Vergil and Dionysius

8/11/2019 Vergil and Dionysius

1/10

VERGIL AND DIONYSIUSAuthor(s): Jerzy LinderskiSource: Vergilius (1959-), Vol. 38 (1992), pp. 3-11Published by: The Vergilian SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41592188.

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2/10

VERGIL

AND

DIONYSIUS*

Archaic Rome: is it

history

or literature?

If

history,

s it

possible

to

recover facts fromfiction?Are modern

theories

superior

to ancient

egends?

But

fictions hemselves nd

legends

are

history

oo. La

grande

Roma dei

Tar-

quini

mirrors,

vokes and

justifies

a

grande

Roma of

Mussolini,2

nd Roman

stories of

early

Rome reflect

he successive

ayers

of Roman

history,

rom

he

Punic Wars

through

he Gracchi to

Augustus.

t was at the

time of the

first

rin-

ceps that the new and lasting dition ofRome's pastwas compiled.Two names

stand out:

Livy

and

Vergil;

in

their shadow

languishes

Dionysius

of

Halicarnassus. The vates and

his

prose counterpart

oast innumerable

modern

treatments;

Gabba's

bibliography

overs

twenty

hree

pages

and

yet

one sear-

ches

in

vain for an earlier

book

entirely

evoted to

Dionysius.

ncredibile

ietu

and

yet

true,

the

monograph

of Gabba

appears

to be the first

book

with

Dionysius'

Antiquitates

s its sole

subject.

Domenico Musti's Tendenze

nella

storiografia

romana e

greca

su Roma arcaica. Studi

su Livio e

Dionigi

d'Alicarnasso

(Rome,

1970)

dealt

equally

with

Livy's

and

Dionysius'

image

of

early

Rome;3

it s

striking

hat

nobody

eems to have been interested

n

the

COn-

^These

ommentsave een

prompted

y

he ook

y

milio

abba,

ionysius

nd he

Historyf

Archaic

ome

Berkeley,

niversity

f

California

ress,

991.

p.

XI

+

253.

Cloth,

o

price

tated.

Sather

lassical

ectures,

ol.

6).

SBN

0-520-07302-9.

ney

re ffered

n

ieu f

formaleview.he

book

s

composed

f ix rudite

hapters:

)

Greek

istoriography

ndRome

before

ionysius

)

Political

ndCultural

spects

f heClassicisticevival

n

he

Augustange

3) Dionysius's

istorical

enets ndMethods

) History

nd

Antiquarianism

)

Dionysius

nthe

Social

ndPoliticaltructuresf

Early

ome

)

ThePolitical

eaning

f

Dionysius's

istory.

The

remarksere

resented

eal

mostly

ithssues aised

n

chapters

ournd

ix,

nd

hey

eal

with

hem,

s befitshis

ournal,hrough

he

rism

f

Vergil

nd

Vergilian

ommentators.

he

book of Gabba

s an

outgrowth

f a

long-standing

nterest:

e has devoted

pecifically

o

Dionysius

o ess

han

ight

rticles,

he irst

ating

rom966.

2Onthis onceptthoughe doesnot iscussts ieswithontemporaryolitics),eeA.

Alfldi,

arly

ome nd he atins

Ann

Arbor

965)

18-35. etachedrom

olitical

ropaganda

this

atchy hrase

it

was

nvented

n

1936)

ontinues

o flourish:ee the

recent xhibition

catalogue:

.

Crist

rani,

a Grande

oma ei

TarquiniRome

990).

^The nterest

n

Dionysius

n

taly

ontinues:ee the ecent

onography

.

Fascione,

I

mondo

uovo.La

costituzioneomana ella toria i Roma rcaica i

Dionigi

'Alicarnasso

(Naples,

988,

22

pp.).

ts

opic

oincides ith abba's ifth

hapter;

s Gabba's

reface

s dated

1987,

ewas

not ble otake

otice

f

Fascione'sook.

n

general,

abba

nfortunately

evotes

littlettentiono

Dionysius'

erminology;

necan till onsult ith

rofit

missing

rom abba's

bibliography)

he

monograph

y

V.

Nordstroem,

e institutionum

omanorum

ocabulis

ionysii

Halicarnassensis

Diss.

Helsingfors,890).

Herewe should lso record he

onference

t the

University

f

Dijon

n

1988

evoted

ntirely

o

Dionysius.

he

papers

f his onference

ppeared

in

MEFRA

101

1989)

-242. hree

ontributionseal

directly

ith he

ssues aised

n

Gabba's

book nd nthe resentrticle: .Poucet,Denys 'Halicarnasset Varron:e casdesvoyagesd'Ene (63-95);D. Briquel, Denys, moin e traditionsisparues:'identificationes

Aborignes

ux

Ligures

97-111);

.M.

Martin,

Ene hez

Denys

'Halicarnasse.

roblmese

gnalogie

113-42).

Vergilius

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3/10

J.

Linderski

ceptual

inksbetween

Dionysius

nd

Vergil.

In

Gabba

only

two

(but dense)

pages

(116-17)

explore

those

links,

nd

only

two

passages

from he

Aeneid are

called for

comparison:

hey

oncern

the

return f the

Trojan

Dardanidae to the

country

f their

ncestor.4

The

prob-

lem is a central one:

nothing

ess than the

origins

f the Roman ethnos.

Where

do

the

Aborigines,

the

Trojans,

the

Sabines,

the

Etruscans,

and most

impor-

tantly

for

Dionysius)

the Greeks fit n?

The Rome of

Dionysius

was

ultimately

Greek

city;

ven

the

Aborigines

came fromGreece. This entailed various

consequences:

first f all

Dionysius

had to reject the theory of autochthony (and the etymologyab origine)

propounded

(so

the communis

opinio)

by

the

greatest

umen of

Roman anti-

quarian

science,

by

Varro

in

his

variousworks.5

Here we have our first

ink

with

Vergil,

r rather

with he

Vergilian

nti-

quarian

lore for

Vergil

himself t the outset

of his

poem

does not mention

he

Aborigines

at

all;

he

introduces Aeneas to Latium

already

in

the sixth

ine:

inferretque

dos

Latio;

genus

unde Latinum

/ Albanique

patres atque

alta

moenia Romae

(1.6-7;

cf.

1.31: arcebat

longe

Lati );

and over Latium

rules

the rex Latinus

(7.38, 45).

For the commentators his

posed

a

problem.

The

canonical version

was enshrined

by Livy:

the loca where the

Trojans

dis-

embarked were held by Latinus rexAboriginesque (1.1.5); and itwas only

after

he death of

Latinus that Aeneas Latinos

utramque gentem

appellavit

(1.2.4)6

On the

phrase

genus

unde Latinum Servius remarks

ensibly:

si

iam

fuerunt

Latini

et

iam

Latium

dicebatur,

contrarium st

quod

dicit ab

Aenea

Latinos

originem

ucere.

A

two-pronged isquisition

ollows,

rammatical

nd

historical. The

grammatical

argument

centers on the

meaning

of the

adverb

unde it does not

apply

to

persons

but to

places.

So

Servius;

but a

grammarian

gnalogie

113-42).

Aen.

.205

in

fact

06-8),

40.

We

may

ddthat abba dduces

nly

our

assages

f

Serviusnd

Servius

uctusad Aen.1.378

nd3.148

dealing

ith arro'sdeas

f he

enates);

7.176

Varro

nthe

Roman

orrowings

rom

ther

ations);

.638

the

rigin

f he

abini).

his

neglect

fthe

choliast

n

modern

iterature

s

not nusual.

A

pity:ntiquarian

ontroversies

about

he

arly istory

f

taly

ontinuedo ive

n

he

xegesis

f

Vergil

s

practiced

n

chools.

There s still

much ork

obe

done. or n

appraisal

f erviusnd fhis

ommentary

and

of

Servius

uctus

,

see

R. A.

Kaster,

uardians

f

Language.

heGrammarian

nd

ociety

nLate

AntiquityBerkeley988)

69-97.

^Gabba

114)

mentions

nly

he

Antiquitates

erum

umanarum

cf.

Dion.Hal.

1.14.1;

Serviusnd

ervius

uctusadAen.

.51),

utVarro

iscussedhe

Aborigines

lso

n

he e

lingua

Latina

5.3

and

n

theDe

gente opuli

Romani

Servius,

d Aen.

7.657);

ndhe alsowrote

saturantitledboriginesonwhicheeJ.-P. be,Varron,atires nippes.ditiontraductionet ommentaire

Rome

972)

-35. or

dissenting

iew,

ee

below,

.20.

On

Liv/s

ersion,

f.

R.M.

Ogilvie,y4

ommentary

n

Livy.

ooks

-V

Oxford965)

8.

4

Vergilius



4/10

Vergil and

Dionysius

hiding

n

the

textof Servius auctus

rightly

dverts: sed veteres uncleetiam

ad

personam

adplicabant.

Thus

in

the school edition of the

commentary

he

meaning

of unde and hence

also the

question

of the

origin

f the

genus

Latinum

was

neatly

solved,

and it was

solved

in

conformity

ith the Livian

account;

in

the

more extended

edition

containing

piniones

variorum

t

was

left

hanging

n

the

air,

as

it should: the verbal

ambiguity

s

genuine,

nd it cannot be

conjured

away

solelyby

the

grammatical

earning.7

Hence the

historical

isquisition.

Here Servius

nvokes he

mighty

ames

of

Cato and

Sallust: Cato

in

originibus

hoc

dicit,

uius auctoritatem

allustius

sequitur n bello Catilinae,8primo taliam tenuisse uosdam qui appellabantur

Aborigines

hos

postea

adventu

Aeneae

Phrygibus

unctosLatinos

uno nomine

nuncupates 9

Thus

the

pueri

n

the school

learned this:

ergo

descenduntLatini

non

tantum

Troianis,

ed etiam

ab

Aboriginibus.

This

presupposes

unde

applying

o

loca but what

f

the

poet

really

meant

the

adverb

to refer

directly

o Aeneas?

Was he

historicallywrong?

Of course

not;

an iron

tenetof

Vergilian

nterpretes

as that

he vateswas

alwaysright.

ut

Cato

could not be

wrong

either. Hence this

piece

of

sophistic explanation:

Aeneas

and his

Trojans

were the

victors;10

onsequently

Aeneas

could

impose

on

the Latins

the

name

of

his

people:

novimus

quod

vieti victorumnomen

accipiunt. Aeneas chose a differentourse: to conciliate the Latins he notonly

did

not

deprive

themof

theirname

but even

extended

t to

the

Trojans.

Aeneas

could

rightfully

bliteratethe

nomen

Latinum he chose to

preserve

t.11

n

this

7No

progress

n

modern

ommentaries;

f.

.g.

R.G.

Austin,

.

Vergili

oroniseneidos

Liber

rimus

Oxford

971)

0 ad oc.:The

reference

n

unde ould e to the

whole

rocessust

described,

ut

irums

themore

atural

ntecedent

examples

f ndewith

personal

eference

follow).

bserve

hat he

modern

ommentator,

nlike

is

ncient

olleague,ntirelyisregards

the

nly

oint

f

eal

mportance,

he

ontroversy

ver

he istoricalubstancef

Vergil's

ine.

The

ext f

allust

Cat. .1)

reads:

Urbem

omam,

icuti

go ccepi,

ondidere

tque

habuere

nitio

roiani

ui

Aenea

uce

rofugi

edibusncertis

agabantur,

um

ue

is

Aborigines,

genus

ominum

greste,

ine

legibus,

ine

mperio,

iberum

tque

olutum.

i

postquam

n

una

moenia onvenere. . incredibileemoratustquam acile oaluerint. alluss namoenia

finds n

echo

n

Vergil's

ltamoenia

curiously

ot bserved

y

Austin d

loc.).

On Salluss

characterization

fthe

Aborigines,

f.

P.

McGushin,

. Sallustius

rispus,

ellum atilinae.

Commentary

Leiden

977)

0-1.

Frg.

.5

n

H.

Peter,

istoricorum

omanorum

eliquiae

i

(Lipsiae 914)

2.

For

detailed

ommentary,

ee W.A.

Schrder,

.

PorciusCato. Das

erste

uchder

Origines

(Meisenheim

m

Glan

971)

02-8.

10This

resupposes

he

ersion

entioned

n

passingy ivy

1.1.5):

alii

proelio

ictum

Latinum

.

.

tradunt.

ivy,

ato nd

Varro

avoredhe

tory

f

n amicablencounterfAeneas

and

Latinus

cf.

Ogilvie,

ommentaryn.

above] 8). Vergil'story

s more

omplicated:

irst

friendly

ncounter,

170ff.),

hen

he

avages

f

war,

eneas'

ictory,

nd

divineommandhat

the

atins hould

ot

erish,

ut

reserve

heir ame nd

heir

anguage,

nd bsorb

he

rojans

(Aen.

2.819-40).

^Servius,dAen1.6: volensibi avorematii onciliarethischoes ivy,.2.4) omen

Latinum

on

olum

llis on

ustulited

etiam

roianis

mposuit.

erito

rgo

lli

ribuit

uod

n

ipso

uerat

t

posset erire.

Vergilius



5/10

J.

Linderski

perspective

he takes the

place

of a new founder f

the nomen

Latinum

the

vir

fromwhom the

Latins descended. Whatever he

application

of

unde,

Vergil

was

right.

But

invoking

nd

quoting

Cato,

the commentators

lso edited

him.

For

Cato,

if

we are to believe

Dionysius

(1.1.11),

saw

in

the

Aborigines

not an

autochthonous

opulation

but,

surprisingly,

rrivals

from

Greece,

and this

view

was shared also

by

another

early

annalist,

C.

Sempronius

Tuditanus.12

They

dated the arrival of the

Aborigines

to

a time before

the

Trojan

War,

and

led

them to

Italy

from

Achaia;

Dionysius

devoted

a

lengthy

excursus

to the

refinement f thistheory ltimately ptingfortheAboriginesbeinga colonyof

the

Arcadians,

and

connecting

heir

migration

with he

story

f Oenotrus

1.

I-

IS).

But

in

the end he

expresses

doubt,

and asks

his readers

to

suspend

judgement

1.13.4);

as Gabba

(115)

observes,

t was not

an

easy

task

to

displace

Varro's autochthonous

heory.

nd

it

was

this

heory

hat

was to live

on

in

Pliny,

in

Johannes

Lydus,

in

the

compilers

of the

Glossae

,

and

in

the

Vergilian

commentaries.13

In

the Aeneid the crucial

passage

comes

in

Book 7

(170-248).

Latinus

receives the

Trojans

in

his

palace,

the ancient

regia

Pici

(171);

in

the

vestibulum

there stood the

magines

of

Italus, Sabinus,

Saturnus, anus,

aliique

ab

origine

reges 181). The commentatorxplains ab origine s proAboriginumeges

He

may

well be

right;

Picus and Saturnus were

in

fact

explicitly

escribed

as

regesAboriginum.1*

he ancestors of Latinus were

Italian

gods

and

kings,

not

any

Greek arrivals

Aen.

7.47-9):

hunc Fauno

et

nymphageni

um

Laurente

Marica

/

accipimus;

Fauno Picus

pater, sque parentem

/

te Saturne

refert,

u

sanguinis

ltimus uctor.

Were all other

etymological

fforts

ffectively

xcluded

from he

Roman

schools?

Dionysius

writes that some

authorities described

the

Aborigines

as

*2C.

empronius

uditanus

as onsul

n

129,

nd he uthor

f he nnales

in

which

e

will

ave ealtwith he

Aborigines),

nd f treatisee

magistratibus

in

t east hirteen

ooks.

See

Peter,

RR

1. 142-46.

^For a collectionf

eferences,

ee

TLL

s.v.

aborigines.

i4Festus 28

Lindsay

Picus);

ustinus3.1.3: Italiae

ultores

rimi

borigines

uere,

quorum

ex

aturnus'';uet.,

Vit.

,

andDion.Hal. 1.31.2

Faunus;

tAen.

7.213 atinus

s

addressed

s

genus

gregiumauni ).

arro

De ing.

at.

5.53)

derivedhe

Aborigines

rom is

native eate

n

the and

f he abines: ence he ex abinus.

f.B.

Rehm,

as

geographische

Bilddes

alten talien n

Vergils

eneis

=

Philologusuppl.

4.2

Leipzig

932)

63,

n.

135

(sceptical

f

Vergil

eally

intst the

Aborigines);

.J.M.

artelink,

tymologisering

ij

Vergilius

(

=

Mededelingen

er

Koninklijke

ederlandsekad. an

Wetenschappen,

fd.

etterkunde,

N.R. 8, (Amsterdam965) 1-2. n the raditiononcerninghe eges boriginum= the eges

Laurentum

,

see P.

Fraccaro,

tudiVarroniani.e

genteopuli

omani

ibri

V

(Padova

907)

175-83.

6

Vergilius



6/10

Vergil

and

Dionysius

wanderers and

vagabonds,

and

suitably

alled

them

Aberrigines

1.10.2).

Who

were

those

Roman

authorities?

Were

all

other

etymological

fforts

ffectively

xcluded

from he

Roman

schools?

Dionysius

writes that some authorities

described

the

Aborigines

as

wanderers and

vagabonds,

and

suitably

alled

them

Aberrigines

1.10.2).

Who

were those Roman authorities?

Gabba avers

(114):

The

damaging

theory

f

the

people

with

no

fixed

abode was

championed by

Saufeius.

As his

source

Gabba

adduces

Cornelius

Nepos' Life ofAtticus

(12.3).

15

From the

passage

of

Nepos

we learn

that L.

Saufeius was a richeques, a friend and aequalis of Atticus.We learn of his

philosophical

studies

n

Athens,

nd of

his

pretiosas

ossessiones

n

Italy

which

were confiscated

by

the triumvirs nd restored to

him

through

he efforts

f

Atticus),

but

Nepos

has no word of Saufeius'

etymological

ursuits.16

t is

Ser-

vius auctus

who

provides

this nformation

n

his notice on

Aen. 1.6.

He writes:

Saufeius Latium

dictum

ait,

quod

ibi latuerant

ncolae

qui,

quoniam

in

cavis

montium el

occultiscaventes ibi a feris eluis vel

a valentioribus

el

a

tempes-

tatibus

habitaverint,

asci vocati

sunt,

uos posteriAborigines

ognominarunt,

quoniam

+

aliis ortosesse

recognoscebant,

x

quibus

Latinos

etiam dictos.

Thus

Saufeius,

who

probably

descended

from the

family

of

Saufeii

domiciled and influential t the LatinPraeneste,was above all interestednthe

etymology

f the name of his native

region;

follower f

Epicurus,

he

may

have

written

n

Epicurean

account of the

development

f civilization

rom

he cave-

dwellers o the

higher

orms,

ut

a workof a

purely

ntiquarian

haracter

s also

possible.17

aufeius was not the first o connectLatium

with

ateo'

but

according

to

the

more

popular

explanation

it was

Saturn

who was there

hiding

after

he

was

expelled

from

Olympus.

The

Epicurean

Saufeius

substituted

in

a

rationalistic vein the incolae for the

god.

In

the shorter

edition of

the com-

mentary

he

referenceto Saufeius was

excised,

and

only

this

nformation

as

offered

o the

pueri

Latium

autem dictum

uod

illic Saturnus

atuerit.

Oddly

enough,the commentator oes not remarknthisplace that twas thisexplana-

tion

that

was favored

by Vergil,

Aen. 8.319-23: Saturnus

../...

Latiumque

vocari

/

maluit,

his

quoniam

latuisset utus

n

oris. 18

^The reference

114,p.

45)

reads:

Nepos,

Att. 2.3

=

Fr.

2

Peter.

his

s

doubly

inaccurate.

n

Nepos,

ee above

n

the

ext;

nd

n

Peter's

RR

vol.

,

p. 8)

there

s

only

ne

fragment

f aufeiusisted

culled

romerviusuctusadAen.

.6).

16On

aufeius'

ossible amily

onnections,

nd

his

philosophical

nterests

nd ttach-

ments

he

was,

ike

Atticus,

n

Epicurean),

ee F.

Mnzer,

Ein

rmischer

pikureer,

hM 9

(1914)

25-29;

.E.

Raubitschek,

Phaidrosnd

hisRoman

upils, esperia

8

1949)

6-103;

.

Nicolet,

'ordre

questrel'poque

publicaine

vol. :

Prosopographie

es

chevaliers

omains

(Paris 974)

012-13.

l Cf.E.Rawson,ntellectualifen he ateRoman epublicBaltimore985) ,n.26.

18Serviusd loc.

records he

tymology

f

Varro,

quod

atet talia nter

raecipitia

Alpium

t

Apennini,

nd

erviusuctus eturnso

the

roublinguestion

fLatinus:

quidam

Vergilius



7/10

J.

Linderski

The

passage

concerning

he

Aborigines

s

corrupt;

Thilo obelizes

it,

the

Editio

Harvardiana

accepts

the

reading quoniam

aliis

ortos

pro-

posed

in

1879

by

A. Riese.

Thus thisemendation

as

also

all other

emendations

listed

by

Thilo

in

his

apparatus)19 presupposes

the

etymology

b

orgine

no

Aberrigines

n

Saufeius.20

Thus

Vergil,

and his

commentators,

tood

firmly

n

the

camp

of

Varro;

they

mbraced his

interpretation

o

the exclusion

nd oblivionof all others.

The

contrastwith

Dionysius

s

perfect.

In

his

Antiquitates

he

Pelasgians

form he next wave of

immigrants

o

Italy 1.17-30). They came fromThessaly,butoriginated n thePeloponnesus,

and

thus were bound

by

ties

of

kinship

to the

Aborigines.

Together

with the

Aborigines

hey

made a war

on the

Sicels,

and

expelled

them

from heir bodes

(in

the

territory

f the

future

Latium,

Campania

and

Etruria).21

But

they

uf-

fered

the wrathof

gods,

and

only

small relics of themremained

n

Italy.

Vergil

mentions he

Pelasgi

seven

times,

nd

he,

and the

commentators,

irmly

dentify

them as

the

Greeks;

but

in

six

passages

(1.624;

2.83, 106, 152; 6.503;

9.154)

they

are the

Greeks at

Troy

and their

treacherous arts. t is

only

once,

at

8.600-2,

ferunt

Latino ictumatium

this

was he

pinion

f

Livy),

lii

psum

atinum Latio

this

was

n

fact

he

nterpretation

hat

ergil

mbraced).

f.Bartelink

n.

14

bove)

9-50;

.

Maltby,

A

Lexicon

f

Ancient

atin

tymologiesLeeds 991)

29.

19Maltby

n

his

ery

sefulook

n.

18

bove)

,

attributeshis

hrase irectly

oServius

auctus

and

not o

Saufeius),

nd

prints

ab iis

ortos

he

doesnot ndicatehat

his s a con-

jectural

eading).

2 Wedo notknow howas

he

riginator

f his urious

nterpretation;

n

addition

o

Dionysius

t s

recorded

n

Origo

entis

omanae .2:

Alii

olunt

os,

uod

rranteslio

=

in

Italiani)

enerint,

rimo berrigines,

ost

mutata na ittera

ltera

aempta borigines

og-

nominatos ;

f.

estus 28.9-10

.;

Paulus

x Festo

7

L. J.-C.

ichard,Varron,

Origo entis

Romanae

t es

Aborignes,

Ph57

1983)

9-37,

rgues

hattwas

n

fact arro

who nvented

this

tymology.

do

not ee how his

onclusionanbe reached n the asis f

Macrobius,

at.

1.7.28quotingarro), herehephrasecum atiumost rroreslurimosdpulissentefers

to

the

elasgi

ndnot othe

Aborigines;

n

the ther and arronianchoes everberate

n

he

Origo

in

particular

he

tymological

ethod

f his reatise

losely

esembleshe

practice

f

Varro

see

the

xamples

dduced

y

Richard

5-6).

n

the

Origo

henewcomersre

greetedy

Picus;

ney

ay

ave ome

rrantesbut

hey

ere he irstuman

ccupants

f

taly

cf.

aulus x

Festo 7

L.: fuitnim

ens

ntiquissima

taliae ),

nd hustwas

n

taly

hat

heyhanged

rom

Aberrigines

o

Aborigines.

his cheme

e

perhaps

an scribeo

Varro,

howould hus ecome

the

riginator

or

at

east

ropounder)

fboth

tymologies.

ut

his hould otmean hat arro

regarded

he

Aborigines

s the

Greeks: o P.L.

Schmidt,

Das

Corpus

Aurelianum

nd .

Aurelius

ictor,

E

Suppl.

5

1978)

1617

again

ne

wonders

ow his onclusionanbe

derived

rom

arro,

e

genteopui

omani

rg.

5Fraccaro

n.

14

bove) August.,

e civ. ei

18.15).

21Servius,

reserving

he

utochthony

f he

Aborigines

n

taly,

as curiousonstruc-

tion fthe iculiSicani) xpellingheAboriginesndbeingnturnpulsi b illis uosante

pepulerant

adAen.

.328,

f.

.795).

f.

Briqueln.

3

above)

08-9. abba

114)disregards

his

version.

8

Vergilius



8/10

Vergil

and

Dionysius

that

Vergil

mentions he

Pelasgians

n

Italy:

veteres

Pelasgos

. . .

qui primi

inis

aliquando

habuere Latinos

(we

also learn

that

the

Pelasgians possessed

a

sacred

grove

near

the

city

f

Caere,

historically major

Etruscan

city22.

Commenting

n these lines

Servius

and

Serviusauctus adduce

various

theories

concerning

the

origin

of the

Pelasgians

(the

commentators

opt

for

Thessaly),

and

aver:

hi

primi

taliani

tenuisse

apparently

not

perceiving

ny

contradiction

etween this tatement nd their omments n the

Aborigines).

Again

a stark ontrastwith

Dionysius:

s the allies of the

Aborigines,

he

Pelasgians

are for

Dionysius

an

importantngredient

f the

earlyhistory

f

Italy

and ofRoman ethnogenesis;ntheAeneisthey re totally nsignificant,nd they

are

largelyneglected

lso

by

the scholiasts.23

Next came

the celebrated Evander withhis

Arcadians;

they

were

peace-

fully

ccepted by

the

Aborigines,

nd

establishedthemselves n the Palatine.

It

was

they

who

brought

to

Italy

ingredients

f

higher

civilization:

music, crafts,

and

laws,

and the

Greek

alphabet.24

So

Dionysius

1.31-33).

Now

Vergil

men-

tions Evander

twenty-eight

imes;

if

the

Pelasgians only tangentially

ouched

upon

the

history

f

Rome,

Evander,

the

possessor

of the

Palatine,

was an essen-

tial

part

of

Rome's

past.

But

in

Vergil

the stress s on the

description

of the

future site of

Rome

(

Aen

8.50ff.);

furthermore

whereas

in

Dionysius

the

Arcadians live in peace withtheAborigines, n Vergil they bellum adsidue

ducunt cum

gente

Latina

(8.55);

the

story

f theirfuture

malgamation

with

the Latins and

the

Trojans

is not told.

In

Vergil (and

in

Livy)

Hercules comes to

Italy

and Pallantium alone

withhis

cattle;25

n

Dionysius 1.39-44)

he and his followers onstitute nother

wave of

Greek

immigrants;

when Hercules

departed

from

taly

he leftbehind

him

the

Epeans

(from

Elis)

and the

Arcadians from

Pheneus,

who

ultimately

mingled

with he

Arcadians of Evander and the

Aborigines.

And

finally

here arrived he

Trojans:

for

Dionysius

1.57-8,

61-2,

68-9)

unmistakably

till

another

group

of

Greeks. For

Vergil

and

the Romans of the

Augustan age) thiswas heresy.Aeneas and his line was connected (through

gods)

with he ine of

Evander: Aeneas

stresses hishimself

n

his address to the

22No omment

ere,

ut d Aen.10.183 erviusuctus

ttributeso the

Pelasgians

he

foundationf

Caere.Cf.

lso ad 8.479

where e

hesitatesetween

elasgus, elegonus

nd

Tyrrhenus.

2^We

will

e able o

ppreciate

etterow ittle

ergil

nd

his

nterpreters

ave

o

ay

f

the

Plasgians

n

taly

f

we

considerhat .

Briquel,

es

Plasges

n

talie.

Recherches

ur

l'histoiree a

lgende

Rome

984)

evotedo

he

ubject

ull ix

undred

ifty-nineages.

z^That he

etters

ereGreek

ionysius

tates

xplicitly

1.33.4);

n

Livy

1.7.8)

vander

is venerabilisirmiraculoitterarum,nd nTacitusAnn. 1.14.3) litterarumormas. .AboriginesrcadebEvandroidicerunt.

~

Aen

8.190-265;

ivy

.7.3-12,

nd f.

gilvie,

ommentary

n.

6

above)

5-61.

Vergilius



9/10

J.

Linderski

Arcadian

king

Aen

8.134-142),

but he was not a Greek.

Vergil

and the com-

mentators

mphasize

the

overriding

act hat

Dardanus,

the ancestor

of

Aeneas,

originated

in

Italy.26

Dionysius,

on the other

hand,

is

firm n

asserting

the

Arcadian

origin

of Dardanus

(1.61, 68).

He could

look

upon

an

illustrious

Roman

predecessor:

Graeci

et

Varro humanarumrerum

Dardanum

non ex

Italia,

sed de

Arcadia,

urbe

Pheneo,

oriundum icunt. 27

Gabba

(117)

points

out that the

story

f the Italian

origin

of Dardanus

may

have been based on

traditions f Etruscan

nobility. 28

his leads us to

the

role of

the Etruscans

in

Dionysius

and

in

Vergil.

More differences

here:

Dionysiusis a notoriouschampionof Etruscanautochthonyn Italy 1.16-30);

Vergil

remains

firmly

nchored

in

the

Herodotean tradition

deriving

the

Tyrrhenians

rom

ydia,

and

so are his commentators.29

Gabba stresses

117)

that the Etruscans are

assigned

a

decidedlyposi-

tive

role

by Dionysius

whereas

they

are divided

by

Vergil

into friends

nd

enemies of

Aeneas. But

in

the Aeneid the enemies of Aeneas

are not

the

Etruscans

per

se but rather the Etruscan

outcasts:

the cruel

Mezentius was

chased

away by

the inhabitants f

Caere,

and found

refuge

with

Turnus

n

the

Rutulian Ardea

(Aen. 8.479-93).

To

fight

Mezentius and Turnus

Aeneas

acquired

as allies

the whole of Etruria

Aen.

10.148-214),

including

Mezentius'

nativeCaere.30Vergilhere stands trikinglypposed to theannalistic radition:

in

Livy

1.3-4;

3.4-5)

Mezentius s

not an

exile,

but rules the

opulent

Caere;

the

Aborigines

nd the

Trojans

have to

cope

with

he

overbearing

ower

of

Etruria,

the

florentes

pes

Etruscorum.

And

Dionysius

sides

with

Livy,

not

Vergil:

his

Mezentius s a

powerful

ing

f the

Tyrrhenians

1.64-65).

The

alignment itting

ivy

and

DionysiusagainstVergil

and

in

the case

of

the

all-important

rigin

of

Aeneas also

Dionysius

and Varro

against

Vergil)

should

serve as a

warning

o those

scholars who would

wish to

detect

in

often

26Aen3.94-6,66-8; .205-7,39-40;erviusnd erviusuctusad occ.

2

Serviusuctus

d Aen. .167.

Cf.

H.

Hill,

Dionysius

fHalicarnassusnd he

Origins

of

Rome,

RS 1

1961))

88-93

t 92. But s Poucet

n.

3

above)

3,

points

ut,

his oes

not

mean hat

ionysius

irectly

ollows

arro;

e

may

ave sed neof he nnamed

raeci

crip-

tores.

n the

temmafAeneas

n

Dionysius,

ee

now

Martin

note above) sp.

20-22,

40-41.

^As

argued y

G.

Colonna,

Virgilio,

ortona la

leggenda

trusca

i

Dardano,

rch.

Class.

2

1980)

-15. f.

Briquel,

es

Plasgesn.

23

above)

61-65.

Aen

8.479-80,99,

ndServiusnd

Serviusuctusad loc.Cf. lso

the ommentn

2.781.

ee now

hevoluminous

reatment

576 pp.) by

D.

Briquel, 'origine ydienne

es

Etrusques.

istoiree a

doctrineans

VAntiquitRome

991),

nd

pecifically

n

Dionysius,

ee

the rticle f

he ame

cholar,

L'autochtoniees

Etrusques

hez

Denys

'Halicarnasse,

EL

61

1983)

5-83.

3See the choliast'sommentn10.183: t 7.652 ducit gyllinaequiquamxurbe

secutos

mille

iros

of

Mezentius'on

Lausus)

eferso those

who

ollowed ezentius

nd

Lausus

when

hey

ad led rom

aere

=

Agylla).

10

Vergilius



10/10

Vergil

and

Dionysius

minor

divergences

n

mythical

history

ither

signs

of

Augustan

deology

or of

veiled

opposition

to

Augustus.31

The truthof the matter

is that

Dionysius

represents

he

pre-Augustan ayer

of Roman

mythology

f the

origines

he

does

not criticize

Vergil's

vision or

the official

version of the

new

regime:

he dis-

regards

hem.32

As Gabba demonstrated

in

his marvelous

chapter

on

The Political

Meaning

of

Dionysius^

History

190-216),

the aim of the

Greek

historian

was

to bolster

the

pride

of the

Greeks: Greece was

not ruled

by

a

barbarian

nation

but

by

a

city

hat

was a

Greek

colony.

Gabba concludes (117): withinthe overall framework f Italian eth-

nography

he distance

separating Virgil

and

Dionysius may

indeed

be smaller

than one

might xpect

at first

lance.

We have tried

to take a

second

glance,

and the distance s as

great

as

ever.33

J.

Linderski

University

f

North

Carolina,

Chapel

Hill

31As

oes,

.g.,

ill

n.

27

above)

2.

32Cf.

oucet

n.

3

above)

93:

l'historien'Halicarnasse

raite on

sujet,

omme

i

l'nide

e

Virgile

'existait

as.

Martin

n.

3

above)

36,

oncludes:Le

rcit e

Denys

st

donc n

cit

l'usage

umonde

rec.

33American

niversityresses otoriously

veredit

anuscripts,

ut t the

ame ime

n

the aseof

Gabba's ook

heCaliforniaresswasnot ble o

create

decentndex.

he ndices

bristle ith

rritating

istakes:

.

249:Diocles f

Peparethus

s

presented

s

Diocles

eparethus;

p.

251:

Festus ndPauli

xcerpta

xFesto

re

onflated;

ivy'sraefatio

o

his

Ab urbe

onditas

listed s

a

separate

ork;

.

252:no

distinction

etweenervius

ndServiusuctus

lthough

Gabba

n

the

ext fhis

book

istinguishes

hem

arefully;.

253;

he

ompiler

f

he

ndex on-

flated

irsch's

ditionfVarro's

ntiquitates

erumumanarumndCardauns'

ditionf

Antiq-

uitateserumivinarum;.253:wenote he ntry:anthusfLydia,ydiaca. 28.2.As should e

clear rom

abba's

iscussion

p. 112),

nd s

was

asy

o

check,

he eference

.28.2s not o

Xanthusut o

Dionysius'ntiquitates

where ionysius

entions

anthus).

Vergilius

1

Documents

Vergil and Dionysius