You mention that "the concern is not for the drama, or the history, but for the Latin"-but remember that our (and Marcus Antonius's!) understanding of "good Latin" is heavily influenced by rhetoricians like Cicero. He may not have turned to it in a situation like this, but I don't think it's a stretch to conjecture that he would have considered amīcī, civēs, Quīritēs more elegant than simply amīcī, civēs. While Quīritēs alone would be a fine way to address a crowd, putting the three nouns next to each other is a rhetorical flourish that a politician like the historical Marcus Antonius certainly would have known about. The tricolon*, a statement with three parallel sections, was a famous and much-vaunted device in Classical rhetoric (compare Caesar's legendary vēnī, vīdī, vīcī: "I came, I saw, I conquered", but it's both alliterative and metrical in Latin). If so, then, "Romani" could be deployed: this was more political than "Quirites", which would fit the burgeoning (civil-war) crisis, wouldn't it? Giving:Īdding on to Sebastian Koppehel's answer: Isn't this another reason to preclude the use of "Quirites"? The peace of Rome was already dying, in what clearly were no longer "normal circumstances". Mark-Antony's speech was given after the assassination of Caesar. Why not just, "Amici, Cives."? This lacks the rhetorical force of the three-term substantive but the concern is not for the drama, or the history, but for the Latin. Whereas "cives" does not appear to have any limitations on its use. There is a difference: "Quirites" applies to the Romans in normal circumstances in times of peace. Quae bene simul cum ossibus sepulcro abscondi solent " ![]() Quae male homines fecerint mortuis supersunt ![]() "Amici, Cives, Quirites, commodate mihi aliquantis per aures vestras Īdsum ut efferam Caesarem, non ut laudem. The good is often interred with their bones ". I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears Mark-Antony's speech (Act III, Scene II), from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", is well-known at least, the opening lines are:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |