LATIN RIDDLE.
(Vol. viii., p. 243.)
The enigma of Aulus Gellius (Noctes Atticæ, lib. xii. cap. vi.), though transmitted to us in a corrupt form, is solved at once by the story mentioned by Livy (lib. i. cap. lv.). When Tarquinius Superbus was about to build the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, it was found necessary to "exaugurate" or dispossess the other deities whose shrines had previously occupied the ground. All readily gave way to Father Jupiter with the exception of Terminus; and the point of the riddle lies in the analogy between "Semel minus," "Bis minus," and "Ter minus."
I extract a note from the copy of Aulus Gellius before me:
Barthius (Adv., lib. xvi. cap. xxii.) hos versus ita legebat:
'Semel minus? Non. Bisminus? Non. Sat scio.
An utrumque? Verum; ut quondam audivi dicier,
Jovi ipsi regi noluit concedere.'
"Ita et trimetri sua sibi constant lege, et acumen repetitis interrogatiunculis. Alioquin frigidum responsum. Potest tamen ita intelligi, ut semel, bis, imo ter Jove minus sit, et noluerit tamen Jovi cedere."—Page 560. N.: Lugd. Batav., 1706, 4to.
Lactantius, "the Christian Cicero," thus tells the story:
"Nam cum Tarquinius Capitolium facere vellet, eoque in loco multorum deorum sacella essent: consuluit eos per augurium; utrum Jovi cederent, et cedentibus cæteris, solus Terminus mansit. Unde illum Poeta 'Capitoli immobile Saxum' vocat (Virg., Æn. ix. 441.). Facto itaque Capitolio, supra ipsum Terminum foramen est in tecto relictum: ut quia non cesserat, libero cœlo frueretur."—De Falsa Relig., lib. i. cap. xx. ad fin.
Livy, in a subsequent book (v. 45.), Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Antiqu. Rom., lib. iii. cap. lxix.) and Florus assert that Juventas also refused to move; and St. Augustine tells the same story of Mars. I may as well quote his words:
"Cum Rex Tarquinius Capitolium fabricare vellet, eumque locum qui ei dignior aptiorque videbatur, ab Diis aliis cerneret præoccupatum, non audens aliquid contra eorum facere arbitrium, et credens eos tanto numini suoque principi voluntate cessuros; quia multi erant illic ubi Capitolium constitutum est, per augurium quæsivit, utrum concedere locum vellent Jovi: atque ipsi inde cedere omnes voluerunt, præter illos, quos commemoravi, Martem, Terminum, Juventatem: atque ideo Capitolium ita constitutum est, ut etiam iste tres intus essent tam obscuris signis, ut hoc vix homines doctissimi scirent."—De Civit. Dei, lib. iv. cap. xxiii. 3.
Nor must I omit the following from Ovid:
"Quid, nova quum fierent Capitolia? Nempe Deorum
Cuncta Jovi cessit turba, locumque dedit,
Terminus ut memorant veteres, inventus in æde,
Restitit, et magno cum Jove templa tenet.
Nunc quoque, se supra ne quid nisi sidera cernat,
Exiguum templi tecta foramen habent."
Fast., lib. ii. 667., &c.
Much more information may be found in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, &c., sub voc. Terminus. Servius, ad Aen. ix. 448. Politiani, Miscell. c. 36. Histoire Romaine, par Catrou et Rouille, vol. i. p. 343. &c., N.: à Paris, 1725, 4to. Grævii, Thesaur. Antiqu. Rom., vol. ix. 218. N., and vol. x. 783. Traject. ad Rhen., 1699, fol. Plutarch, in Vit. Numæ.
Robert Gibbings.