Virgil and, like an echo, it is not always true'. v. 1. 40 sqq. is another reminiscence of Virgil. There are a good many Virgilian phrases in Propertius. Thus thalamo aut Orycia terebintho Iv. 6 (7). 49 n., uentosas addidit alas III. 3. 5 n, 1. 12. 15 felix qui potuit praesenti flere puellae = Virg. G. 2. 490 felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas (for the thought of this passage cf. iv. 4 (5). 25 sqq.). census induta nepotum IV. 12 (13). 11 is a false echo of Aen. 8. fin. attollens umero famamque et fata nepotum, 11. 2. 6 incedit uel Ioue digna soror = Aen. 1. 46 ast ego quae diuom incedo regina Iouisque et soror et coniunx, v. 8. 55 et quantum femina saeuit = Aen. 5. 6 furens quid femina possit. So in iv. 22. 19 (a poem which is founded on Virg. G. 1. 136 sqq.), commoda noxae= Virgil's accommoda fraudi, diuom sator is a Virgilian phrase. sanguine siccus has been quoted; it is like Virgil's siccas sanguine fauces, the interpretation of which it establishes.

Prop.

Dr Teuffel (Hist. of Lat. Lit. I. p. 467 Eng. tr.) has pointed out several coincidences be- Horace. tween Horace and Propertius; and others will be found in the notes. A striking one is Hor. Od. 2. 17. 26 laetum theatris ter crepuit sonum Iv. 9 (10). 4 manibus faustos ter crepuere_sonos. their social relations see above, p. xxxii. I believe our poet reproduces him, but reproduces him unconsciously. His coincidences with Tibullus2 again be- Tibullus. long on the whole to the class of reminis

On

cence rather than direct imitation. I will quote a few. Tibull. 1. 2. 76 cum fletu nox uigilanda uenit = Prop. IV. 20. 22 non habet ultores nox uigilanda deos (observe that he uses it with much more pregnant

1 I wish I had space to develope this; but the materials for doing so are in everybody's hands.

2 I exclude of course Books III. and Iv., the authors of which imitated Propertius.

meaning than Tibullus), Tib. 1. 8. 3 conscia fibra deorum = Prop. v. 1. 104 aut sibi commissos fibra locuta deos, and several from Tibullus 1. 9 (init.). Occasionally Tibullus may help us to an emendation of Propertius, as in 1. 7. 55 - Prop. v. 11. 70.

Prose writers.

I must add a word about the prose writers. Broukhuys long ago held that Propertius had been influenced by Cicero and, I believe, the agreements between them are sufficient to shew that the poet had read and assimilated the orator. There are points of similarity too between his style and that of Livy; but I prefer not to venture on an explanation.

Amongst the imitators of Propertius Ovid is entitled to first place. His obligations to Pro

his successors.

pertius are not quite adequately set forth Influence upon even in so careful and learned a treatise

Ovid.

as that of Dr A. Zingerle. Ovid owes him first the conception of his Heroides and Fasti. The first was suggested by the epistle of Arethusa to Lycotas v. 4, the second by the aetiological poems in the same book. v. 1. 69 sacra diesque canam et cognomina prisca locorum is a perfect description of the Fasti. Secondly, his mind was thoroughly saturated with the poems of Propertius; and Propertian turns and phrases are continually coming to the surface. I will give one instance to distinguish this kind of coincidence from the next one. Am. 1. 1. 12 Aoniam Marte mouente lyram seems an obvious phrase enough; and yet Aoniam lyram is from Prop. I. 2. 28, and Marte mouente is an echo of Prop. IV. 22. 32 exitium nato matre mouente suo. Lastly he has a large number of direct and conscious plagiarisms. For there is no other word for imitations like this, Ov. P. 2. 3. 39 mitius est lasso digitum supponere mento Prop. Iv. 7 (8). 69 uos decuit lasso supponere bracchia mento. It is needless to multiply instances,

many of which may be found in the notes and more in Zingerle's collection, p. 109 sqq.

Other writers.

Propertius was very widely read in the literary circles of Rome for many centuries, and the writings of almost all the poets who succeeded him bear traces of his influence. The influence which he had on Juvenal has been already pointed out by Mr Palmer. Martial too quotes from him and imitates him sometimes. Statius had read him very carefully. He often follows him very closely in points of phraseology; e. g. in rare words like undisonus, insinuare in a literal sense. His very mention of him shews how well he knew him, Silv. 1. 2. 253 hunc ipse choro plaudente Philetas Callimachusque senex Vmbroque Propertius antro ambissent laudare diem. It shews too that the Romans felt his use of antrum to be strange. Manilius and probably Lucan, Valerius Flaccus and Silius Italicus all had read him. The author of the poem on Aetna imitates him'. So too does Claudian. Ausonius founds a whole poem (the Rosae idyll) on a couplet of his v. 5. 61, 62. Some of the prose writers too seem to have studied him, notably Seneca, and later Appuleius. The latest ancient writer whom we can make sure was acquainted with him was the Greek epigrammatist Paullus Silentiarius, who lived in the time of Justinian I. On his imitations of Propertius see Hertzb. p. 230. But there is a much later writer who may have had Propertius before him, as he certainly had many other ancient authors, Nicetas Eugenianus, a Greek romancer in the iambic verse of the time, who probably lived about

1 One passage is very striking, Prop. Iv. 4 (5). 25 sqq.= Aetna 219 sqq. Not only is the subject, the study of physical philosophy, the same, and worked out on the same lines, but the indicative and subjunctive in oratio obliqua alternate in a precisely similar way.

2 The tragedies also contain several imitations.

the 12th century A.D. I think attention should be directed to him as he certainly has some very obvious imitations of Euripides, Theocritus, &c., which may be of importance in determining the text of those authors'. Then for some centuries Propertius disappeared from the world. The deluge of barbarism

=

Modern writers.

Petrarch &c.

which swept over the civilized world submerged his works like those of so many of the ancients. We do not hear anything of him till we get to Petrarch, who, without doubt, had seen or possessed a copy, as he both mentions and imitates Propertius. Perhaps Dante knew his works; at any rate the coincidence pointed out in the note on IV. 2 (3). 22 is striking. But Dante would have little sympathy with Propertius. Tasso and Ariosto also imitated him; e.g. Jerusalem Delivered Canto 6 Stanzas 104, 105 Prop. v. 4. 31-34, and exx. in the notes. Henceforward Propertius may be said to have regained a place among classical poets; and it is unnecessary to pursue his literary influence further, now that it no longer bears upon the history of his text. But I may ask leave to quote from the Introduction to Jacob and Binder's German translation a sentence upon Propertius from the great critic-poet of Germany which may be set against the comparative neglect of him in England. The following is the entry in Goethe's diary for Nov. 28, 1798. "The Elegies of Propertius, of which I have read the greater part in Knebel's translation,

Goethe.

1 The following are the passages I have noted in which he may have had Propertius before him (I quote from Boissonade's edition) 1. 148, 273; II. 127 sqq., 326; III. 10, 12, 46, 184, 235, 251; iv. 355, 413; v. 135; vi. 349, 369 sqq., 437, 475; VIII. 231.

2 On the triumph of Love 'L' un era Ovidio e l'altr' era Catullo, L'altro Properzio che d'amor cantaro Fervidamente; e l'altr' era Tibullo.'

have produced an agitation (Erschütterung) in my nature, such as works of this kind are wont to cause: a desire to produce something similar which I must evade, as at present I have quite other things in view."

42.

Propertius loses his paternal estate.

34. Assumes toga uirilis.

28. Becomes acquainted with Cynthia (Hostia). First book published.

25.

23. Rupture with Cynthia.

After 23. Publication of second and third books (11. III. IV.).

18. Leges Iuliae. Marriage of Propertius. [Previous death of Cynthia.]

16. Poem celebrating performance of ludi quinquennales, v (IV). 6.

Before A. D. 2. Death of Propertius.

After A.D. 2.

Posthumous publication of last book.

** It must be remembered that some of the

*

above dates are only conjectural.