21 Domitius Marsus, Fragment 147

Domitius Marsus was a friend of Tibullus and Vergil, and may have enjoyed the patronage of Maecenas, a confidant of the Emperor Augustus He composed a collection of epigrams titled Cicuta (“hemlock”) because its bitting sarcasm was so venomous, erotic elegiac poems, an epic poem Amazonis, and a prose work on wit (De urbanitate). Most of these are lost but a few epigrams survive. In this epigram, demands of erotic love drive apart two close friends, both named Bavius (?).

1 Omnia cum Baviō commūnia frāter habēbat,
2 Ūnanimī frātrēs sīcut habēre solent,
3 Rūra domum nummōs atque omnia; dēnique, ut āiunt,
4 Corporibus geminīs spīritus ūnus erat.
5 Sed postquam alterius mulier concumbere <frātrī>
6 Nōn vult, dēposuit alter amīcitiam.
7 Omnia tunc īrā, tunc omnia līte solūta,
8 <et> nova rēgna duōs accipiunt <dominōs>.
1 habēbat: habeō is a verb familiar verb (it’s a Top 40 Latin word). But don’t take it for granted: there’s a universe of meaning in this seemingly simple word. Take a few minutes to become reacquainted with this important word by reading the complete entry on Logeion (note esp. meanings A-E and esp. K). Do you think the habēbat in 1 and the habēre in 2 have the same sense?
2 sīcut: introduces the simile of frātrēs. If you look at the line’s scansion, you’ll see that sīcut follows the mid-verse break. What affect does this have?
3 Rūra domum nummōs: a marvelous asyndeton because the caesura. What affect does this convey to the list?
5-6 alterius…alter: “of one… the other…”; do you think two forms of alter refer to the same person (Bavius A) or to Bavius A and Bavius B? How does this interpretative decision affect the Message of the poem?


Interrogata

  1. Who is to blame for the dissolution of this friendship?
  2. What significance do you find in the introduction of political imagery in the poem’s last line?
  3. Has a friend ever taken advantage of your friendship? Did the relationship recover or was it irreparably diminished?

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