see you in my dreams, I cannot resist to embrace or kiss you. Then, depending on the type of dream it is, I either weep my eyes out or I revel in happiness and pleasure. This quote from the Annals is a declaration of my love, albeit a poetic and dreamy one.

(5) Or, take another example, one that is gossipy and begrudging. Sometimes I complain about you to others with fairly strong words (but words out of love!) when you’re not around. Like the time you were in a bad mood out in public, or when you had the nasty habit of reading books in the theater or at dinner parties (back when I actually went to the theater and dinner parties). I was mad, and called you an old fogey and a stick-in-the-mud. But if somebody else called you that in my presence, it made me upset. And so it seems easier to say it than to hear it said by another, just like I feel it’s easier to spank my daughter Cratia than to see her hit by someone else.

(6) Alright, I’ll add a third instance. You know that in the awning-covered shops and vestibules and windows and storefronts, there are these mass-produced images of you (a lot of them are poorly made!). Yet whenever your image meets my eyes, I can’t help but blow it a kiss.

(7) Ok, enough play: let me return to serious matters. Your letter reminded me how much I care [diligam] about you, since I was more upset about your illness than your daughter’s. I hope you get better for my sake, and I hope your daughter gets better, for your sake, as well. But ack! See to it that you don’t rat me out to your daughter that I love you more than her.  She might get upset (since she’s an old fashioned [prisca] gal), and she won’t give me her feet & hands so I can kiss them, or she’ll only do it begrudgingly. And, heavens!, I’ll kiss those little hands & chubby feet as lovingly as I kiss your royal neck and your pleasant and serene face.

Fronto Caesari.

Ut ego, di boni, consternatus sum lecto initio epistulae tuae! Quod ita scriptum fuit, ut tuum aliquod valetudinis periculum significari suspicarer. Postquam deinde illud periculum quod quasi tuum principio litterarum tuarum acceperam filiae tuae Faustinae fuisse aperuisti, quantum mihi permutatus est pavor! Nec permutatus modo, verum etiam nescio quo pacto nonnihil sublevatus. Dicas licet: “Leviusne tibi visum est filiae meae periculum quam meum? Tibine ita visum qui praefers Faustinam id tibi esse quod lucem serenam, quod diem festum, quod spem propinquam, quod votum impetratum, quod gaudium integrum, quod laudem nobilem nobilem atque incolumem?” Equidem ego, quid mihi legenti litteras tuas subvenerit, scio; qua vero id ratione evenerit nescio; nescio, inquam, cur magis ad tuum quam ad tuae filiae periculum consternatus sim, nisi forte, tametsi paria sint, graviora tamen videntur, quae ad aures prius accidunt. ² Quae denique hujusce rei ratio tu facilius scias, qui de natura et sensibus hominum scis amplius aliquid meliusque didicisti. Ego, qui a meo magistro et parente Athenodoto ad exempla et imagines quasdam rerum, quas ille εἰκόνας appellabat, apte animo comprehendundas adcommodandasque mediocriter institutus sum, hanc hujusce rei imaginem repperisse videor, cur meus translatus metus levior sit mihi visus: Simile solere evenire onus grave umero gestantibus cum illud onus in sinistrum ab dextro umero transtulere, quamquam nihil de pondere deminutum sit, tamen ut oneris translatio videatur etiam et relevatio. ³ Nunc quoniam postrema parte epistulae tuae qua meliuscule jam valere Faustinam nuntiasti omnem mihi prosus metum ac sollicitudinem depulisti, non alienum tempus videtur de meo adversus te amore remissius aliquid tecum et liberalius fabulandi; nam ferme metu magno et pavore relevatis conceditur ludere aliquid atque ineptire. Ego quanto opere te diligam non minus de gravibus et seriis experimentis quam plerisque etiam frivolis sentio. Quae aut cujusmodi sint haec frivola indicabo.

⁴ Si quando te “somno leni”, ut poeta ait, “placidoque revinctus” video in somnis, numquam est quin amplectar et exosculer. Tum pro argumento cujusque somni aut fleo ubertim aut exulto laetitia aliqua et voluptate. Hoc unum ex Annalibus sumptum amoris mei argumentum poeticum et sane somniculosum. ⁵ Accipe aliud, rixatorium jam hoc et jurgiosum. Nonnumquam ego te coram paucissimis ac familiarissimis meis gravioribus verbis absentem insectatus sum: Olim hoc cum tristior, quam par era,t in coetum hominum progrederere vel cum in theatro tu libros vel in convivio lectitabas (nec ego dum tum theatris necdum conviviis abstinebam), tum igitur ego te durum et intempestivum hominem, odiosum etiam nonnumquam ira percitus appellabam. Quodsi quis alius eodem te convicio audiente me detrectaret, aequo animo audire non poteram. Ita mihi facilius erat ipsum loqui quam alios de te sequius quid dicere perpeti; ita ut Cratiam meam filiam facilius ipse percusserim, quam ab alio percuti viderim. ⁶ Tertium de meis frivoleis addam. Scis, ut in omnibus argentariis mensulis perguleis taberneis protecteis vestibulis fenestris usquequaque, ubique imagines vestrae sint volgo propositae, male illae quidem pictae pleraeque et crassa, lutea immo Minerva fictae scalptaeve; cum interim numquam tua imago tam dissimilis ad oculos meos in itinere accidit, ut non ex ore meo excusserit jactum osculei et savium.

⁷ Nunc ut frivolis finem faciam et convertar ad serium, hae litterae tuae cum primis indicio mihi fuerunt, quanto opere te diligam, cum magis perturbatus sum ad tuum quam ad filiae tuae periculum: Cum alioqui te quidem mihi, filiam vero tuam etiam tibi, ut par est, superstitem cupiam. Sed heus tu videbis, ne delator existas neve indicio pareas apud filiam, quasi vero ego te quam illam magis diligam. Nam periculum est, ne ea re filia tua commota, ut est gravis et prisca femina, poscenti mihi manus et plantas ad saviandum ea causa iratior subtrahat aut gravatius porrigat; cujus ego, dei boni, manus parvolas plantasque illas pinguiculas tum libentius exosculabor, quam tuas cervices regias tuumque os probum et facetum.

Fronto [Marcus Cornelius Fronto; 100 – 160 CE, modern Algeria and Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Cirta [modern Algeria] whose rhetorical and literary abilities earned him the nickname “the Second Cicero.” He was tutor and mentor to the future Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. His correspondence with them provides unique insight into the personal lives of much of the Antonine dynasty.

M/M: We Both Go Down Together: Orestes & Pylades, Cicero de Fin. V.22.63

"Ego sum Orestes", contraque ab altero: "Immo enimvero ego sum, inquam, Orestes!" Cum autem etiam exitus ab utroque datur conturbato errantique regi, ambo ergo se una necari cum precantur, quotiens hoc agitur, ecquandone nisi admirationibus maximis?

 --Cicero, De Fin. V.22.63, quoting a work by Pacuvius

One says, “I am Orestes!”

The other responds, “No—it is I who am Orestes!”

And when both give an opportunity for the other to escape from the confused king, both beg that they be killed together.

Every time this scene is done, it receives the highest applause.

Although only fragments of his works survive, we know from later authors that Pacuvius  (220 - 130 BCE )was an early Italian tragedian whose works included episodes from the Trojan War. He is one of the earliest Roman dramatists, and was successor to Ennius, Rome’s first literary author.

 Cicero was an Italian-born Roman statesman and author who lived during the complexities of Rome’s transition from Republic to monarchy. Cicero spent most of his life in service of his country, serving as both a lawyer, senator, and even consul [Roman equivalent of president]. He is known for his suppression of the failed governmental coup in 63 BCE known as the Catilinarian conspiracy that occurred during his consulship. After the rise of Octavian [later known as the first Roman emperor Augustus], his views fell out of favor and he was eventually put to death during the proscriptions under the Second Triumvirate (Octavian, Marc Antony and Lepidus). He was a prolific author with a wide range in genres, and his literary style was adopted by Petrarch as the default model for the Latin language.