Dicere solebat [avunculus meus] nullum esse librum tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset. PLINY, Epp. iii. 5. 10. [p. 73.] Printed in England Soth. 9-15-23 9050 PREFACE The aim of this book is to give a view, through ancient literature itself, of certain important aspects of Roman home life and Religion. It may be used partly as a Reader and partly for the general study of those sides of social life. The answer to the question 'For what year is it intended?' is not easy. The main purpose is to illustrate as fully as possible the subjects chosen, though many passages have had to be omitted for reasons of space, or kept as more appropriate for other volumes that were initially planned on School and University life, Public life, &c. At the same time enough passages for translation had to be provided, and to keep these within arbitrary limits would not only restrict the utility of the book as a reader, but would diminish its illustrative force. Secondly, the authors hold the view that boys can be kept too rigidly to the narrow lines of a syllabus. Apart from reading this or that set book of Caesar, Livy, or Virgil, they should acquire ideas on Roman life and culture. Passages which it is important for this purpose that they should read, and which are yet too difficult for them to translate, should be translated to them. And so we would answer the question by saying that there is plenty of reading here within the powers of boys in their third year, and yet enough for a sixth form, or even the undergraduate, to read with advantage. The translation, however, of most of the difficult or Silver Latin passages keeps the book within the scope of the average boy in his fourth year, and gives him the practice in unseens that he then begins to need. 2500 It is a common experience that Classical teaching in schools (and sometimes even in Universities) has lacked, and still lacks, background and reality. Masterpieces of literature, whole tracts of history are presented in vacuo. This is one of the reasons why boys, or the parents of boys, who do not continue their Latin into the Sixth Form, complain that they get nothing out of it. If boys appreciated the vivid reality of the ancient world and its relation to the modern, the literature would live in their hearts, with meaning for the realities of modern life. School editions are needed of books like Dr. Warde Fowler's on Roman life and religion. But even if we had them, the exigencies of the modern timetable would restrict their use. But there are here collected many of the passages on which such works are based. They may be read for translation or unseen, or may provide a keen master with subjects for discussion. One hour a week could surely be given to them, familiarity with the language be thereby increased, and interest in the Classical work generally be deepened or awakened. For this rapid reading is necessary : the rigour of construe must be for the time ignored. Even beginners will get some idea of the vast extent of ancient literature, while in spite of the serene aloofness of some great Classical writers from the concrete life of their times, it will be found that most are represented here. It has seemed false to admit subdivisions into Periods; that would introduce just the narrowness which makes 'classical' synonymous with 'dead and buried' in the 'modern' mind. It is not a bad thing to have Plautus and Juvenal, Cicero and Augustine, side by side. Let the mental agility of the master overleap these barriers of time. He will often find the obstacle more apparent than real, and that the lesson is one of comparison rather than of contrast. Similar considerations have led us to include Greek passages, though in translation. Not all boys appreciate that the rise of the Roman Empire and Genius was studied and described by the Greeks of their time, a most observant and critical race. The aim of the translations (those in verse being except in one instance the work of Mr. Rogers, to whom is due the conception of the whole book) has been to put stimulus and interest before all things. They are not to be judged as specimens of a complete translation of any particular work. Paraphrase has been preferred when it seemed the best way of impressing the fact that the words were written by a live man for live men. If a modern parallel is likely to make a boy think, it is justified from this, if from no other point of view. If it makes older readers argue, so much the better, whether they be critical scholars or not. This is a boy's book. The works of the late Dr. Warde Fowler and Dr. Dill, and of course Becker's Gallus, have been consulted, and should be used side by side with this book. We are particularly indebted to Dr. Warde Fowler and Messrs. Macmillan for the inclusion of the 'Laudatio Turiae', and for permission to use the exegesis of that remarkable document, and to Mr. F. М. Cornford, of Trinity College, Cambridge, for the quotation on p. 232. Mr. E. W. V. Clifton, of Manchester University, has made many valuable criticisms, and given us great help in connexion with the legal points in the Inscriptions. The Ground plan of Pliny's Villa on p. 24 is based on Mr. Cowan's plan by the kindness of Messrs. Macmillan. Lastly, we have to thank Mr. C. E. Laurence for reading through the proofs and making many valuable suggestions. T. R. H. 'Mon enfant, souvenons-nous que nous n'apprenons pas le latin pour le plaisir de décliner rosa, la rose; ou pour conjuguer des verbes irréguliers et briller aux examens; mais pour pénétrer par le moyen de cette langue, non pas morte mais immortelle, dans une région magnifique qui demeure inconnue de la plupart des hommes, je veux parler de la pensée humaine.' Il me montra de misérables rayons où étaient rangés les auteurs anciens, et il me disait: 'Voilà le plus beau trésor du monde! C'est par la pensée et par la poésie que la créature de Dieu donne sa fleur. Le parfum en est si délicieux qu'il enivre parfois; il est bon de n'en jouir, comme de toutes choses ici-bas, qu'avec discernement, avec méthode, et conformément à une discipline; souvenez-vous alors que l'étude de cette langue vous fait pénétrer les enseignements qui sont du moins le résultat de l'expérience accumulée des siècles et ont plus de chance de s'appliquer aux besoins de l'heure que tout système improvisé.' RENÉ BOYLESVE. |
