Letter 13

To Ursulus, grammarian of the Treveri [the Treveri were the people of Trier], for whom he arranged that the New Year's bounties not given him by the emperor on the Kalends of January should be paid. The first fruit of this pleasant honor would be yours: to have held a fortunate gift from Augustan hands. The next step, far removed from the first, is that a quaestor-friend [Ausonius himself, the imperial quaestor] should have kept watch with care over your New Year's bounties [strenae, the good-omen gifts customarily distributed by the emperors on January 1]. Therefore receive these royal coins, these intercepted Philips [gold staters bearing the type of Philip of Macedon], as many in number as two Geryons [Geryon, the three-bodied giant, so two make six]; as three teams of two horses, or as the Muses with a third part taken away, and as many as the stars of the zodiac that stand above the earth; as many as the Roman and Alban destinies entrusted to heroes, and as many as the hours in which you teach and the hours you rest at home; as many gates as the circus opens, hissing, along one half its length, excepting the one that lies open toward the midpoint of the racecourse; as many as the feet on which the bees and the verses of Homer advance [the dactylic hexameter has six feet], and as many as the hours in which the sea flows out or flows back; as many comic plots as he brought onto the stage who lies in the midst of Arcadia's lap [Menander, buried in Attica; Ausonius locates him by riddle]; or as many joinings as the geometric form of the honeycomb sets together at all its outer and middle sides; as many as the number reckoned the first and only perfect one [six, the first perfect number]; as the number that balances odd and even alike in its parts, the one number that joins together twice three and thrice two, the only number which, doubled, contains as many as the numbers set above and below it make when added together; as many as those who count the Hyades and the Pleiades at once. So many gilded coins receive as your New Year's gift, Ursulus, noble colleague of Harmonius [a celebrated grammarian]—Harmonius, with whom Claranus, with whom Scaurus and Asper [renowned grammarians and commentators], with whom Varro and, in an earlier age, Crates [Crates of Mallos, the Pergamene scholar] would match themselves; and he who gathered up the mangled body of sacred Homer [the editor who reassembled the Homeric text], and he who set critical marks against spurious verses [the obelizing critic who flagged inauthentic lines]: Harmonius, shared glory of the Attic and the Latin Muse, who alone mingles the wine of Chios with the wine of Aminaea [two prized vintages, here a figure for blending Greek and Latin learning].

FULLEST enjoyment of a sweet distinction for thee were this—to have an auspicious gift from Imperial hands: next—though far inferior in degree—that thy quaestor-friend took tireless pains to gain thy New Strenae were New Year's presents given for the sake of good omen, and such were regularly distributed by the Emperors: see Suetonius, Aug. 57, Tib. 34. Year's bounty. Therefore of royal coinage, of Philippes d'or 1 waylaid by me receive as many as two Geryons; as three pair of horses, or as the Muses less one-third their band, or as those stars of the Zodiac that are above the earth; as many as the heroes to whom were committed the destinies of Rome and Alba,2 or as the hours wherein thou dost teach 3 or wherein thou dost rest at home; as many as the jarring gates which open on one half of the circus, excepting that which looks along the axis of the course; A as many as the feet whereon bees and Homer's verses move, or as the hours of the tide's flow and ebb; as many as the dramatic plots put on the stage by him who rests in the midst of Arcadia's bosom,5 or as the angles which the geometric figure of the honey-cell forms by the meeting of its extreme and intervening sides;6 as many as that which is approved the one and only perfect number;7 as that which consists equally of odd and even numbers, which alone unites in itself twice three and thrice two—the only number which, if doubled, contains as many units as the numbers 8 above it and below when added contain, and as the joint total of the Hyades and Pleiades. 9 So many sovereigns take as thy New Year's gift, Ursulus, famed as colleague of Harmonius— Harmonius, whom Claranus,1 whom Scaurus and Asper,2 whom Varro would rank as his equal, or Crates3 in earlier days, or he who gathered the mangled limbs of sacred Homer;4 or who placed symbols to mark out spurious verses:5 Harmonius, glory alike of the Attic and the Latin Muse, who alone dost mingle wine of Chios and Aminaea. 6

AD UNSULUM GRAMMATICUM TREVIRORUM CUI STRENAS KALENDIS IANUARIIS AB IMPERATORE NON DATAS REDDI FECIT PRIMUS iucundi foret 1 hic tibi fructus honoris Augustae faustum munus habere manus: proximus ex longo gradus est quaestoris amici curam pro strenis excubuisse tuis. ergo interceptos regale nomisma Philippos accipe tot numero, quot duo Geryones; quot terni biiuges demptoque triente Camenae quotque super terram sidera zodiaci; quot commissa viris Romana Albanaque fata quotque doces horis quotque domi resides; ostia quot pro parte aperit stridentia circus excepto, medium quod patet ad stadium; quot pedibus gradiuntur apes et versus Homeri quotque horis pelagus profluit aut refluit; protulit in scaenam quot dramata fabellarum, Arcadiae medio qui iacet in gremio, vel quot iuncturas geometrica forma favorum conserit extremis omnibus et mediis; quot telios primus numerus solusque probatur; quot par atque impar partibus aequiperat, bis ternos et ter binos qui conserit unus, qui solus totidem congeminatus habet, quot faciunt iuneti subterque supraque locati; qui numerant Hyadas Pleiadasque simul. Tot numero auratos pro strenis accipe nummos 1 Ursule collega nobilis Harmonio, Harmonio, quem Claranus, quem Scaurus et Asper, quem sibi conferret Varro priorque Crates quique sacri lacerum collegit corpus Homeri quique notas spuriis versibus adposuit: Cecropiae commune decus Latiaeque camenae, solus qui Chium miscet et Ammineum.