﻿44 THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 



of which time, if not the whole, was, according to Tacitus's clear and explicit state- 

 ment, occupied with domestic arrangements, banquets, conversations, and amusements, 

 it is a matter of sheer impossibility for the most expert writer to perform the mechani- 

 cal task of writing so much in so short a time, not to speak of the utter impractica- 

 bility for any human being of composing in two or three days a work of distinguished 

 literary excellence, and which bears on every page the marks of careful, patient labor. 



The contents of Petronius's communication to Nero, as described by Tacitus, do not 

 correspond to those of the Satyricon. While the former contained an account of the 

 amours of Nero ("flagitia principis et noctium ingenia"), the Satyricon, even in its 

 present incomplete condition, embraces much more. Not to mention the several, and 

 sometimes protracted, conversations on art, poetry, and eloquence, and the episodes, — 

 such as the charming story of the widow of Ephesus, — the account of the banquet of 

 Trimalchio, which is more than one third of the work in its present condition, has 

 nothing whatever, by any rational interpretation, to do mth the amom's of Nero. 



Another circumstance deserves some notice. Considering the contents and tone of 

 the communication sent by Petronius to Nero, is it probable that the latter would have 

 preserved it, so that, soon after, it could become a well-kno"\ni and pop\ilar part of the 

 body of Roman literature 1 It is true, that some of those who favor the hypothesis 

 that the communication sent to Nero is our Satyricon, have not overlooked this cu'cimi- 

 stance ; but they do not explain it. Theodore de Juges, in the preface to his edition 

 of Petronius, adverts to it thus: "His, inquam, verbis [cf. Tac. Ann. 16. 19] indubie 

 Tacitus Satyricon hoc Petronii indicare voluit. Quod quidem ad se missum per codi- 

 cillos promptum fuerat Neroni flammis abolere ; nihilomiuus tamen ad nos illi codicilli 

 pervenere, vel potius eorum fragmenta, quibus 'sitia aulae Neronianae perstringit Pe- 

 tronius." 



Neither is the expression " codicilli" to be overlooked, which signifies, without an 

 exception, " a short writing." It is true that the term " codicilli" is not directly ap- 

 plied to the communication of Petronius; Tacitus says, he did not in " codicilli" fawn 

 upon Nero, or anybody else, but.described the debaucheries of Nero ; yet it is apparent 

 that this descri]3tion took the place of the "codicilli" (the last communication in 

 writing of a dying person), and in size and form resembled it. Petronius, instead of 

 filling his " codicilli" with flattery of Nero and his favorites, gave a description of 



leisurely manner to prepare for and accomplish his suicide. But from other similar instances — for in- 

 stance, of Torquatus Silanus (Tac. Ann. 15. 35) and of Seneca (Tac. Ann. 15. 62, 63) — it is evident 

 that a few hours only elapsed between the decision of the emperor and the end of the accused ; and no 

 reason is assigned why Petronius should form an exception. 



