History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Vol. II

by John Colin Dunlop

The English were early acquainted with the plays of Plautus. It appears from Holinshed, that in the eleventh year of King Henry VIII.—that is, in 1520—a comedy of Plautus was played before the King[591]. We are informed by Miss Aikin, in her Memoirs of the Court of Elizabeth, that when that Queen visited Cambridge in 1564, she went on a Sunday morning to King’s Chapel, to hear a Latin sermon, ad clerum; “and in the evening, the body of this solemn edifice being converted into a temporary theatre, she was there gratified with a representation of the Aulularia of Plautus[592].” It has been mentioned in the text, that, in 1595, there appeared a translation of the Menæchmi of Plautus, by W. W.—initials which have [pg A-28]generally been supposed to stand for William Warner, author of Albion’s England. In 1694, Echard published a prose translation of the three comedies which had been selected by Mad. Dacier—the Amphitryon, Epidicus, and Rudens. It is obvious, however, that he has more frequently translated from the French, than from his original author. His style, besides, is coarse and inelegant; and, while he aims at being familiar, he is commonly low and vulgar. Some passages of the Amphitryon he has translated in the coarsest dialogue of the streets:—“By the mackins, I believe Phœbus has been playing the good fellow, and’s asleep too! I’ll be hanged if he ben’t in for’t, and has took a little too much of the creature.” In every page, also, we find the most incongruous jumble of ancient and of modern manners. He talks of the Lord Chief Justice of Athens, of bridewell, and aldermen; and makes his heathen characters swear British and Christian oaths, such as, “By the Lord Harry!—’Fore George!—’Tis as true as the Gospel!”

In the year 1746, Thomas Cooke, the well-known translator of Hesiod, published proposals for a complete translation of Plautus, but he printed only the Amphitryon. Dr Johnson has told, that Cooke lived twenty years on this translation of Plautus, for which he was always taking in subscriptions[593].

In imitation of Colman, who, in his Terence, had introduced a new and elegant mode of translation in familiar blank verse, Mr Thornton, in 1667, published a version of seven of the plays after the same manner,—Amphitryon, Miles Gloriosus, Captivi, Trinummus, Mercator, Aulularia, Rudens. Of these, the translation of the Mercator was furnished by Colman, and that of the Captivi by Mr Warner. Thornton intended to have translated the remaining thirteen, but was prevented by death. The work, however, was continued by Mr. Warner, who had translated the Captivi. To both versions, there were subjoined remarks, chiefly collected from the best commentators, and from the notes of the French translators of Plautus.

TERENCE.

The MSS. of Terence which were coeval with the age of the author, or shortly posterior to it, were corrupted from the same cause as the MSS. of Plautus. Varro says, that, in his time, the copies of Terence then existing were extremely corrupt. He is, however, one of the classics whose works cannot properly be said to have been discovered at the revival of literature, as, in fact, his comedies never were lost. They were commented on, during the later ages of the empire, by Æmilius Asper, Valerius Probus, Martius Salutaris, Flavius Caper, and Helenius Acro; and towards the end of the fifth century, Rufinus wrote a diatribe on the metres of Terence. Sulpicius Apollinaris, a grammarian of the second century, composed arguments to the plays, and Ælius Donatus commented on them in the fourth century. The person styling himself Calliopius, revised and amended, in the eighth century, a MS. which was long preserved in the Vatican. Eugraphius commented on Terence, again, in the tenth, and Calpurnius in the middle of the fifteenth century. Guiniforte delivered lectures on Terence at Novarra in 1430, and Filelfo at Florence about the same period[594]. Petrarch, too, when Leontius Pilatus, disgusted with Italy, returned to his native country, gave him a copy of Terence as his travelling companion,—a foolish present, as Petrarch adds, for there is no resemblance between the most gloomy of all the Greeks, and the most lively of the Africans. As Petrarch at this time seems to have cordially disliked Leontius, it is not probable that the copy of Terence he gave him was very scarce. All this shows, that the six plays of Terence were not merely extant, but very common in Italy, during the dark ages. One of the oldest MSS. of Terence, and that which was probably used in the earliest printed editions, was preserved in the Vatican library: Fabricius has described it as written by Hrodogarius in the time of Charlemagne, and as revised by Calliopius[595]. Another MS. of Terence in the Vatican library, is one which, in the sixteenth century, had fallen into the possession of Cardinal Bembo. It had been revised by Politian[596], who wrote on it, in his own hand, that he had never seen one [pg A-29]more ancient:—“Ego, Angelus Politianus, homo vetustatis minime incuriosus, nullum me vidisse, ad hanc diem, codicem vetustiorem fateor.” Its age, when Fabricius wrote, in 1698, was, as that author testifies, more than a thousand years, which places its transcription at the latest in 698. In this MS. there is a division of verses which is not employed in that above mentioned, written by Hrodogarius. Politian corrected from it, with his own hand, a copy which was in the Laurentian library, and collated with it another, which subsequently belonged to Petrus Victorius. After the death of Cardinal Bembo, this ancient MS. came into the possession of Fulvius Ursinus, and was by him bequeathed to the Vatican library[597].

There is much uncertainty with regard to the Editio Princeps of Terence, and, indeed, with regard to most of the editions of his works which appeared during the fifteenth century. That printed by Mentelin at Strasburg, without date, but supposed to be 1468, seems now to be considered as having the best claims to priority[598]. The Terence printed by Pynson in 1497, was, I believe, the first Latin classic published in this country. The earliest editions of Terence are without any separation of verses, the division of them having been first introduced in the edition of 1487, according to the arrangement made by Politian from Cardinal Bembo’s copy. Westerhovius, in the prolegomena to his edition, 1726, enumerates not fewer than 248 editions of Terence previous to his time. Though the presses of the Aldi (1517–21), the Stephenses (1529–52, &c.), and the Elzevirs (1635), were successively employed in these editions, the text of Terence does not seem to have engaged the attention of any of the most eminent scholars or critics of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with the exception of Muretus. The edition of Faernus, (Florence, 1565,) for which various valuable MSS. were collated, became the foundation of almost all subsequent impressions, particularly that of Westerhovius, which is usually accounted the best edition of Terence. It is nevertheless declared, by Mr Dibdin, “to be more admirable for elaborate care and research, than the exhibition of any critical niceties in the construction of the text, or the illustration of difficult passages.” It contains the Commentaries of Donatus, Calpurnius, and Eugraphius, and there are prefixed the Life of Terence, attributed to Suetonius,—a dissertation of D. Heinsius, Ad Horatii de Plauto et Terentio judicium,—Evanthius, De Tragœdiâ et Comœdiâ,—and a treatise, compiled by the editor from the best authorities, concerning the scenic representations of the Romans.

Bentley’s first edition of Terence was printed at Cambridge in the same year with that of Westerhovius. One of Bentley’s great objects was the reformation of the metres of Terence, concerning which he prefixed a learned dissertation. The boldness of his alterations on the text, which were in a great measure calculated to serve this purpose, drew down on him, in his own age, the appellation of “slashing Bentley,” and repeated castigation from subsequent editors.

Of the more recent editions, that of Zeunius (Leipsic, 1774) is deservedly accounted the best in point of critical excellence. There are, however, three German editions still more recent; that by Schmieder, (Halle, 1794,) by Bothe, (Magdeburg, 1806,) and by Perlet, (Leipsic, 1821;) which last is chiefly remarkable for its great number of typographical errors—about as numerous as those in one of the old English Pearl Bibles.

The plays of Terence being much less numerous than those of Plautus, translations of the whole of them appeared at an earlier period, both in Italian and French. The first complete Italian translation of Terence was in prose. It is dedicated to Benedetto Curtio, by a person calling himself Borgofranco; but from the ambiguity of some expressions in this dedication, there has been a dispute, whether he be the author, or only the editor of the version—Fontanini supporting the former, and Apostolo Zeno the latter proposition[599]. It was first printed at Venice, 1533; and Paitoni enumerates six subsequent editions of it in the course of the sixteenth century. The next version was that of Giovanni Fabrini, which, as we learn by the title, is rendered word for word from the original; it was printed at Venice, [pg A-30]1548. A third prose translation, published at Rome, 1612, is dedicated to the Cardinal Borghese by the printer Zanetti, who mentions, that it was the work of an unknown author, which had fallen accidentally into his hands: Fontanini, however, and Apost. Zeno, have long since discovered, that the author was called Cristoforo Rosario. Crescimbeni speaks favourably of a version by the Marchioness of Malespini. Another lady, Luisa Bergalli, had translated in verso sciolto, and printed separately, some of the plays of Terence: These she collected, and, having completed the remainder, published them together at Venice, in 1733. In 1736, a splendid edition of a poetical translation of Terence, and accompanied by the Latin, was printed at Urbino, with figures of the actors, taken from a MS. preserved in the Vatican. It is written in verso sciolto, except the prologues, which are in versi sdruccioli. The author, who was Nicholas Fortiguerra, and who died before his version was printed, says, that the comedies are nunc primum Italicis versibus redditæ[600]; but in this he had not been sufficiently informed, as his version was preceded by that of Luisa Bergalli, and by many separate translations of each individual play. A translation of two of Terence’s plays, the Andria and Eunuchus, into versi sdruccioli, by Giustiano de Candia, was printed by Paullus Manutius in 1544[601]. Three of Terence’s plays, the Andria, Eunuchus, and Heautontimorumenos, were subsequently translated in versi sdruccioli, by the Abbé Bellaviti, and published at Bassan in 1758.