Elogium (literary genre)

Last updated

Rubbing of the Elogium on the tomb of Scipio Barbatus, Rome Sepolcro scipioni, iscrizione A, scipione barbato.gif
Rubbing of the Elogium on the tomb of Scipio Barbatus, Rome

An elogium (Latin, plural: elogia) was an inscription in honour of a deceased person, which was placed on tombs, ancestral images and statues during the Roman age. [1] [2] The elogia are sometimes synonyms with the tituli , the identifying inscriptions on wax images of deceased ancestors that were displayed in the atrium of the domus of noble families, but they are shorter than the laudatio funebris , the funeral oration. Originally, the text was usually written in saturnians, but later it could be in hexameters, iambic hexameters, distichs [3] or in prose. Characteristic of the elogium is the nominative case used for the name of the deceased and not, as it was the case later in the funerary literature, the dative.

Contents

In the imperial period, the elogium became a literary genre: texts were collected by Marcus Terentius Varro and Titus Pomponius Atticus, and writing elogia on famous deceased persons became a popular rhetorical exercise. [4] The elogia on the statues of the Temple of Mars Ultor at the Forum of Augustus are said to have been written by Augustus himself. [5]

Etymology

There are several hypotheses about the origin of the word ēlŏgium. The most immediate one is a derivation from the Latin verb eligere ("to select"); in this case then an elogium would be a 'selection' from the records of the family archives; other etymologies are: from eloquium; from the root rag 'to collect, to read' would have meant 'saying, aphorism'; from a root lag (to legere) the meaning would have been 'saying, praise saying, thought saying'. It could also possibly be a loan word from Greek ἐλεγεῖον, originally a distich epigram, or from εὐλογία. The latter derivation would explain the alternative spelling eulogium. The word, which originally meant "praise", during the Imperial age got the additional meaning of "a concise sentence", as official police reports, criminal court rulings, [3] or brief descriptions of medical conditions. The oldest uses of the word in literature are in Plautus and in Cato, and follow Greek models. [6]

History

Its first usage is in the meaning 'inscription': this happens already in Plautus and in Cato. Otherwise, the term was mainly used for grave inscriptions on very ancient family burials or for the tituli of the ancestral images placed in the atrium of a roman domus. [7]

Elogia as funerary writings

Entrance to the tomb of the Scipios, Rome Sepolcro degli Scipioni 001 Entrata.jpg
Entrance to the tomb of the Scipios, Rome
Rubbing of the Elogium on the tomb of Lucius Cornelius Scipio found in the Tomb of Scipios Sepolcro scipioni, iscrizione B, lucio cornelio scipione console nel 259 ac.gif
Rubbing of the Elogium on the tomb of Lucius Cornelius Scipio found in the Tomb of Scipios

From the end of the 5th century BC onwards, probably in imitation of a Greek custom, the elogia were poetic epigrams with praising mention of dignities and victories, first in saturnine verses, later in hexameters. The name of the deceased (in nominative case) and these of their curular offices were painted with minium, like the tituli of the imagines maiorum. Thus here one can already find the same two components (image and dignities) typical of the elogia of the Augustus Forum. [7]

At the beginning, as cited by Cicero, the funerary elogium was a short poem in saturnine verses praising the virtues of the deceased. Augustus wrote such an epitaph in verse as an inscription on the tomb of his adoptive son Drusus (died 9 BC). In the Tomb of the Scipios, a republican funerary monument on the Appian Way, funerary inscriptions on the sarcophagi of the Scipions can be considered elogia. [3] The elogia of the Scipios, composed later than 240 BC, are in saturnian metre, in archaic Latin, and show the increasing Hellenisation of roman society. In fact, alongside the typically roman values of Virtus and physical strength, those of beauty and wisdom, representative of the Greek culture, appear. [8] Below is the elogium of Lucius Cornelius Scipio, son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, whose elogium is also extant: [8]

HONC·OINO·PLOIRVME CONSENTIONT·R[OMANE]
DVONORO·OPTVMO FVISE·VIRO
LVCIOM·SCIPIONE. FILIOS·BARBATI
CONSOL·CENSOR·AIDILIS HIC·FVET·A[PVD VOS]
HEC·CEPIT·CORSICA ALERIAQUE·VRBE
DEDET·TEMPESTATEBVS AIDE·MERETO [D.]

In Rome, very many people recognise
that he alone was among the good citizens the best,
Lucius Scipio. Son of Barbatus,
was Consul, Censor and Aedile at your side.
He took Corsica and the city of Aleria,
consecrated a temple to the Tempests, as a just return.

From the 6th century BC onward, the same custom became more widespread – especially among the half-hellenized populace. Since the end of the Republic, the epigraphy of the tombs distanced itself more and more from the model of the old elogium; the sepulchral inscriptions, also among the noble circles, appear increasingly as dedications to the deceased, so that their names are written in the dative case. [7]

Around 39 BC Marcus Terentius Varro published a work in 15 books entitled Imagines or hebdomades containing a literary copy of the old sepulchral elogia. In this work were contained – as far as the preserved fragments indicate – the poetic signatures of the portraits of 700 famous personalities from all regions, Greeks as well as Romans, called epigrammata or elogia. Three elogia from Varro's work dedicated to famous poets, Gnaeus Naevius, Plautus and Pacuvius, which are extant, derive from real funeral orations. [7] [3]

Elogia on the ancestral images (imagines)

Titulus of Pyramus, the cubicularius of Lucius Vitellius the elder. Found in Rome, ref. CIL VI, 37786 = AE 1910, 00029 Pyramus.jpg
Titulus of Pyramus, the cubicularius of Lucius Vitellius the elder. Found in Rome, ref. CIL VI, 37786 = AE 1910, 00029

Early on, the families of the higher nobility started to hang the pictures of the ancestors ("imagines") with curulic offices on the walls of the atrium and to connect them with painted lines to form family trees ("stemmata"). The inscriptions under the individual portraits are usually called tituli . These tituli or elogia probably corresponded in form to the oldest funerary inscriptions, but without the poetic additions. They only contained the name in the nominative case, the curulic offices (to which other magistracies were added later) and the high priesthoods, as well as eventual triumphs; nothing more could not be inserted because of the limited space; people interested in other details could ask to read the commentarii in the family archives. [9] [10]

Elogia on public monuments of the Republican period

Sarcophag of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus with his elogium in saturnian metre above it Sarcofago di scipione barbato, a forma di altare con volute ioniche, in marmo peperino, 280 ac., dal sepolcro degli scipioni sull'appia antica.jpg
Sarcophag of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus with his elogium in saturnian metre above it

Already in early republican times patrician families hanged imagines with the corresponding tituli or elogia not at home anymore, but in public spaces too. Sponsors of sacred and state buildings often had the portraits of their ancestors with inscriptions affixed to these works. Appius Claudius Caecus (consul 307 and 296 BC) did so on the temple of Bellona, which he erected in 296 BC. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, consul in 78 BC, did the same both in the Basilica Aemilia built by his ancestors and in his own house. Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio (consul in 52 BC) had a whole crowd of gilded equestrian statues of his ancestors erected at a building on the Capitol. [10] [11] Elogia in the Republican age were not confined to Rome. Among others, on the acropolis of Tarquinii have been excavated fragments of elogia of local citizens, useful for shedding light on the Etruscan aristocracy. [12]

The Elogia on the Forum of Augustus in Rome

Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus in Rome Tempio di Marte Ultore (Roma) - Laterale.jpg
Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus in Rome

All the elogia types described above have in common the mention of the name in the nominative and the enumeration of the offices; however, by the sepulchral elogia the deeds of the deceased are present, while these are missing in the elogia of the imagines. Moreover, only the latter are regularly linked to a portrait. Both types of these elogia usually occur in groups representing the ancestors of a patrician family. In the late Republic, by the Imagines of Varro and Atticus, are described elogia which contains connection to a portrait, indication of name and offices and enumeration of gesta. moreover, these elogia are wider in scope, not limiting themselves to a family, but describing series of celebrities from different areas. This type of elogia first appears in monuments in the time of Augustus. [11]

Emperor Augustus adorned his forum, dedicated in 2 BC, with statues of famous Romans of the past bearing inscriptions referring to their offices and deeds. [3] These have been partly preserved and in modern epigraphy bear the technical name elogia. The images were hosted in niches (some of which still existent) placed along the two semicircular exedra on the east and west sides of the forum. Each elogium was divided into two parts; the name and the office held were indicated on the plinth of the statue; in the marble cladding of the wall, which lay a little lower, a short outline of the public (mostly military) activity of the celebrated person was carved on larger, framed panels. The total number of statues with elogia on the forum is unknown, and neither the architecture of the site nor other considerations can give any hint on that. [13]

A similar arrangement in the elogia can be found in the Basilica Aemilia, a civil basilica in the nearby Roman Forum. From literary sources and fragments we know that among those depicted were Aeneas and the numerous Albanian kings as ancestors of the Julian house, furthermore Marcus Valerius Corvus ( tribunus militum in 349 BC) and Scipio Aemilianus (consul in 147 BC). Only a few reliable fragments have survived of the original inscriptions from the Forum of Augustus. Moreover, has been proved that several elogia found outside the site are more or less faithful copies of those from the Forum of Augustus. In particular, some pieces comes from Rome itself and a whole series of seven from Arretium; probably at least two elogia each from Lavinium and Pompeii, as well as fragments from Carthage. On the whole, we now know twenty of the personages of Roman history which have been celebrated by elogia: Aeneas, Lavinia, Aeneas Silvius, Romulus, Manius Valerius Maximus Dictator (consul in 494 BC), Marcus Furius Camillus (tribunus militum in 401 BC), Lucius Albinius (unknown), Marcus Valerius Corvus (consul in 348 BC), Lucius Papirius Cursor (dictator in 325 BC), Appius Claudius Caecus (consul in 307 BC), Gaius Duilius (consul in 260 BC), Quintus Fabius Maximus (consul in 233 BC), Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus (consul in 190 BC), Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul in 182 BC), Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul in 177 BC), Publius Scipio Aemilianus (consul in 147 BC), Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus (consul in 109 BC), Gaius Marius (consul in 107 BC), Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (consul in 88 BC) Lucius Licinius Lucullus (consul in 74 BC). [13] [14]

Augustus chose the personalities to honour in his forum according to two criteria: since in the Forum had been erected a temple of Mars Ultor, and the god had a double role, both as progenitor of the Gens Julia and as god of war and triumph, he honoured both historical and mythical personalities linked to the gens Iulia (including at least a woman, Lavinia) and Romans who had distinguished themselves in warlike enterprises. The plan of the forum also envisaged that personalities who in the future had distinguished themselves in warfare would have their bronze statue with the respective elogium erected in the square. However, the emperor himself was not celebrated in the forum with an elogium. [14]

The Elogia during the Imperial age

The remains of Basilica Aemilia in the Roman Forum. Images of ancestors of Aemilius Lepidus with their respective elogia adorned the republican building Basilica Aemilia.jpg
The remains of Basilica Aemilia in the Roman Forum. Images of ancestors of Aemilius Lepidus with their respective elogia adorned the republican building

The series of elogia begun by Augustus was continued in Rome on his Forum in the imperial period. Here each general honoured with a triumph or the ornamenta triumphalia got a statue, but the associated inscription used the dative of the name instead of the nominative. Moreover, the elogium did not mention all the gesta, but only those determining the award of the insignia of the triumph and its decree by the senate. During the early imperial period Rome and its surroundings were dotted with statues of illustrious men and women of the Republic bearing an elogium. The Basilica Aemilia on the Forum Romanum, which Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul in 78 BC), had already decorated with the images of his ancestors on clupei with tituli, was adorned (possibly by Augustus) with the images of war heroes who were related to Lepidus and Augustus. Several fragments of the elogia related to these portrayals, in which – following the pattern of the Forum of Augustus – the name and cursus honorum were separated from the gesta, have survived. The elogia were not limited to warriors: public and private libraries were also adorned with portraits of orators and writers, which bore elogia. Also in these cases by the honorific inscription the nominative case was soon replaced by the dative. [15] [16]

At the turn of the second century, Pliny the Younger mentions in a letter verses which are related to elogia of his friend Titinius Capito. It is possible that they came from imagines in Capito's private collection, but also from a book. It is also extant a series of 24 elogia, each consisting of six lines, named Carmina de viris illustribus Romanis, where, among others, heroes of liberty such as Cato Uticensis and the Caesarian centurion Cassius Scaevus have been celebrated. Finally, during the later Empire should be mentioned the verses on distinguished contemporaries by Symmachus (praefectus urbis in 384-385), which follow the model of the elogia in Varro's Hebdomades. [16] [17]

Related Research Articles

This article concerns the period 29 BC – 20 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 219 BC)</span> Roman general and senator (died 216 BC)

Lucius Aemilius Paullus, also spelled Paulus, was a consul of the Roman Republic twice, in 219 and 216 BC. He is primarily remembered for being one of the commanders of the Roman army at the Battle of Cannae, and for his death in the same battle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aemilia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Aemilia, originally written Aimilia, was one of the greatest patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens was of great antiquity, and claimed descent from Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome. Its members held the highest offices of the state, from the early decades of the Republic to imperial times. The Aemilii were almost certainly one of the gentes maiores, the most important of the patrician families. Their name was associated with three major roads, an administrative region of Italy, and the Basilica Aemilia at Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Latin</span> Latin language in the period before 75 BC

Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin, was the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. It descends from a common Proto-Italic language; Latino-Faliscan is likely a separate branch from Osco-Umbrian with possible further relation to other Italic languages and to Celtic; e.g. the Italo-Celtic hypothesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Licinia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Licinia was a celebrated plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times, and which eventually obtained the imperial dignity. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo, who, as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of any of the annual magistrates, until the patricians acquiesced to the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia, or Licinian Rogations. This law, named for Licinius and his colleague, Lucius Sextius, opened the consulship for the first time to the plebeians. Licinius himself was subsequently elected consul in 364 and 361 BC, and from this time, the Licinii became one of the most illustrious gentes in the Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basilica Aemilia</span>

The Basilica Aemilia was a civil basilica in the Roman Forum, in Rome, Italy. Today only the plan and some rebuilt elements can be seen. The Basilica was 100 meters (328 ft) long and about 30 meters (98 ft) wide. Along the sides were two orders of 16 arches, and it was accessed through one of three entrances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Papirius Cursor</span> 4th-century BC Roman politician and general

Lucius Papirius Cursor was a celebrated politician and general of the early Roman Republic, who was five times consul, three times magister equitum, and twice dictator. He was the most important Roman commander during the Second Samnite War, during which he received three triumphs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any other gens. At least seventy-five consuls under the Republic were members of this family, beginning with Servius Cornelius Maluginensis in 485 BC. Together with the Aemilii, Claudii, Fabii, Manlii, and Valerii, the Cornelii were almost certainly numbered among the gentes maiores, the most important and powerful families of Rome, who for centuries dominated the Republican magistracies. All of the major branches of the Cornelian gens were patrician, but there were also plebeian Cornelii, at least some of whom were descended from freedmen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forum of Augustus</span> Ancient Roman imperial forum, a landmark of Rome, Italy

The Forum of Augustus is one of the Imperial fora of Rome, Italy, built by Augustus. It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor. The incomplete forum and its temple were inaugurated in 2 BC, 40 years after they were first vowed.

The gens Terentia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Dionysius mentions a Gaius Terentius Arsa, tribune of the plebs in 462 BC, but Livy calls him Terentilius, and from inscriptions this would seem to be a separate gens. No other Terentii appear in history until the time of the Second Punic War. Gaius Terentius Varro, one of the Roman commanders at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, was the first to hold the consulship. Members of this family are found as late as the third century AD.

Lucius Cornelius Scipio, consul in 259 BC during the First Punic War, was a consul and censor of ancient Rome. He was the son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, himself consul and censor, and brother to Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina, who was consul twice. Two of his sons and three of his grandsons also became consuls and were all famous generals. Among these five men, the most famous was Scipio Africanus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomb of the Scipios</span> Common tomb of the Scipio family during the Roman Republic

The Tomb of the Scipios, also called the hypogaeum Scipionum, was the common tomb of the patrician Scipio family during the Roman Republic for interments between the early 3rd century BC and the early 1st century AD. Then it was abandoned and within a few hundred years its location was lost.

Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a politician and historian of the Roman Republic. He was consul in 129 BC.

The gens Septimia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. The gens first appears in history towards the close of the Republic, and they did not achieve much importance until the latter half of the second century, when Lucius Septimius Severus obtained the imperial dignity.

The gens Cilnia was an Etruscan family at ancient Rome, from the late Republic into imperial times. This gens is best known from Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, a trusted friend and advisor of Augustus, who was famous for his immense wealth and patronage of the arts. At least two of the Cilnii obtained the consulship under the Empire.

The Terentii Varrones were a branch of the gens Terentia in ancient Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fundania gens</span>

The gens Fundania was a plebeian family at Ancient Rome, which first appears in history in the second half of the third century BC. Although members of this gens occur well into imperial times, and Gaius Fundanius Fundulus obtained the consulship in BC 243, the Fundanii were never amongst the more important families of the Roman state.

Publius Cornelius Scipio (<i>flamen Dialis</i>) Roman priest of Jupiter

Publius Cornelius Scipio was a priest of the Roman Republic, who belonged to the prominent family of the Cornelii Scipiones. He was the grandson of Scipio Africanus and son of P. Cornelius Scipio. He is only known from an inscription found in the Tomb of the Scipios, which tells that he was flamen Dialis, the prestigious priest of Jupiter.

References

  1. ↑ Pauly (1905), sub vocem Elogium I
  2. ↑ The Life, Letters, and Sermons of Bishop Herbert de Losinga 1878 p 114 "An 'elogium' in Latin has several meanings , -a maxim or apothegm, an epitaph , an inscription on a statue, or on a votive tablet, a clause in a will, an indictment or specification of an offence "
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Elogio". Enciclopedia Italiana (in Italian). Rome: Treccani. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Neumann (1994)
  5. ↑ Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia 22,6,13.
  6. ↑ Pauly (1905), p.2440
  7. 1 2 3 4 Pauly (1905), p.2441
  8. 1 2 Giancarlo Pontiggia; Maria Cristina Grandi (2005). Letteratura latina. Storia e testi (in Italian). Firenze: Principato.
  9. ↑ Pauly (1905), p.2442
  10. 1 2 Pauly (1905), p.2443
  11. 1 2 Pauly (1905), p.2444
  12. ↑ Heurgon, Jacques (1953). "La vocation étruscologique de l'Empereur Claude". Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (in French). 97 (1). Paris: 92–97. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  13. 1 2 Pauly (1905), p.2445
  14. 1 2 Pauly (1905), p.2446
  15. ↑ Pauly (1905), p.2449
  16. 1 2 Pauly (1905), p.2450
  17. ↑ Pauly (1905), p.2451

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.