370 VARRO ON FARMING 



renuntiatum Romam in Senatum scriptum habemus." 

 This passage seems hopelessly corrupt, no emendation 

 in the least plausible has ever been proposed, and no 

 story is related by Cicero, Livy, Pliny, Valerius Maxi- 

 mus, Julius Obsequens, etc., about Plautius, Hirrius, 

 or a speaking ox, which seems to apply even remotely 

 to anything in this passage. But Pliny, I think, gives 

 a clue. In viii, 45 (last sentence), he says: "Est fre- 

 quens in prodigiis priscorum bovem locutum : quo nun- 

 tiato Senatum sub dio haberi solitum." For this state- 

 ment of Pliny I have been able to find no authority ; the 

 commentators are unanimously silent with the exception 

 of Dalecampius, who does but refer one to Alexander 

 ab Alexandro (v, 7, suh fin.) — a contemporary of Lau- 

 rentius Valla. Alexander repeats Pliny. And here again 

 all the commentators are silent. It seems to me prob- 

 able that this very passage of Varro is the authority 

 used by Pliny — who never quotes Varro's exact words- 

 and that Varro's actual words were: " Et hunc Plautum 

 locutum esse latine, quo miro praetori [i.e.^ ' urbano,' 

 cf. Suetonius, Claud., 22) nuntiato Romam, Senatum 

 sub dio habemus " — ** And that this ' Plautus ' has been 

 known to speak good Latin — on the announcement of 

 which portent to the praetor at Rome we hold the Senate 

 in the open air.'' The joke seems exactly in Varro's 

 manner. Plautus was famous amongst the ancients for 

 the excellence of his Latin, cf. Quintilian, x, i : '' Licet 

 Varro dicat Musas Plautius sermone locuturas fuisse 

 si latine loqui vellent," and on the other hand '' plautus " 

 (flat-footed, cf. Festus, ad verbum) was an epithet ap- 

 plied to the Umbrians, and the '' vasti Umbriae boves " 

 (Col., vi, I, 2) were famous among cattle. It is to these 

 that Varro alludes, II, 5, 10. 



