On Herodotus I.

207

G. F. Abbott

The Classical Review, Vol. 17, No. 1. (Feb., 1903), p. 57.

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 T H E CLASSICAL REVIEW.
regna, uezilla in later writers) and ' ultricia
bella', Sil., ' ult, tela, l'artaru' Statius (and i n
later or unknown writers ' ult. u e ~ b aarnzcc')
, ' contrary to rule,' 'incapable of analysis ' ;
on t h e other. I t is clear t h a t t h e usage
started with a case-form i n d. and with a.
word (arnza) t h a t had no singular, and was
gradually extended. Of t h e extensions we
may consider those which confined i t to the
case-form i n which i t started a s the more
legitimate, since i t clearly sprang from t h e
feminine associations of t h e short -a. This
drift of t h e a. of t h e plural had, as is well
known, a n important influence i n shaping
the declension of these neuters i n t h e
Romance languages, issuing often i n
irregularities like t h a t of the Italian : Sing. i l
membro (Masc.), Plur. le membra, partially
feminine, b u t also ,i membri, completely
masculine, le membre, completely feminine.
IT.-On the pussive injnitive with iri.
The two idioms last discussed show t h e
very characteristic which Prof. Sonnenschein
on Rudens 1242 mihi istaec uidetur praeda.
praedatum iriev. (ed. minor) regards as a n
argument against Palmer's and my rendering
of the infinitive there a s active in sense (will
go a-plundering) and against Neue's and m y
explanation of the future passive infinitive
i n iri : ' an active praedatun~iri-says Prof.
Sonnenschein, ' i s grammatically inconceiv-
able ...t h e construction is not only contrary
t o rule, b u t also incapable of analysis.'
The last statements, t r u e as they are, do
not frighten a comparative philologist, n o r
force him t o admit t h e t r u t h of t h e first.
NOTES.
ON HERODOTUS I. 2 0 7 . - Z ~ e i v o r p ~ j ~ opd&,
v ijs
~ l i ~ h ~o Lsj wb v O P ~ r q ~ w2v~ 7 1~ p q y p d ~ w ?v T, E ~ L + E ~ ~ ~ E Y
6 ; O ~ hK a a i d T O ~ Sa i ) ~ o b sE ~ T U X $ E L Y .
This comparison of hrunan affairs to a revolving
wheel (which Herodotus puts i n the mouth of Croesus)
is comnion i n the East to this day. The Greeks give
expression to the idea in two homely proverbs: 6
~ a r p b scIvar z p. o .x -d s ,. and fr' 6 T D O X B E ~ u o l u u a z aK' 02
pjjyes ifiBopd6es ; while tLe ~ u r k ; enibicty' i t in the
folln~vingaphorism : Boo doonia tcharkifellek'dir;
ask olsoon teheverinay, 'This world is a wheel ; happy
t h e man who call turn i t (i.e. control its revolu-
tions).'
DENETRIUS
rep1 i;ppqvrias AND PLINY THE
YOUNGER.
Demetr. 296 ~ a O d h o u6 ; $ @ r e p 7 b v a h z h v ~ q p b w
6 p ; v 7 1 s ~ b v ah h a u e v , 6 6 i fioOv, 6 82 Ymrov, 0 6 7 0
~ a r lp i y p a 7 a L ~ b v6 p k v 7 1 s brro+a~vdpcvos~ a Kla T q y o -
p i v +q U I V ...%.repor 6 ; z a h b v 6 ~ 0 8 e z r ~ r jrsr p o o ( a e s a ~ .
5 'i'
A n adverb in t h e plural and a neuter noun
with a feminine adjective a r e appearances
b u t if grammatically inconceivable, so much
t h e worse for grammar. The tenour of
of Prof. Sonnenschein's noteassures me t h a t
he would interpret t h e line of Plautus a s we
wish if he saw his way out of t h e grammatical
difficulty. This is not after all such a serious
one. I t is recognised on all hands t h a t a l l
t h e other so-called ' passive ' formations a r e
employed i n deponent verbs without t h e
passive force. W h y should this future
infinitive passive be a n exception? If
' praedor, praedaris, praedatur' with a
deponent sense a r e not anomalies, why
should praedatum iri with t h e same he one
either? These iri formations a r e by ro
means common; and t h a t only a single
instance of t h e use has been preserved need
not surprise us.
The origin of the formation in iri is f a r
clearer on Neue's theory than on t h e current
one. This breaks down completely when
confronted with t h e well-known crux ' reus
parricidii damnatum iri uidebatur,' quoted
by Quintilian. To make out of a n active
future ' to go to condemn' a passive future
' t o he 'goned ' t o condemn ' is no doubt a
rather crude proceeding : but is i t cruder
than t o give potest, nequit, coepit t h e passive
inflexions when they have a passive
infinitive depending on them and make of
them potestur, nequitur, coeptum est ? I
trow not.
J. P. POST~ATE.
Plin. ep. vii 9 6 11
O S
u t laus est cerae, mollis cedeusque sequatur
si doctos digitos iussaque fiat opus,
e t nnnc informet Martem castamve Minervnm,
nnnc Venersnl effingat, nunc Veneris puerum,
sic homiuum irig-euium Beoti ducique per artes
non rigidas docta mobilitate decet.
Other parallels i n Casaubon on Pers. iii 23, Jahn
ibid. v 40, Otto, Sprichzuorter, S.V. cera.l p. 80, t h e
Paroemiographi of Leutsch ii 74 col. i, Wetstein etc.
on Rom. 9 20. Add Quintil. x 5 9 nec aliena tantum
transferre, sed etiam nostra pluribus modis tractare
proderit : u t ea industria sumamuv sententias quas-
dam, easqoe versemus rluam numerosissime, velut
endem cera alirre atque aliae formae duci solent.
Hieron. ep. 52 3 pr. (i 272b Vallarsi) mollis cera
et ad formandurn facilis, etiam si artificis e t plastae
cessent manus, tamen 76 8 u v d p s 1 totum est, quidquid
esse potest.
JOHNE. B. MAYOR.
* K