Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/669

Rh CATO. has preserved, in addition to the above lines, short testimonies from Ticida and Cinna to the merits of the Lydia and the Diana, together with two epigrams by Furius Bibaculus [Bibaculus], which contrast, in no very feeling terms, the splendour of Cato in the full flush of his fame and prosperity — " unicum magistrum, summum grammaticum, optimum poe- tam" — with his subsequent distress and poverty. From the circumstance already noticed, that Cato devoted much attention in his earlier years to the productions of Lucilius, he is probably the Cato named in the prooemium to the tenth satire of Ho- race (lib. i.), and may be the same with the Cato addressed by Catullus (Ivi.), and with the Cato classed by Ovid {Trist. ii. 435) along with Ticida, Memmius, Cinna, Anser, and Cornilicius. In all the collections of the minor Latin poets will be found 183 hexameter verses, which, ever since the time of Joseph Scaliger, have been known under the title " Valerii Catonis Dirae." We ga- ther from the context, that the lands of the au- thor had been confiscated during civil strife, and assigned to veteran soldiers as a reward for their services. Filled with wrath and indignation on account of this cruel injustice and oppression, the rightful owner solemnly devotes to destruction the fields he had loved so well. Then in gentler mood he dwells upon the beauty of the scenes he was about to quit for ever; scarcely tearing himself away from an eminence whence he was gazing on his flocks, he bids a last farewell to thein and his adored Lydia, to whom he vows eternal constancy. Such is the argument as far as the end of the 103d line. In the portion which follows, the bard dwells with envy on the felicity of the rural retreats haunted by his beautiful mistress, and complains of his relentless destiny, which had separated him from the object of his passion. It must also be observed, that in the first line we find an invoca- tion of some person, place, or thing, designated by the appellation of Battarus — "Battare cycneas repetamus carmine voces" — and that this word oc- curs again and again, as far as line 97, forming a Bort of burden to the song. These matters being premised, it remains for us to investigate, 1. The connexion and arrangement of the different parts of the " Dirae." 2. The real author. 3. What we are to understand by Battarus. 1. To all who read the lines in question with care it will at once become evident, that they in reality constitute two pieces, and not one. The first, containing the imprecations, and addressed to Battarus, concludes with 1. 103, and is completely distinct in subject, tone, spirit, and phraseology, from the second, which ought always to be printed as a separate strain. This opinion was first ad- vanced by F. Jacobs {Bihliotliek der alien Literatur und Kunst^ p. ix. p. 56", Getting. 1792), and has been fully adopted by Putsch, the most recent editor. The confusion probably arose from the practice common among the ancient scribes of copying two or more compositions of the same author continuously, with- out interposing any space or mark to point out that they had passed from one to another. The error, once introduced, was in this case perpetuated, from the circumstance, that both poems speak of the charms of certain rural scenes, and of the beauty of Lydia, although in the one these objects are regarded with feelings very diflferent from those expressed in the other. 2. In all MSS. these lines are found among the CATUALDA. 651 minor poems attributed to Virgil, and in several are specifically ascribed to him. Moreover, in the catalogues of Virgil's works drawn up by Donatua and by Servius, "Dirae" are included. Joseph Scaliger, however, considering that in language and versification the Dirae bore no resemblance what- ever to the acknowledged compositions of Virgil, and that the sentiments expressed were completely at variance with the gentle and submissive spirit which Virgil displayed under like circumstances, was convinced that he could not be the author; but, recollecting, on the other hand, that the inci- dents described and the name of Lydia correspond- ed in some degree with the details transmitted to us with regard to Valerius Cato, determined, that they must be from the pen of that grammarian ; and almost all subsequent editors have acquiesced in the decision. It is manifest, however, that the conclusion has been very rashly adopted. Grant- ing that we are entitled to neglect the authority of the MSS., which in this case is perhaps not very important, and to remove these pieces from the works of Virgil, still the arguments on which they have been so confidently transferred to Cato are singularly weak. We can build nothing upon the fictitious name of Lydia ; and even if we grant that the estate of Cato was actually distributed among the veterans of Sulla, although of this we have not the slightest evidence, we know well that hundreds of others suffered under a like calamity. Nor is there anything in the context by which we can fix the epoch of the forfeiture in question. All the circumstances are just as applicable to the times of Octavianus as to those of Sulla. 3. The discordant opinions which have been en- tertained with regard to Battarus are spoken of imder Battarus. The Dirae were first printed at the end of the editio princeps of Virgil, at Rome, by Sweynheim and Pannartz in 1469, and are always included among the early impressions of the Catalecta. They appeared in an independent form at Leyden (r2mo. 1652), under the inspection of Christopher Arnold, who adopted the corrected text of Scaliger. Since that period, they have been edited by Eichstadt (Jena, 4to. 1826), and with very complete prole- gomena by Putsch (Jena, Bvo. 1828), whose work was reprinted at Oxford by Dr. Giles in 1838. They are to be found also in the "Anthologia" of Burmann (vol. ii. p. 647), and in the "Poetae La- tini Minores" of Wemsdorff (vol. iii. p. xlv. &c.), who prefixed a very learned dissertation on various topics connected with the work. An essay by Nake, who had prepared a new edition of Valerius Cato for the press, appeared in the " Rheinisches Museum" for 1828. [W. R.J CATO, VE'TTIUS. [Scato.] CATO'NIUS JUSTUS, a centurion in one of the Paiinonian legions which revolted on the acces- sion of Tiberius, a. d. 14. When the insurrection was quelled by Drusus, Catonius and some othei-s were sent to Tiberius to sue for pardon. (Tac. Ann. i. 29; Dion Cass. Ix. 18.) [L. S.] CATTUME'RUS, a chief of the German tribe of the Catti, from whom the mother of Italicus, the Cheruscan chief, was descended. {'Ya.c.Ann. xi. 16.) He is probably the same as the one whom Strabo (vii. p. 292) calls Ucromerus. [L. S.] CATUALDA, a noble youth of the German tribe of the Gotones. Dreading the violence of Maroboduus, he took to flight ; but when the power