Perhaps if this Ennian fragment was longer or we possessed others which now are lost, we might find in them the origin of the other Virgilian phrases in question, which could then be referred to Homer only through the intermediary Latin source. Moreover Silius connects this omen with the youthful Scipio, which is another consideration in favor of assuming the influence of Ennius. That many manifestations of divine power were thought by the contemporaries of Scipio to guide the various enterprises of this famous leader, we know from the following statements of Polybius and Livy: Polyb. 10, 2, 5: Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι πάντες αὐτὸν ἐπιτυχῆ τινα, καὶ τὸ πλεῖον αἰεὶ παραλόγως καὶ ταὐτομάτῳ κατορθοῦντα τὰς ἐπιβολὰς παρεισάγουσι ; Livy, 26, 19, 3-8: fuit enim Scipio non veris tantum virtutibus mirabilis, sed arte quoque quadam ab iuventa in ostentationem earum compositus, pleraque apud multitudinem aut ut per nocturnas visa species aut velut divinitus mente monita agens, sive et ipse capti quadam superstitione animi, sive ut imperia consiliaque velut sorte oraculi missa sine cunctatione exsequerentur. ad hoc iam inde ab initio praeparans animos, ex quo togam virilem sumpsit, nullo die prius ullam publicam privatamque rem egit, quam in Capitolium iret ingressusque aedem consideret et plerumque solus in secreto ibi tempus tereret. hic mos, quem per omnem vitam servabat, seu consulto seu temere vulgatae opinioni fidem. apud quosdam fecit stirpis eum divinae virum esse, his miraculis numquam ab ipso elusa fides est; quin potius aucta arte quadam nec abnuendi tale quicquam nec palam adfirmandi. If Scipio suffered such stories to be currently reported of himself, no one was in a better position to know these popular tales than his intimate friend, Ennius, and no one would have been more likely to relate this omen of the eagle, whose eulogistic character was unusually well adapted to the poet's purposes. Its natural interpretation as a prophecy of coming greatness' would have introduced an element of divine favor quite in accord with the feeling of Ennius and to this author it may most properly be referred. Further evidence that some truth may underlie at least a part of the portents that Silius relates may be gained from the following examples, all of which are connected with the time immediately preceding the battle at Lake Thrasymene or during the contest, Sil. 5: 59 tunc ales, priscum populis de more Latinis auspicium, cum bella parant mentesque deorum lavit Tyrrhenas ignota aspergine silvas. ac super haec reflui pugnarunt montibus amnes, 626 Apenninicolae fugere ad litora Fauni. 1Cf. Livy 1, 34, 9, where Tanaquil thus interprets a similar omen affecting her husband: excelsa et alta sperare conplexa virum iubet: eam alitem, ea regione caeli et eius dei nuntiam venisse, circa summum culmen hominis auspicium fecisse, levasse humano superpositum capiti decus, ut divinitus eidem redderet. The first of these omens (Sil. 5, 59-62) is also related by Cicero, apparently on the authority of Coelius whom he mentions a little later; De div. 1, 35, 77: Quid? bello Punico secundo nonne C. Flaminius consul iterum neglexit signa rerum futurarum magna cum clade rei publicae? . . . . Idem cum tripudio auspicaretur, pullarius diem proelii committendi differebat. Tum Flaminius ex eo quaesivit, si ne postea quidem pulli pascerentur, quid faciendum censeret. Cum ille quiescendum respondisset, Flaminius: Praeclara vero auspicia, si esurientibus pullis res geri poterit, saturis nihil geretur!' Furthermore, although Livy does not give this omen in his description of the divine warnings preceding the battle at Lake Thrasymene, yet he was familiar with it in connection with Flaminius as well as in its association with the name of P. Claudius in the First Punic War, as is clear from a statement he makes in recording a similar omen before the engagement at Cannae, Livy 22, 42, 8-9: Paulus, cum ei sua sponte cunctanti pulli quoque auspicio non addixissent, nuntiari iam efferenti porta signa collegae iussit. quod quamquam Varro aegre est passus, Flamini tamen recens casus Claudique consulis primo Punico bello memorata navalis clades religionem animo incussit. The second omen given by Silius (5, 66-69) is mentioned by Cicero, Livy, Valerius Maximus, Florus, and Plutarch, though with great variation in the details. Cic. De div. 1, 35, 77: Quo tempore cum signifer primi hastati signum non posset movere loco nec quicquam proficeretur, plures cum accederent, Flaminius re nuntiata suo more neglexit. Livy, 22, 3, 11-13: Haec simul increpans cum ocius signa convelli iuberet et ipse in equum insiluisset, equus repente corruit consulemque lapsum super caput effudit. territis omnibus, qui circa erant, velut foedo omine incipiendae rei insuper nuntiatur signum omni vi moliente signifero convelli nequire. conversus ad nuntium Num quoque' inquit ab senatu adfers, quae me rem g ras tent? abi, nuntia, effodiant signum, si ad convellendum manus prae metu obtorpuerunt.' Val. Max. 1, 6, 6: C. autem Flaminius inauspicato consul creatus, cum apud lacum Trasymenum cum Hannibale conflicturus convelli signa iussisset, lapso equo super caput eius humi prostratus est, nihilque eo prodigio inhibitus, signiferis negantibus signa moveri sua sede posse, malum, ni ea continuo effodissent, minatus est. Florus, 1, 22, 14: Nec de dis possumus queri: imminentem temerario duci cladem praedixerant insidentia signis examina, et aquilae prodire nolentes. These parallel accounts show that the omen as given in the Punica was based upon an accepted report. Whether the author found the poetical ending, which he employs, in any of his sources or whether he borrowed this from Virgil's story of Polydorus (Aen. 3, 28-29 and 33), it is impossible to say. The third omen, which Silius mentions (5, 611-626), the earthquake that took place during the contest, is also recorded by several writers. Cicero (De div. 1, 35, 78) says that it was mentioned by Coelius: Magnum illud etiam, quod addidit Coelius, eo tempore ipso, cum hoc calamitosum proelium fieret, tantos terrae motus in Liguribus, Gallia compluribusque insulis totaque in Italia factos esse, ut multa oppida conruerint, multis locis labes factae sint terraeque desederint fluminaque in contrarias partes fluxerint atque in amnes mare influxerit. Livy (22, 5, 8) relates the following: tantusque fuit ardor animorum, adeo intentus pugnae animus, ut eum motum terrae, qui multarum urbium Italiae magnas partes prostravit avertitque cursu rapidos amnis, mare fluminibus invexit, montes lapsu ingenti proruit, nemo pugnantium senserit. Pliny (N. H. 2, 84) says: Maximus terrae memoria mortalium exstitit motus Tiberi Caesaris principatu, XII urbibus Asiae una nocte prostratis, creberrimus Punico bello intra eundem annum septiens ac quinquagiens nuntiatus Romam, quo quidem anno ad Trasimenum lacum dimicantes maximum motum neque Poeni sensere nec Romani. These and other similar accounts' show that Silius here states a fact and that the earthquake incident is not a poetic invention or a free adaptation borrowed from a description of another situation. 2 From this examination of the different kinds of omens narrated by Silius, of which some are assuredly false but a larger number are evidently true, it is clear that their origin is to be referred to various sources and among these Ennius probably exerted no small influence. We know that he related dreams and auguries and that he told of eclipses, and it would be but reasonable to suppose that he also recorded some of the other traditional portents with which Rome and Italy were filled during his lifetime. Moreover such stories as these, rendered in poetic form, would naturally be easily remembered, and Silius doubtless transferred to his own work many reminiscences from these accounts of his predecessor. Further effects of Ennian influence have been claimed to be traceable in many other phases of the Punica, especially in the treatment of the Roman leaders. That some important elements in the description of such men as Fabius, Scipio, and Marcellus were due to Ennius, seems clear from what has already been said in connection with Fabius (p. 376) and Scipio (pp. 378, 380, 382) and from the statement of Cicero, Pro Archia 9, 22: Omnes denique illi Maximi, Marcelli, Fulvii non sine communi omnium nostrum laude decorantur. But that any one source can be found for any particular portion of the Punica is, I think, impossible. 1 Cf. Plut. Fab. Max. 3; Orosius, 4, 15, 6; Zonaras, 8, 25. 2 Cf. Ann. 35-51. 3 Cf. Ann. 77-96. Cf. Ann. 163. |