347 



nes ; I dare say, very justly : now I con- 

 ceive that the yivo^vae, may refer to what 

 might be called the usual and regular 

 course, either of nature or of art (for the 

 emperor clearly gives one example from 

 the latter) and the Im^fayx to the effects 

 of accident.* Thus, for, instance, the 

 baker (as Antoninus observes) designs to 

 make the bread of a regular form, accord- 

 ing to the principles of his art; accident 

 gives it a broken and irregular appearance, 

 by which it becomes picturesque, and like- 

 wise appetissant ; or, as the stoical epicure 

 gravely expresses himself, ■sr^v^a.v vrpog mv 

 rpotpnv Ifovs hernim. The fig becomes ripe in 

 the regular course of nature ; it bursts in 

 various ways from the operation of acci- 

 dent. Olives ripen in the same regular 

 manner; but accident often makes them 

 drop before they are ripe, and then gives 

 them that peculiar appearance in decay, 

 which the emperor was struck with. The 



* It so happens, (and aptly enough for the sound at 

 least) that Stephens interprets, Iwiymw supervenit, magis 

 tamen propria accidit.. 



