Lost in Antiquity: Rome & the East
Lost in Antiquity: Rome & the East
Papyrus was a good surface for writing, but it was fragile and subject to damage by humidity. Some authors, such as Catullus, survived only because a single copy endured through the centuries, long enough to be printed. Hundreds of authors’ works perished for want of that single surviving copy.
Lives of the Famous Whores
De Vita Praeclararum Meretricum
SUETONIUS (69–122 C.E.)
London: William Sandby, 1746.
Lost in Late Antiquity.
This set of twelve biographies, written in the same manner as his Lives of the Caesars, was rather hot stuff: even the Caesars had been pretty racy. Because this book includes biographies of Cytheris, Lais, Aspasia, Thaïs and Rhodopis, it is unsurprising that it did not survive the Roman religion’s transition to Christianity, not just because it was sexy, but because it was about powerful women: it didn’t stand a chance.
In Praise of Hercules
Laudes Herculis
JULIUS GAIUS CAESAR (100–44 B.C.E.)
London: Heinemann, 1922.
Destroyed before 14 C.E.
Besides his Commentaries, bane of so many young scholars, the Divine Julius wrote, as a youth, a tragedy on Oedipus and a long poem praising Hercules. Pompeius Macer, Augustus’ librarian, proposed to the emperor that these works be published in Julius’ honor. He was forbidden even to think about it.
Juvenalia similis seniliis nec delenda neque legenda.
Juvenilia, like senilia, should not be destroyed, but
neither should it be read.
- Rufus Bubile
On Libraries
De Bibliothecis
MARCUS TERENTIUS VARRO (116–27 B.C.E.)
Venetiis: Apud Paulum Manutium, Aldi Filium, 1554 C.E.
Lost in antiquity.
While he was sniffing around Alexandria, Cleopatra showed Caesar her library. He was impressed: on returning to Rome, he told his friends that Rome should have a library, too, a Roman library. He enlisted Marcus Varro, who wrote the De bibliothecis (now lost) as the plan for the library. Asinius Pollio kicked in the money, and Faustus Sulla his Dad’s books, and c. 30 BCE, they opened the Atrium Libertatis, Rome’s first public library.
The Classic of Music
樂經 Yüeh-Ching
ANON. [attrib. Confucius (571–459 B.C.E.)]
Hong Kong: Bethany House, 1888.
Burned at the order of Chin-Shi-Huang-Ti.
The Five Classis were basic Confucian texts. They were in use from before 1000 BCE along with a sixth book, now lost, the Classic of Music. This work was lost at the time of the first emperor, Qin-Shi-Huang-Ti, who ordered books to be burned and scholars buried alive. Although some books were preserved, bricked up in the walls of private houses until the Han Dynasty, the Classic of Music was lost in the bonfires.
Works
Opera
MAECENAS
AMSTELDAM: DIRKONDER DE LINDEN, 1764.
Lost in antiquity.
Swans sing before they die – ‘t were no bad thing
Should certain persons die before they sing.
- Coleridge.
Maecenas will never be remembered for his poems, but he will have an imperishable home on the side of Mt. Parnassus for being dear Horace’s patron and for giving him the country villa of which Horace would write:
This it was for which I prayed ....
It is good: I ask no more.
The Book of Jasher
ספר הישר
ANONYMOUS
Bristol: Philip Rose, 1829.
Lost in antiquity.
The Book of Jasher, also called The Book of the Upright or The Book of the Just Man, is a lost book mentioned in the Hebrew Bible at Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18. The title is a translation of the Hebrew ספר הישר (Sefer ha Yashar). The book is an ancient collection of poetry and songs. One of its songs was a celebration of the military victory over the five tribes of the Amorites.
Throwing Javelins from Horseback
De Iaculatione Equestri
GAIUS PLINIUS SECUNDUS (c. 23-79 C.E.)
New York: Res Bonae, 2018.
Lost in antiquity.
Pliny wrote about everything. His Naturalis Historia is the very model of the modern encyclopedia. It is not surprising that he would devote an entire book to this obscure subject: it was a critical skill in his time, and he was, after all, a Roman army commander. He was as brave as his title implies: he died on his ship attempting to rescue a friend and his family from the destruction of Pompeii.