In spite of some variations arms crossed in self defense, a slightly twisted torso, etc. Chronologically, it is necessary to date this statuette to the first centuries of the Common Era. Christian Niederhuber, Vienna, In general, on dwarves in Antiquity, see: Some statuettes of dwarf-boxers, see: This rectangular panel probably decorated the floor of a banqueting room in a wealthy Roman villa. The name inscribed to the upper right may be that of the dwarf, while the long phrase at the bottom reproduces in large part the cries of the bird during the struggle.
The dwarf, who is designated as such by short, yet muscular legs and by the disproportionate size of his genitals, grasps the crane by its long neck, which is twisted and bent back. The bird is still standing and seems to beat its wings in an attempt to free himself: The battle between the Pygmies and the cranes is a very popular legend in Greco-Roman literature and art: But at the end of the 5 t h century B. On the Roman mosaics and paintings that represent this scene cf. On Pygmies in Antiquity, see: The solid cast statuette has lost its feet.
It represents a standing child with his right leg forward ; the left arm is posed on the stomach while the right is bent so that the boy touches his eye or his cheek with his index finger. He is dressed in a short, short-sleeved tunic bound about the waist by a belt. His physical development has not been composed in a very harmonious fashion: This figurine, for which there are no parallels, is enigmatic: The dimensions of his head, arms and legs identify him as a dwarf, but the size of his hands and stomach are more difficult to explain.
The gesture of the right hand towards his face is not common: Here the small melancholy child appears to be crying ; perhaps he is an orphan living in the street, like those from certain poor quarters of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria or other ancient cities? The statuette of the actor lamenting: Except for two repaired fragments on the neck, this aryballos is practically intact. It has a funnel-shaped neck reinforced by two small, reattached handles. With the exception of the reserved base, the surface is painted entirely black ; traces of red paint? The figure is clearly characterized as an African as illustrated by the black painted skin but also thanks to the realistic modeling that precisely imitates the features of an African, as if the coroplast was an anthropologist who wished to depict an unfamiliar population: The curly hair is represented by circles painted in purple on the skull.
At the end of the 6t h century B. Beazley discusses comprehensively in a famous article. The term used in contemporary Greek texts to. In many modern languages, the specific part of the African continent is not indicated today nor the precise ethnic group Ethiopia, Ethiopians. Until the early 5t h century, Greek knowledge of Africa and its inhabitants was very cursory: Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, The two heads, which were made from the same mold, are joined behind the ears. Between the chins, there is a small cylinder whose function is not clear ; it does not allow the aryballos to sit straight.
The neck is in the shape of a funnel with a small vertical handle. The faces represent Africans. Maybe because of its small size, the modeling is a bit cursory compared to n. Their skin is rendered by the magnificent brilliant black color of Attic ceramics ; the polychromy is completed by the white, used for the brows, the eyes with the iris and the pupil clearly marked and the teeth black lines indicate the individual teeth while the natural color of the terracotta represents the lips and the area around the eyes ; on the hair there are also traces of purple paint the curly tresses are in relief.
This type of miniature Attic aryballos is very rare: Beazley grouped it with an identical piece in the Metropolitan Museum inv. Given its comprehensive polychromy and excellent state of preservation, this example is probably the finest of the three. Brummer Collection, acquired in II, Zurich, , pp. The shape of the vase is that of a large cup fitted with a single vertical handle whose body is modeled as a head of an African.
The skin of the man is painted black, while his hair and ears are covered in a sort of Phrygian cap tied around the chin. This head covering was probably made from a leopard skin with black and white spots. The features of the face, skillfully modeled, were undoubtedly those of an African, with the pug nose and full lips painted purple. The eyes were rendered in a very lively manner, shaded brownish-black and white with a black pupil. On the neck of the cup, the scene is painted in red figure technique representing a young seated man facing a standing woman. The man, who wears a crown on his head, grasps a long staff and holds a large phiale while the woman offers him a garland ; in her left hand, she holds a situla for pouring wine.
The two vessels, painted in yellow, would have been in gold or bronze.
Images of Africans were more successful in Italic art than in Attic art: The stylistic similarities painting and modeling that exist between these two pieces seem to suggest that this cup can be attributed to the same artist. II, Oxford, , p. For other Italic vases with representations of Africans: A Plastic Vase Askos? The piece was molded, and is entirely hollow. Its state of preservation is extraordinary. A lone young nude African sleeps curled in a ball on the ground, leaning against the wine amphora that he was carrying ; the vase holds a tilted position thanks to four large stones scattered on the ground.
He is characterized as an African by the dark, shiny coloring of his skin, by his curly hair and by the features of his face. But this Hellenistic realism is not limited only to his ethnic features: This subject, originally probably Alexandrian cf. An askos in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford is particularly similar to this vase, but it does not exhibit traces of polychromy. After the stereotypical subjects of the Archaic and Classical Periods the myth of the Pygmies vs.
Many objects from the minor arts of widely varying quality terracotta figurines and vases, small bronzes, pendants for. As indicated by their different activities, most Africans who lived in the Mediterranean world certainly belonged to a lower level of society and had arrived there through their sale as slaves following a war of conquest. The written sources as well as the ancient iconography are silent about the episodes of racism towards Africans ; for example, Africans who had attained more visible social positions are not ignored, as proven by the statues of priests of Isis with Negroid features or by Roman portraits of Africans for example, among the Athenian aristocracy of the 2nd century A.
Elliot Collection, New York. The solid cast figurine is partially covered in an attractive green patina. The circular hole, certainly ancient, pierced between the cheeks and the legs would have been used to suspend the object from a small chain. It may have been an amulet that one could have worn as a pendant or possibly, one that could have been suspended from a belt — in spite of the flattened, regular shape of the base, this figurine cannot stand on its own. The amulet represents a crouching boy with Negroid features: The left hand is posed on the knee while the right, placed against the cheek, cradles the head.
The young man is clothed in a small loincloth tied around his waist, which does not cover his genitals. In spite of the miniature size of this piece, the forms and the posture are rendered in a very realistic and observant manner, particularly concerning the musculature of the back, the features of the face and the folds of the fabric. The hair - arranged in large cylindrical curls - the wide flat face, and the broad flattened nose are all elements that allow us to identify this figure at first glance as a young African: Iconographically, this figurine belongs to a well known genre, the earliest examples of which are.
But it is at the end of the 3rd century B. On the apotropaic roles of African figures, see: The object is in cast bronze, but it is hollow. The space between the feet and the shins is pierced by a large triangular opening. The statuette may very well have been soldered to a support such as a furniture element or a leg of a tripod, etc. For the type, cf. The posture is identical, but the execution here is a bit rougher, or simply less idealized.
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Lennox Gallery, London, The figurine is solid cast. Here, the boy is naked and holds his head straight, with the fists clenched on either side of his jaw. A Terracotta Flask Lekythos? Representing a Seated Servant Hellenistic, 3rd — 1s t century B. This vessel, unusual because of its size, is clearly larger than average. Its shape corresponds to that of a lekythos, with the neck attached to the crown of the head and the handles fixed to the back of the figure at the neck ; the entire surface of the clay was painted completely black.
Despite the presence of the base and some other differences in posture, the iconography of this lekythos is the same as that of the small bronzes n. The young man, who is clearly identified as an African, is frozen in a moment of pause or expectation, but not of sleep: He is dressed in a smock the article of clothing worn by artisans and by slaves with an undulating border, which is tied on the right shoulder and which passes under the left arm.
This type of vessel is known from certain smaller parallels ca. Some other flasks in the shape of young seated Africans have been found in Southern Italy. Korban, London and Geneva, This statuette, which was cast using the lost wax process, represents a subject often depicted by Alexandrian artists during the Hellenistic Period: He probably held castanets in his hands with which to accompany himself. His expressive face and melancholic gaze turned upward, contrast with his exuberant pose and energetic movements.
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The simple loincloth worn draped around the waist characterizes this young man as a member of the lower classes, a slave or a street actor. Certain physical traits indicate that this may be a person of African origin: The three-dimensionality of this figure, meant to be seen in three-quarter and not frontally, is certainly an intentional effect, one that was carefully researched by the artist. In spite of this bold and complex position — only the tip of the right foot touches the ground, the body exhibiting torsion, the head turned in conjunction with the shoulders, etc.
At the same time, his anatomy is very well balanced even while the musculature of the back, the legs and the stomach is highly developed. Contrary to many ancient images of Africans, who were summarily represented as grotesques, this work attains a new.
In the repertoire of Hellenistic artists — and much later by their Roman successors — dancers, acrobats or street actors were some of the most popular subjects. It is probable that these poses were often inspired by the creations of Alexandrian artists Alexandria was one of the most important artistic centers of the Hellenistic world , as numerous images of nude African dancers, represented in positions that suggest a frozen moment in time, like here, are found throughout the Mediterranean world: Ex-American Private Collection , acquired on the European art market, A Small Ivory Bone?
This minuscule triangular ivory fragment was probably a decorative element on a box, a chest or some other object of woodwork ; its back is flat. The three quarter view is perfectly rendered by the compression of the left half of the face. The figure sculpted in low relief is clearly meant to be an African large round face, broad nose, curly hair, full lips , and his crown of ivy leaves would designate him as a cupbearer at a symposium. This minuscule head, broken at the base of the neck, certainly belonged to a statue of an African depicted standing or perhaps crouching. In spite of its size, the quality of the workmanship is clearly apparent, more a piece of sculpture than a mere gem.
The Negroid features of the young man are evident in the treatment of the short, curly hair and the broad nose ; but the shape of the face, very fine and elongated, recalls features of Ethiopians or a cross between Ethiopians and Nubians. In Greco-Roman art, the use of semi-precious stones agate, garnet, cornelian, etc. On the other hand, no other whole figurine in garnet can be mentioned as a parallel for this statuette: The two earrings, clad in twisted gold wire, each end in a head of an African, sculpted from a fragment of garnet ; and whose eyes were applied.
To imitate the curly hair on such a small gem, the jeweler utilized an ingenious technique: Moreover, the features of the two faces clearly represent the ethnic characteristics of Africans. The ends of the earrings, from which the two heads hang, were decorated with linear and spiral motifs in relief. The presence of a face of an African in garnet or amber to ornament jewels is known only on a few other pieces of Hellenistic jewelry: As with statuette n.
Ariadne Gallery, New York. The transparent glass with deep blue highlights is intact. The flask was mold blown in three parts whose joins are nearly invisible the base and the front and back halves of the head, which were joined at the tops of the ears. This flask represents a head of a young African man with great realism, with a large face, slightly pug nose and full lips ; the hair is styled in horizontal rows of twisted curls.
On his brow, he wears a crown of triangular leaves alternating with rounded berries. The neck of the vessel with its wide opening was situated at the top of the head. Glass flasks in the shape of heads of Africans were known somewhat throughout the Mediterranean basin, but they were more frequent in the western part of the Roman Empire. Even if we cannot ignore the existence of the eastern prototype Syria, Alexandria , it is nearly certain that in the western world there were glassmakers who were producing these vessels, perhaps in the region of Pompeii where the shape also appears as well as at Herculaneum.
According to the analysis of M. Stern, who classified these flasks into different groups, this example belongs to type A3, which numbers only a few. Among ancient sculpture, this head is very particular, and except for small chips, it is intact. It shows a young African woman whose ethnic features are indicated with such precision and realism, despite its miniature size, that an anthropologist would be able to identify her tribe of origin: The nose is pugshaped and the lips are full ; the eyes are in transparent glass with the iris added in black.
The manner in which the hair is sculpted renders the curly hair of Africans very accurately: Carved from white veined black marble, this head was not a simple sculpture: Below the base, the rectilinear rail, which is perfectly preserved, would have been used to slide the lid in wood? In this frame of reference, it is not difficult too see why they would have used the use of a head of an African, a sign of good luck. During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, sculptors wishing to reproduce images of Africans liked to use dark colored stones.
The only part that survives from the statue is the torso with the legs, as well as a base consisting of two sculpted ropes positioned on the shoulders of the figure. He is represented crouching and bent under the weight of the object that he carries on his back ; the lightly developed musculature of the person represented indicates that he is still a youth. Behind the head, a square hole would certainly have been used to insert the bottom part of a column or pillar. The head was facing forward, but slightly turned to the right.
There are numerous anatomical details and the musculature is well modeled and rendered in a lifelike manner on the back, shoulders and on the chest. The vertebral column is indicated by a long depression while its sides are marked by slight undulations. Even the posture of the figure is carefully researched and unusual, the proportions of the statue faithfully taken from observations of life.
In Greco-Roman art, the crouching or kneeling position is typical for figures burdened with heavy weights ; there are even some representations of such figures as early as the Archaic and Classical periods. Among the most famous figures represented in this manner, there is of course Atlas, the giant who had to carry the heavens on his shoulders. One also finds Barbarians, recognizable thanks to their costume, in this position from time to time, as well as satyrs: In Athens, in the Theater of Dionysos, a crouching.
The absence of all attributes prevents the precise identification of this young man as a specific mythological figure. The personage is probably of African origin: This type of African servant kneeling and carrying a large weight on his back is occasionally seen among Alexandrian terracottas. Acquired on the Swiss art market, For the terracottas, see: On supporting figures in general, see: The coroplath a term that indicates an artisan who specializes in the production of terracotta statuettes used two different techniques for the fabrication of this piece: At the beginning of the 5t h century B.
The figurine represents a standing man whose balance is assured by two legs partially painted black and red and by a pointed tail ; on the shoulders, he wears a sort of sunburst cloak, fashioned from a long thin piece of fabric, rounded at the ends. The two arms hold the cloak around him, but they are completely covered. Contrary to the body, which is executed in a summary fashion, the head is very well modeled, as well as being very large: The man has a long pointed beard while a mass of thick wavy hair frames his brow ; his ears are made from two clay buttons, modeled separately and slightly hollowed.
A small group of three statuettes in the Cleveland. Museum of Art, probably originally Boeotian, and some other pieces from the British Museum in London attributed to Corinthian artists figure among the best parallels for this image: In spite of the obvious connections, it is not certain that this figurine represents a satyr, but may perhaps be a human or divine figure: The vessel in intact with many traces of polychromy preserved: This is one of the most beautiful and best preserved from this group of vases.
Originally probably from Southern Italy Campania? Beazley, who called them such because of their bright pink coloring, always appearing in the palette of colors used for their painted decoration.
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In their repertoire of shapes, two types recur: The filling of this vessel would have been achieved through the use of the holes pierced in the back of the actor the bowl fixed just below the perforations is a standard feature and was used to catch the unavoidable drips of oil , while the transfer of the fuel to the lamp was through the small opening visible at the base of the left elbow. As with guests at a banquet, a crown consisting of a thick band encircles his forehead.
His situation is not terribly enviable: He is dressed in a chlamys, held up in his right hand, while the left arm is completely enveloped in the. The figurine, in yellowish-beige terracotta, is hollow ; the surface retains traces of red paint and white plaster. The man is seated on a stool covered by wavy fabric.
The mask and the short dotted tunic, which does not cover the genitals, characterize this figure as an actor. Typologically, this genre of person is used in ancient low comedy to designate a slave ; the prominent buttocks and the rounded stomach are certainly padded, the disproportionate phallus is an attachment. In spite of its miniature size, the mask is modeled with extraordinary precision: The man even has pointed ears like a satyr, an unusual detail. This statuette can certainly be placed in relation to a famous group of terracottas in the Metropolitan Museum that come from an Athenian tomb and that constitute one of the most important and rare direct connections with the low comedy.
Numerous figures from this group seem to belong to different comedies, thus making it is impossible to assign a title. Among the female figures, one can certainly recognize an old nurse, holding a swaddled baby in her arms, as well as some young women coquettishly veiling.
Among the men, one can identify a statuette of Heracles, a traveler, perhaps a philosopher, and even a seated slave in a pensive pose that offers an exact parallel for this piece: Green, London, , p. This amusing figurine wears a mask of a comic actor, characterized by grotesque features open mouth, as if he were in the middle of delivering his lines, asymmetrical eyes, frowning brows, prominent cheeks, etc.
211358, ATHENIAN, Schwerin, Staatliches Museum, 708
Underneath the tunic fastened at his left shoulder — designed to indicate an inferior social rank — the rounded stomach and the prominent buttocks accentuate the comic aspect of the figure. The man - who is standing in a frontal position — extends his arms to the left and to the right in a very theatrical posture: Like the notable example of a complete statuette with its attributes found at Olinthus, this appears to be a kitchen slave a cook, a server , who imitates the authoritative air of his master: The typology of this figurine is also known from replicas in terracotta and from a small number of bronze pieces that nevertheless present some small differences in position, the expression of the mask and in the more or less stylized execution.
This bronze example in solid bronze is whole and the surface of the metal is in good condition ; it is more volumetric and better mode-. Probably created in Attica at the beginning of the 4 t h century B. Ortiz Collection, London, , n. The head, broken at the base of the neck, retains many traces of stucco covered in red paint, visible all over the mask. The position of the head, lowered and turned to the left, and the expression of the actor — whose mouth is half open, whose eyes are squinting and whose brows are furrowed — indicate the distress and pain that the man seems to suffer.
Except for the mouth and the nose, the rest of the face and the top of the head are covered by a mask, probably made out of pliable leather ; a fine thread, fixed behind the ears, attaches the tight fitting mask to the head of the actor. The workmanship of the head and the hair display remarkably meticulous attention to detail. At points, one could easily confuse the mask with the actual features of the actor: Such artistic quality points to. This image, beautifully crafted, is also remarkable for its rich polychromy. The central panel of this mosaic is adorned with a theater mask with exaggerated features: The prototypes for this subject, well known from other mosaics - it is the mask of the old slave, a character from Ancient Comedy - can be found in the Hellenistic period, and which Roman artists reproduced in innumerable variations cf.
Phoenix Ancient Art n. Some famous mosaics with theater scenes: The mask, which is completely hollow, emerges in very high relief from a bronze disk with a rounded border ornamented with small straight lines. The brows were also mostly silvered ; the pupils would have been inlaid in another material. The grotesque features of the mask are those of a typical aged servant from ancient comedy: The hair covers the head like a thick skullcap that ends on the sides in two spiraled locks. At the beginning of the Imperial Period, disks with theater masks are known in terracotta and much more rarely in bronze.
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Their exact function is unknown: Its circular shape also corresponds to that of a disc of a fulcrum a bronze element from a banqueting couch , but no other examples cast in the form of a theater mask are known. A very similar piece in bronze only the mask is different , ornaments the tree trunk being used as a seat by a statuette of a fisherman found at Pompeii Naples: Seeberg, London, , p.
This miniature head belonged to a marble statuette, which would have measured around 60 cm high. Thematically, this would be more in tune with Horace's literary self-stylisation as a rhipsaspis. At the same time, this motif, reminiscent of Alcaeus and Archilochus, would throw into relief the crucial difference between him and the other cowards: Though probably being a coward himself, at least he is still alive, and so is Pompeius Varus.
Scaliger, Poetices libri septem , book 6, chapter 7 p. Nisi dicas quaeritis communiter , id est omnes, quid expediat melior pars quaeritis carere laboribus.
Vides vero quantam duritiem. The reportage of the first conjecture is not precise. It is attributed to a man called "Scrinerius". That name should probably read "Scriverius" here and elsewhere e. Moreover, contrary to M. Rather, he suggested reading malarum Roma quas instead of malarum quas amor. Victor Grassmann's standard monograph Die erotischen Epoden des Horaz: Literarischer Hintergrund und sprachliche Tradition , Munich , shows just how much can profitably be said about these poems.
Pomponius Porphyrio is of a different opinion; he is followed by J. It is puzzling how M. The text of this line is probably corrupt. Yet I would not be as confident as M. A good discussion of the problems involved is provided by Muecke, p. Are there 'hard' internal criteria on which the relative chronology of Horace's poems may be based? I am significantly less confident about all this than M.
A helpful further discussion of this ode can be found in Th. Birt, Horaz' Lieder , Leipzig , pp. Matthews ed , Journey Towards Nationalism: How about Epodes 8 and 12, which M. This suggestion, however, has already been made by F. Cody, Horace and Callimachean Aesthetics , Brussels , pp. Fraenkel, Horace , Oxford , pp. Das war in c. We are not concerned with them here, and it is highly improbable that we will find out about them. Maybe some punctuation or some words are missing?
Studien zu den politischen Epoden , Oslo , p. Yet, avoiding the political side of Horace is a difficult thing to do and will almost inevitably result in a lopsided view of his work. I would not like to bracket this stanza as readily as M. Oksala, Religion und Mythologie bei Horaz: Eine literarhistorische Untersuchung ; Helsinki This is just one example instead of many "vernutzt" on p.
Lyne, who had dared to criticize Horace as wildly ambitious: The fact the ancient vita of Horace tells us vixit plurimum in secessu ruris is probably spun out of his many poems celebrating a rural life. It could only by circular argument be used to explain the poet's predilection for this particular topic. There is nothing wrong with derisor and it does not need to be replaced by adrisor. Admittedly, the word is quite rare, and the instances we have appear to diverge in meaning, but see W. Lindsay in his commentary London , repr. Cambridge on Plautus, Captivi 71 "jeering or jesting parasites" and F.
Satires II , Warminster , p. The passage does merely not contain platitudes and linguistic difficulties as M. Actually, OLD has a much more technical and more specific description of what the word means: Pluma for lanugo is not such an exceptional usage as M. Actually, the tone of this poem is quite nasty. The apparent sympathy in lines a is an effective form of expressing irony if ever there was one.
Moreover, I do not believe that Horace intends to include himself -- not even implicitly -- when he talks of fading beauty and dwindling years; the analysis of the personal deixis suggests an addressee second person singular: For a single line, the focus is on the first person singular line 20 , then it shifts to the third person: If I were Lyce, I would get the message. In this long footnote M. The main point he tries to make, as far as I can see, is that Horace was not under overdue pressure from Augustus to write the fourth book of the Odes and that he was not merely functioning like a Hellenistic court poet -- incessantly producing panegyrics.
I will not venture to decide who is right and who is wrong in such a debate, but I think we are in no position whatsoever to know for sure whether or not the poet's soul remained entirely untainted amidst the sordid workings of everyday politics. Moreover, we cannot know what Horace felt when he composed the Odes , but we may venture an educated guess as to the circumstances the pragmatic and communicative framework under which he had to live and write.
I do not think that it diminishes any of Horace's poetic achievements if one states that he was, in a sense, a court poet. At the same time, would it actually make him a better person if one succeeded in showing that the opposite is true? Who are we to judge these things? It is impossible to decide whether one should read nunc or nec at any rate, Heinze's non is unnecessary. Either reading makes good sense, the first suggesting a complaint about contemporary poetic malpractice, the second indicating a rather more general reflexion on some people's bad habits.
Because of the temporal significance in lines , and especially because of the temporal adverb prius in the preceding line, I would opt for reading nunc. In his epilogue, M. Augustus was a decent man, so how could Horace's poetry be anything but sincere? I disagree with that conclusion just as much as with its premise. Considering that the development and expansion of the concept of maiestas was detrimental to the Roman idea of libertas , 9 I would use verbal halos rather sparingly when talking about Augustus.
But again, who are we to judge? Perhaps more than other Roman writers, Horace has had a history of being interpreted according to the demands of changing ideologies as well as academic fads. Is it the vicissitudes of Horace's personal life or the elusiveness of his poetry that help to generate profoundly new images of this poet for almost anyone who approaches him as a student of his art?
It is a daunting task to compile a select bibliography for a book of a general character like this. Avoiding the Scylla of an omnium-gatherum-approach, you may well meet with the Charybdis of overlooking items that may indeed prove to be important to potential readers. Granted the fact that no person alive can know everything that has ever been published on Horace, omissions are almost inevitable.
As a consequence, a reviewer would be ill-advised indeed to be heavy-handed in judging such matters. Still, apart from the works already mentioned in the course of this review, I would like to add two items to the list of my personal desiderata: Oliensis, Horace and the Rhetoric of Authority , Cambridge The list could be expanded almost ad infinitum, but since there are excellent bibliographies on Horace, this would be a rather pointless exercise.
After all this criticism, I will close this review on a more positive note by listing a number of passages which I find especially convincing. An illuminating and convincing attempt at putting Sat. True remarks on the importance of a hermeneutics of careful and close reading for the business of the philologist. A good discussion of a textually difficult line.
Very good ideas on how to go about looking for symmetries in Horatian poetry -- and how not to. A stimulating and meticulous discussion of the first book of Horace's Epistles , showing how long Maurach has been thinking over all the problems he mentions. Interesting arguments for Bentley's transposition of line 45 behind line 46, which is a serious possibility, and for reading rerum et instead of rerum in line An excellent, extremely judicious and highly convincing remark concerning the nature of Plautine comedy.