﻿154: THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 



Testament expressions eh aepa \aXelv (1 Cor. xiv. 9, eaeade yap eU aepa XaXovvTe':) and 

 aepa Sepeiv (1 Cor. ix. 26, ovtqj? irvKTevu) eas ovk aepa Bepav^ are of the same import. 



Several facts cannot but strike the reader. In the first place, it is plain that all 

 these proverbs share more or less in those qualities which are required to make a 

 maxim or apothegm a proverb. Secondly, the same taste and sense of propriety which 

 are shown by the author in attributing to each person language suited to his station, age, 

 and education, are equally observed in the use of these proverbs. Any one who will 

 compare the homely " serva me, servabo te," or " manus manum lavat," of Echion, the 

 vulgar "in moUi carne vermes nascuntur" of Heimeros, the coarse "caldum meiere et 

 frigidum potare" of Habinnas, and the refined "in medio clivo laborare" of Encolpius, 

 will perceive the correctness of this observation. ThiixUy, the proverbs bear, both in 

 their import and language, the impress of antiquity. In the case -of one, at least, of 

 the proverbs, — " cum quo audacter posses in tencbris micare," — we have the clear and 

 irrefragable testimony of Cicero as to its age ; and what is thus estabhshed in the case 

 of this beyond the shadow of a doubt, may fairly be presumed with regard to the rest, 

 on account of their general resemblance in feeling, conception, and language. 



The result, then, of the examination of the diminutives, Grecisms, and proverbs seems 

 to be, that they contain no indication whatever of a late composition of the work ; on 

 the contrary, whatever evidence we have as to their age, more especially of the diminu- 

 tives and proverbs, is decidedly in favor of an early period. 



Having thus examined the language of the humbler iiersons introduced into the story 

 of the book, it remains to subject to a like examination the language of Encolpius, the 

 hero who relates his adventures. I shall include in this examination the language of 

 several other persons who are the equals of Encolpius in education and refinement, 

 such as Eumolpus, Ascyltus, QuartiUa, and others. 



But before entering upon this examination, it is necessary to advert again to a fact 

 already mentioned, that the work of Petronius is the only one of its kind. There is 

 no other like it in the whole range of Roman literature, so far as it has been preserved. 

 Each kind of composition has its own standard, and it is a delicate task to judge a pro- 

 duction of one kind by the standard of another. The dialogues introduced into the 

 story of Petronius, truthfid, lifelike dialogues though they be, are not like the dialogues 

 of the Latin comedy. The latter have one object : they are exclusively intended to aid 

 in advancing and unfolding the plot of the play, whUe the former are of the greatest 

 variety, just like the conversations which are wont to occur at accidental meetings of 

 persons of difi'erent occupations, opinions, and conditions. The narrative of the work 

 is equally difi'erent from any other. It tells, in sinij)le, unpretending language, every 



