Isidore and fastum regium, again

I have had a bit of luck with fastum regium. The Oxford Classical Text of Lindsay has fastum regium but his apparatus is sparse. He cites only one manuscript, but it is a pretty good one and is also very early (eight century, possibly). He does not offer any other readings. Lindsay was a very distinguished scholar of the history of Latin and his acceptance of the reading suggests it is to be taken seriously. The edition of the Etymologies in Brepols' classical texts series (which I mentioned in yesterday's post) is based on Lindsay's text. Reydellet's edition (Les Belles Lettres) gives a more detailed apparatus which cites manuscripts in three different major families. He also cites the fourth/fifth century grammarian Lactantius Placidus as saying Fastus superbia et est quarta declinatio. This suggests that there was perhaps some doubt about its declension. Perhaps the noun fastidium had some influence. On the other hand, no dictionary of later Latin or medieval Latin I could consult contained fastum -i in the sense of fastus here.

So, to wrap it up. If fastum regium is correct, then we must suppose that it is a very rare alternative form of fastus -us, here neuter and nominative and in apposition to benevolentia consulentis. It would then be translated as if it were fastus regius.

Or, as I said in yesterday's  post, we can follow the reading in the Patrologia Latina edition, which has fastus regius and which, to me, has the strong support of the virtually identical phrase in Augustine. But this requires that corruption into fastum occurred very early in the manuscript tradition.

To minimize confusion, I would like you to change in your text the reading to fastus regius. That will be the reading I will use should the passage appear on the exam. You would then have to translate it as I did in the last paragraph of yesterday's post:  "For regal pride was not the benevolence of someone consulting, but was the arrogance of a master."  

Isidore de regibus

The second thing first. There is no manuscript authority for the exact reference to the Aeneid, about which Kim asked. So that is an editorial insertion (which, as I said in class, is common).

The reading in line 10 Nam fastum regium ... still defeats me. As it stands, it appears to be the accusative singular of the fourth declension noun fastus with the adjective regius -a -um. I'm not sure why I didn't puzzle over it earlier. But I still do not see any easy way to explain the accusative. It could conceivably be an adverbial use of the accusative, but, aside from the typical adverbial use of the neuter accusative singular of adjectives, that usually exists only in a few established phrases and I can't find a classical or late antique parallel. It also seems very improbable that the reader is supposed to understand fert from ferrent in the previous sentence. It would then also have to mean "put up with" (which is fine), but the switch to superbia ... erat would be intolerably abrupt. It would also be odd to have to jump over fecerunt to find the verb one needs to understand.

I find myself wondering if a neuter noun fastum comes into existence in late antiquity: I haven't been able to find evidence of that yet, but I don't have some of the larger medieval Latin dictionaries at home.

I will have to find a good modern edition of Isidore with an apparatus criticus (the notes at the bottom of the page that indicate variant manuscript readings and scholarly conjectures; you can see a few poor images of them here) to see what sort of manuscript authority fastum regium has. I have found one edition online that reads fastum regium (what should be a good edition from the publisher Brepols), but the electronic version doesn't have an apparatus. Godfrey (in Medieval Mosaic) doesn't say what edition he uses.

However, the text of Isidore's Etymologies in the Patrologia Latina offers fastus regius! That makes eminent sense as a nominative in apposition to benevolentia consulentis: "For regal pride was not the benevolence of one consulting, but was the arrogance of a master." Interestingly, Augustine says something very similar (City of God Book 5, chapter 12): cum et reges utique a regendo dicti melius videantur, ut regnum a regibus, reges autem, ut dictum est, a regendo; sed fastus regius non disciplina putata est regentis, vel benevolentia consulentis, sed superbia dominantis. This makes me think even more that it is the correct reading for this passage in Isidore.

I hope to have a more definite answer for you on Wednesday.

Assignment 2

I will hand it out in class today, but as a backup here is the key for the second assignment.

Did you know Alexander the Great fought dragons? At least a fifteenth-century life says he did....

And a page from Les Tres riches heures, with Saint Michael slaying a (the?) dragon over Mont Saint Michel:

Second extra reading for Latin 410 students

The second extra reading comes from Einhard's life of Charlemagne (from Harrrington and Pucci Medieval Latin, 2nd ed.). You will be reading some the Vita Karoli Magni in R.M.L., but I figured it's important enough that a bit extra wouldn't hurt. It's also less freaky than a lot of what you've been reading.

I apologize for the size of the file.





Right: crowning of Charlemagne (from Les Grandes Chroniques de France, c. 1375-9; gallica.bnf.fr Bibliotheque nationale de France).

Below: reliquary bust of Charlemagne in silver and gold from Aachen Cathedral (started by Charlemagne, c. 790-800), 1349. Charlemagne was canonized in 1166 by one of the Anti-popes and never properly recognized by Rome. But he was eventually beatified on the grounds of long-standing cult.

Pange lingua gloriosi proelium certaminis

The early music for this hymn is one of the more haunting tunes in the chant repertoire. I have had trouble finding a performance of it (as opposed to Aquinas' version) online, but this version for organ will give you a good idea nonetheless. The "Sarum" means it is from the rite as performed in Salisbury. The hymn is often performed in a truncated version, "Crux fidelis" (the last three stanzas). The first tune is audible in this performance.

Deletions from reading list

This is just a reminder in writing that we will skip the following passages:

Isidore of Seville, reading "c" ("Praise of Christain poets"),  M.M. p. 53. We will do the excerpt from his chronicle, on page 54.

Aldhelm, everything in R.M.L.

Bede, "De Psalmo 83" in M.M. pp. 97-98.

Trouble with dragons.

I have had some questions about the phrase Hunc Graeci draconta vocant.

I thought it was a decent, but surmountable, little challenge. What I've said to two students is that I expected that, not having found the right word in your Cassell's, you would use the online Lewis & Short (in the instructions: "although for “draconta” you might want to see Lewis & Short"; the link among the favourites list to the right of this entry), find draco and under it find the Greek, which you would connect to the hunc Graeci vocant. So, to the best of your ability, put something in there for draconta which fits hunc Graeci vocant. For comparison, consider: "The Romans called it the "senate," but the Spartans the "Gerousia."

And remember that it is only one word in an assignment worth five percent of the year.