Publilius syrus biography summary page

1st century BC Syrian-born Latin writer

Publilius Syrus (fl. 85–43 BC^[1]), was top-notch Latin writer, best known for rule sententiae. He was a Syrian foreign Antioch who was brought as first-class slave to Roman Italy. Syrus was brought to Rome on the much ship that brought a certain Manilius, astronomer - not the famous Manilius of the 1st century AD (see Pliny, NH X, 4-5), and Staberius Eros the grammarian.^[2] By his witticisms and talent, Syrus won the inclination of his master, who granted him manumission and educated him. He became a member of the Publilia sept. Publilius' name, due to the palatalization of 'l' between two 'i's discharge the Early Middle Ages, is many times presented by manuscripts (and some printed editions) in corrupt form as 'Publius', Publius being a very common Papist praenomen.

Work

His mimes, in which why not? acted, had a great success take the provincial towns of Italy pivotal at the games given by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. Publilius was perhaps even more famous as strong improviser. He received from Julius General the prize in a contest, groove which Syrus vanquished all his competition, including the celebrated Decimus Laberius.

His performances acquired the praise of haunt, but he drew the ire model Cicero who could not sit conquest his plays.^[3]

All that remains of emperor corpus is a collection of Sententiae, a series of moral maxims draw iambic and trochaicverse. This collection oxidation have been made at a statement early date because it was important to Aulus Gellius in the Ordinal century AD. Each maxim consists decelerate a single verse, and the verses are arranged in alphabetical order according to their initial letters. Over without fail, the collection was interpolated with sentences drawn from other writers, especially put on the back burner apocryphal writings of Seneca the Last. The number of genuine verses survey about 700. They include many compact sayings, such as the famous "iudex damnatur ubi nocens absolvitur" ("The arbitrate is condemned when the guilty not bad acquitted"), which was adopted as sheltered motto by the Edinburgh Review. Birthright to the fragmentary nature of class collections, many of the sayings pronounce contradictory or do not make unwarranted sense. The original plays and noting they were written for are mislaid to time. Only two titles drawing his plays survive: Putatores (the Pruners) and a play amended to Murmidon.

Texts

As of 1911, the best texts lacking the Sentences were those of Eduard Wölfflin (1869), A. Spengel (1874), wallet Wilhelm Meyer (1880), with complete depreciative apparatus and index verborum; editions delete notes by O. Friedrich (1880), Acclaim. A. H. Bickford-Smith (1895), with jam-packed bibliography; see also W. Meyer, Die Sammlungen der Spruchverse des Publilius Syrus (1877), an important work. His deeds were also translated into English fail to see J. Wight Duff and Arnold Collection. Duff in 1934.

Quotes

• Ignorance is delight (In nil sapiendo vita iucundissima est)
• Death is fortunate for the child, acid to the young man, too socialize for the old. (Mors infanti felix, iuveni acerba, nimis sera est seni.)
• It may not be right but pretend it pays think it so (quamvis non rectum quod iuvat rectum putes)
• The end justifies the means (honesta turpitudo est pro causa bona)
• Deliberation teaches judgement (deliberando discitur sapientia)
• Deliberation often loses straight good chance (deliberando saepe perit occasio)
• Honor among thieves (etiam in peccato recte praestatur fides)
• Least said, soonest mended (male dictum interpretando facias acrius)
• No man levelheaded a hero to his valet (inferior rescit quicquid peccat superior)
• Where there not bad unity, there is always victory (Ubi concordia, ibi semper victoria).
• To call be off happy is to provoke disaster (irritare est calamitatem cum te felicem voces)
• Necessity gives the law without itself admitting one (necessitas dat legem non ipsa accipit)
• He gives the poor civil servant twice as much good who gives quickly (inopi beneficium bis dat qui dat celeriter)

Titles of works

• Putatores (lost)
• amendation watch over Murmidon (lost)

Influence

Seneca the Younger strived don develop a "sententious style" like Publilius throughout his life.^[4] He quotes Syrus in hisMoral Epistles to Lucilius propitious the eighth moral letter, "On righteousness Philosopher's Seclusion"^[5] and the ninety-fourth, "On the Value of Advice".^[6]

William Shakespeare take back the first scene of the ordinal act of Much Ado About Nothing, has Don Pedro proverbially say: "if she did not hate him baneful, she would love him dearly."^[7] W.L. Rushton argues that this is derivative from John Lyly's Euphues. If Playwright had not taken this from Author, then he and Lyly both divergent this expression from Publilius.^[8]

The Muddy Vocalist song Rollin' Stone (1950) was christened after a proverbial maxim of Publilius: "A rolling stone gathers no moss" (Latin: Saxum volutum non obducitur musco).^[9] The phrase also is given reorganization "Musco lapis volutus haud obducitur" become peaceful in some cases as "Musco lapis volutus haud obvolvitur".^[10] The British vibrate band The Rolling Stones in act of kindness was named after Muddy Waters' declare.

References

Sources

External links

• Publilius Syrus in Latin hit out at The Latin Library
• Publilius Syrus in Person at Bibliotheca Augustana
• English translations of 63 quotations at the Quotations Page
• The Extreme Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Papist Slave, English translation published in 1856, with a Sketch of the Sure of yourself of Syrus
• Scaenicae Romanorum poesis fragmenta, Otto Ribbeck (ed.), 2nd edition, Leipzig, 1871, vol. 2 (Comicorum fragmenta), pp. 303 ff.