PL 3 · cols. 375–382

L. Holstenius, Epistola ad Franciscum card. Barberinum de verubus Dianae (in Minucii Octavium)

Editors' preface

PL 3:375

EPISTOLAE LUCAE HOLSTENII DE VERUBUS DIANAE EPHESIAE

LETTER OF LUCAS HOLSTENIUS ON THE SPITS OF DIANA OF EPHESUS

AD MINUCII CAP. XXI.

ON CHAPTER XXI OF MINUCIUS.

Francisco cardinali Barberino, optimo studiorum patrono, Lucas Holstenius, felicitatem.

To Francesco Cardinal Barberini, the best patron of learning, Lucas Holstenius wishes happiness.

Cum eruditum opusculum Claudii Menetreii domestici olim tui, solertissimi rei antiquariae promicondi, singulari beneficio in publicam lucem proferri jusseris, quo Dianae Ephesiae statuas aenigmatis reconditis inscriptas luculenter explicavit; non abs te futurum existimavi, si cogitationem de antiquis ejusdem Dianae numismatis pridem mihi subortam eadem opera ad te deferrem. Feci hoc eo libentius et excusatius, ut spero, quod argumentum Menetreio intactum, nec ulli antiquariorum

Since by a singular kindness you have ordered to be brought out into the public light the learned little work of Claude Ménétrier, formerly of your household, a most skilful steward of antiquarian matters, in which he lucidly explained the statues of Diana of Ephesus inscribed with recondite enigmas, I thought it would not be out of keeping with you if by the same labour I brought to you a reflection on the ancient coins of the same Diana which occurred to me some time ago. I have done this the more willingly and, as I hope, the more excusably, because it embraces a subject that Ménétrier left untouched and that none of the antiquaries has

Editors' notes and page, col. 375

Footnotes

(printed under page 240)

(8) ‹anchor: Consubsidunt› · call in col 375 (not visible)

Consubsidunt. Verbum illatinum, immeritoque insertum Fabri lexico. Abjicio con, et subsequenti non factum, quod justo citius scriptum delere noluit librarius. Optimum vero sensum habet subsidunt. In vase enim subsidere dicitur id quod liquor habet turbidum, et hinc graviusculum. Subsidunt, inquit, aliqua, h. e. in imo pectoris adhuc resident et remanent. Dicit igitur Caecilius superesse in sua mente deliberationes aliquot, quae non quidem eam vim habent, ut de veritate religionis Christianae dubitare cogatur, quas tamen tolli cupiat, ut sua veritatis cognitio fiat perfectior. Heum.

Consubsidunt. A word that is not Latin, and wrongly entered in Faber's lexicon. I discard "con", which was made out of the "non" that follows, written by the copyist too soon and not deleted. "Subsidunt" gives the best sense. For in a vessel, what the liquid holds that is cloudy, and so rather heavy, is said to "settle". "Some things," he says, "settle", that is, they still lie and remain at the bottom of the breast. So Caecilius says that some considerations remain in his mind which do not indeed have such force that he is driven to doubt the truth of the Christian religion, but which he nonetheless wishes removed, so that his knowledge of the truth may become more perfect. Heumann.

(printed under page 240)

(9) ‹anchor: Ut de toto› · call in col 375 (not visible)

Ut de toto. Deleo ut, rescribo die toto: nec sine voluptate nunc video etiam, sic rescripsisse anonymum Parisiensem. Heum. Ut de toto, i. e. ut de materia integra justae disputationis argumen- (continues; the rest stands above the rendered foot of the right column and is not visible)

Ut de toto. I delete "ut" and write "die toto" ("the whole day"); and I now see, not without pleasure, that the anonymous Parisian too wrote it so. Heumann. "Ut de toto", that is, as of the whole matter, the argu[ment] of a fair disputation … (continues)

(printed under page 240)

(11) (continued; beginning not visible)

Gronovius pater, ad Livii lib. I, cap. 9 et 25. Heum.

… Gronovius the elder, on Livy book I, chapters 9 and 25. Heumann.

(printed under page 240)

Page

running head: 375 APPENDIX AD MINU (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹consentio; etiam nunc tamen›; B ‹mus exemplaris lectionem› (in the Variorum notae, not set); C ‹superesse in sua mente› (in the Variorum notae, not set); D ‹Francisco cardinali Barberino›
old-edition numerals: 360 after ‹quod› (Octavius, quod); 361-366 before the band's first title line (EPISTOLAE LUCAE HOLSTENII)
other: a full-width band stands across cols 375/376 in mid-page: the 2 paragraph(s) above it in col 376 are set here, after the 4 above it in col 375 (reading order, moved on receipt); the band itself (its title lines) is not set by the volunteer page: set it here, at the move, with full_width
other: the word antiquariorum was split at the column break and stands whole here (joined on receipt); check that the English reads whole across the break into col 376
other (Q1, 2026-10-25): the English here now ends "…and observed by none of the antiquarians"; col 376's English opening "[of the …]s has been observed up to now should embrace." should be changed to "up to now, is what it embraces." so the sentence reads whole (col 376 not written by Q1)
other (Q2, 2026-10-25): the Q1 line above is stale; the English here now ends "…that none of the antiquaries has", which runs on into col 376's present opening "hitherto observed." and reads whole; col 376 needs no change for the join.
other (Q2): the name printed after Claudii looks like ‹Menetreij› (ij) on the page; set as Menetreii (UNSURE).
other (Q2): note (11)'s call stands in col 376 (vice (11) gaudeo); its end is set here as received.
other: the column opens with the end of the previous work (another unit); not set here: the unit begins at Francisco cardinali
running head: 375 APPENDIX AD MINUCIUM. 376
marginal letters: A (gutter, upper Octavius section) consentio; etiam nunc / vice (11) gaudeo; B mus exemplaris lectionem (footnotes); C adhuc resident (footnotes); D Francisco cardinali Barberino
old-edition numerals: 361-366 before EPISTOLAE (title band); 360 in the Octavius argumentum above the band (pointer matter, not set)

PL 3:376

hactenus observatum complectatur. Tui autem judicii hanc scriptionem facio, quod nemo te rectius intelligat, quam multiplicem usum accurata antiquitatis cognitio ad reliquum omne studiorum genus ornandum augendumque praestet, Cum enim recte judicares, nihil in veterum scriptis tam abstrusum aut obscurum delitescere, quin lucem aliquam a priscis monumentis mutuari possit, ea tibi causa fuit, cur bibliothecae, quam celeberrimam instruxisti, veterum tabularum, signorum, numismatum, et inscriptionum supellectilem copiosam adjunxeris; ut universam eruditae

hitherto observed. And I make this writing subject to your judgement, because no one understands better than you how manifold a use an exact knowledge of antiquity affords for adorning and enlarging every other kind of study. For since you rightly judged that nothing lies hidden in the writings of the ancients so abstruse or obscure that it cannot borrow some light from the monuments of the past, that was your reason for adding to the library, which you have furnished as a most celebrated one, an abundant store of ancient tablets, figures, coins and inscriptions, so that the whole memory of learned

Editors' notes and page, col. 376

Footnotes

(12) ‹anchor: Et inspiratus› · call in col 376 (not visible)

Et inspiratus. Et abesse commode potest. Lindner.

Et inspiratus. The "et" can well be dropped. Lindner.

(printed under page 240)

(13) ‹anchor: Octavius gaudere quod vicerit› · call in col 376 (not visible)

Octavius gaudere quod vicerit. Quibusdam libris insertum est hoc modo, Octavius gaudere quod vicerit. Sed si coepit subaudiatur, tamen id redundabit, in laeti hilaresque antea expressum. Cell. — Octavius gaudere. Vel ultima vox cum Fulv. Ursino prorsus est expungenda; vel, verbis transpositus, legendum, Caecilius, quod crediderit, gaudere: Octavius, quod vicerit. Hoc ultro fatebuntur elegantiarum latinarum peritiores. Davis.

Octavius gaudere quod vicerit. In some books this is inserted thus: "Octavius gaudere quod vicerit" ("Octavius rejoicing that he had won"). But even if "coepit" ("began") is understood, it will be redundant, having been expressed before in "laeti hilaresque" ("glad and cheerful"). Cellarius. — Octavius gaudere. Either the last word should be struck out altogether, with Fulvio Orsini; or, with the words transposed, we should read: "Caecilius rejoicing that he had believed, Octavius that he had won." Those more skilled in the refinements of Latin will readily grant this. Davies.

(printed under page 240)

(14) ‹anchor: Et quod hic› · call in col 376 (not visible)

Et quod hic. Perbrevi attentione opus est ut videas clarissime ita scribendum: Quod et hic crediderit.

Et quod hic. Only very brief attention is needed to see quite clearly that we should write: "Quod et hic crediderit" ("that he too had believed").

(printed under page 240)

Page

running head: [APPEN]DIX AD MINUCIUM. 376 (cut at left edge)
marginal letters: A vice (11) gaudeo; B tum suppeditante (in the notes); C redundabit, in laeti (in the notes); D riorum hactenus
old-edition numerals: 377 after multiplicem
other: the 2 paragraph(s) of this column above the full-width band are set under col 375 (reading order, moved on receipt)
running head: 375 APPENDIX AD MINUCIUM. 376
marginal letters: A vice (11) gaudeo (Octavius, above band); B tum suppeditante (footnotes); C redundabit (footnotes); D riorum hactenus observatum
old-edition numerals: 377 after multiplicem
other: The column opens with '-riorum', the end of 'antiquariorum', set whole at the end of c375_a. 'praestet, Cum' printed with what looks like a comma before a capital; set as seen; possibly a period damaged or misprinted (UNSURE). Column ends mid-sentence at 'eruditae'.
misprints kept as printed: note (13) 'verbis transpositus' (for transpositis). (Q3)
other (Q3): note (13) 'Octavius, quod vicerit' — the mark after Octavius may be printed as a period at this resolution (UNSURE; left as set).

PL 3:377

antiquitatis memoriam doctorum hominum ocu⟨l⟩is spectandam subjiceres. Nunc rem ipsam cognosce.

antiquity you might set before the eyes of learned men for them to view. Now learn the matter itself.

Nummi veteres Dianae Ephesiae effigie signati, quorum nonnullos tabellae adjunctae exhibent, eo a statuis Menetreii industria productis differunt, quod deam mammarum pondere onustam fulcris quibusdam sive destinis, quos scipiones nodosos existimes, utrinque subrigant. Eaque in re ita constanter consentiunt omnes, quotquot vidi, vidi autem quam plurimos, ut simulacrum Ephesium olim eodem modo suffultum fuisse omnino affirmandum putem. Neque vero ea de re nos dubitare permittit Minucii Felicis eruditissimi scriptoris locus, ubi Dianae Ephesiae signum mammis multis verubusque exstructum commemorat. Sed in isto loco pervertendo criticorum acumen mirifice hactenus sese exercuit: adeo quidem ut, nisi vindiciae ex libris et monumentis antiquis opportune dentur, posthac futurus sit intestabilis.

The ancient coins stamped with the image of Diana of Ephesus, some of which the attached plates show, differ from the statues brought forward by the industry of Ménétrier in this, that they prop up the goddess, laden with the weight of her breasts, on either side with certain supports or stays, which you might take for knotted staves. And in this matter all of them, as many as I have seen (and I have seen a great many), agree so consistently that I think it must be wholly affirmed that the Ephesian image was once supported in the same way. Nor indeed does a passage of Minucius Felix, a most learned writer, allow us to doubt on this matter, where he mentions the statue of Diana of Ephesus built up with many breasts and spits. But the sharpness of the critics has hitherto exercised itself wonderfully in perverting that passage: so much so indeed that, unless a defence is opportunely provided from ancient books and monuments, it will henceforth be unable to bear witness.

Rem clarius explico, ut, quam infeliciter Felix ab haereditoribus exceptus habitusque fuerit, penitus perpisciatur. Princeps Romana editio a Fausto Sabaeo ad Vaticani codicis fidem procurata ita locum, quem dixi, exhibet: Diana interim est alte succincta venatrix: et Ephesia mammis multis et verubus exstructa; et Trivia trinis capitibus et multis manibus horrifica. Ita triplex unius Dianae numen notis signisque peculiaribus accurate ex fabulosa gentilium theologia distinxit eruditus scriptor. Lectionem primae editionis religiose servavit Basileensis, et Heidelbergensis Franc. Balduini; tum Romana posterior, quae ex Fulvii Ursini recensione prodiit; nisi quod conjecturam suam vir accurratissime doctus margini appingens, non verubus, sed uberibus legendum moneat. Desiderii Heraldi Parisiensis Advocati editio duplex deinde Romanam lectionem expressit, sed altera veribus una litterula mutata pro verubus exhibet, ex ipso, ut notat, veteri manuscripto, qui Leonis X munificentia ex Vaticana bibliotheca in regiam migravit. Missus enim fuit codex ille singularis ad Franciscum regem una cum excuso exemplari, quod ejus nomini editores Romani inscripserant. Levis illa mutatio Heraldum perpulit, ut ipse vel uberibus cum Ursino, vel tuberibus cum Josepho Scaligero, legendum censeret; in priorem tamen conjecturam propensior.

I explain the matter more clearly, so that it may be thoroughly perceived how unhappily Felix has been received and treated by his editors. The first Roman edition, produced by Faustus Sabaeus according to the reading of the Vatican codex, presents the passage I mentioned thus: "Diana meanwhile is a huntress girt up high; and the Ephesian is built up with many breasts and spits; and Trivia is fearsome with three heads and many hands." Thus the learned writer accurately distinguished, by particular marks and signs drawn from the fabulous theology of the gentiles, the threefold divinity of the one Diana. The reading of the first edition was scrupulously kept by the Basel edition and by the Heidelberg edition of Franc. Balduinus; then by the later Roman edition, which came out from the recension of Fulvius Ursinus; except that this most exactly learned man, adding his conjecture in the margin, advises that we should read not "verubus" but "uberibus". The double edition of Desiderius Heraldus, advocate of Paris, then reproduced the Roman reading, but the second presents "veribus", with one little letter changed, in place of "verubus", from the old manuscript itself, as he notes, which by the munificence of Leo X passed from the Vatican library into the royal one. For that unique codex was sent to King Francis together with a printed copy, which the Roman editors had inscribed to his name. That slight change drove Heraldus to judge that one should read either "uberibus" with Ursinus or "tuberibus" with Joseph Scaliger; he was, however, more inclined to the former conjecture.

Et hi quidem conjecturis eatenus indulserunt, ut textu Minuciano manus interim abstinerent. At caeteri deinceps non aeque fuerunt religiosi. Nam Joannes Wowerius, civis meus, doctrina et judicio alioquin praeclare instructus, Ursini conjecturam ita amplexus est ut in contextum Minucii pro verissima recipere non dubitarit. Hujus exemplum postea Rigaltius Lutetiae, et nuperrime, iterata editione, Batavi sunt secuti. Nec parum praesidii huic confidentiae attulisse videtur Justi Lipsii auctoritas, quem correctionem istam ad Taciti Annal.

And these men indeed indulged in conjectures only so far as to keep their hands off the text of Minucius for the time being. But those who followed were not equally scrupulous. For Joannes Wowerius, my fellow citizen, a man otherwise excellently furnished with learning and judgement, embraced the conjecture of Ursinus so far that he did not hesitate to receive it into the text of Minucius as perfectly true. His example was later followed by Rigaltius at Paris and, very recently, in a repeated edition, by the Dutch. Nor does the authority of Justus Lipsius seem to have brought little support to this confidence, whom they knew to have approved that correction on Tacitus's Annals

Editors' notes and page, col. 377

Page

running head: 377 DE VERUBUS DIANÆ (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹antiquitatis memoriam doctorum›; B ‹busque exstructum commemorat›; C ‹vavit Basileensis, et Heidelbergensis›; D ‹Scaligero, legendum censeret›
old-edition numerals: 368 after ‹recipere›
other: editors' matter: the whole column belongs to a dissertation on the spits of Diana of Ephesus (it begins ‹antiquitatis memoriam doctorum›); "ocu⟨l⟩is": the l is lost at the line start; "haereditoribus" is set as printed, but it is probably a misprint for "editoribus" (unsure); "Menetreii" is set as printed (Ménestrier); "quem" in the last line is set as printed and taken to refer to Lipsius; no word is split at the column break; no full-width line

PL 3:378

lib. III comprobasse sciebant. Et hi quipem omnes cum presso vestigio Ursini semitam calcassent, diversam instituit Geverhartus Elmenhorstius, homo sane haud indiligens: qui Romanam lectionem mutare non ausus, trajectione verborum locum misere luxavit in editione Hamburgensi majori, ubi Minucii verba ita deformata leguntur: Diana interim est alte succuncta venatrix verubus exstructa; et Ephesia mammis mullis; et Trivia trinis cavitibus, etc.

book 3. And when all these had trodden the path in the close footstep of Ursinus, Geverhartus Elmenhorst, a man certainly not careless, struck out on a different one: not daring to change the Roman reading, he wretchedly dislocated the passage by a transposition of words in the larger Hamburg edition, where the words of Minucius are read, deformed thus: "Diana meanwhile is a high-girt huntress built up with spits; and the Ephesian with many breasts; and Trivia with three heads," etc.

Sed haec leviora sunt prae illis quae jam ante ad eumdem Minucii locum commentus fuerat Petrus Faber, celebris legum antistes libr. III, Semestr. cap. 3. Is acri disputatione lacessens S. Hieronymum, quod Dianam Ephesiam multimammiam a v⟨e⟩natrice, quae arcum tenet, alteque succincta est, distinxerit; magno quidem, sed irrito conatu evincere studet, Cererem mammosam veteres novisse, Dianam mammosam ignorasse. Ideoque Minucii verba, ne Hieronymi causam juvent, distorquendo corrigendoque sic interpolat: Diana interim est alta succincta venatrix Ephesia et mammis multis Ceres exstructa. Atqui hoc est, non depravatum castigare locum, quod ipse de se praedicat, sed integrum corrumpere. Abstinuisset utique infelici concertatione tantus vir, si Dianae Ephesiae signum vetus, aut nummos, vel per transennam inspexisset.

But these things are light compared with those which Petrus Faber, a famous master of the laws, had devised earlier on the same passage of Minucius, in book 3 of the Semestria, chapter 3. Attacking St Jerome in sharp disputation because he distinguished the many-breasted Ephesian Diana from the huntress who holds a bow and is high-girt, he strives with great but vain effort to prove that the ancients knew a breasted Ceres but knew nothing of a breasted Diana. And therefore, lest the words of Minucius should help Jerome's cause, he interpolates them by twisting and correcting, thus: "Diana meanwhile is a high-girt huntress, the Ephesian, and Ceres built up with many breasts." But this is not to correct a corrupted passage, as he proclaims of himself, but to corrupt a sound one. So great a man would surely have abstained from this unhappy contest if he had looked, even at a glance, at an ancient statue of the Ephesian Diana, or at coins.

Adjungam superioribus celebrem nunc in Galliis virum, fori hujus antiquarii regem, Joann. Tristanum. Is tomo I exhibet nummum Καδοηνων. sive Caduenorum (ita enim Stephano, Plinio, sibique ipsi alibi vocari ostendam.) Dianae Ephesiae imagine signatum; eique illustrando vexatum Minucii locum ingenii periculum et ipse facturus adducit. Repudiatis igitur verubus, quam non genuinam Minucii vocem, sed Woweri, omnia alia sentientis, commentum existimat: uberibus quidem legendum censet, sed longe alio, quam caeteri omnes sensu. Etenim cum inter mammas et ubera aut nullum, aut non nisi ineptissimum discrimen a grammaticis statui rectissime perspexisset, ideoque vix sine vitio tautologiam istam accurrato et pressae dictionis scriptori tribui posse, perquam ingeniose mammas mullas uberesque Dianae Ephesiae de turgidis multoque lacte distentis censuit explicandas. Quo quidem Ursini, et quotquot ejus vestigia postea legerunt criticorum depravationem aperte jugulat; Minucii tamen mentem non est assecutus, quod recenti et interpolatae editioni, qua usus videtur, fidem temere adhibuerit.

To the foregoing I shall add a man now famous in France, the king of this court of antiquaries, Jean Tristan. In tome 1 he displays a coin of the Kadoenoi, or Caduenians (for so, I shall show elsewhere, they are called by Stephanus, by Pliny and by themselves), stamped with the image of the Ephesian Diana; and in illustrating it he brings forward the vexed passage of Minucius, meaning he too to make trial of his ingenuity. Rejecting therefore verubus, which he considers not a genuine word of Minucius but a fabrication of Wower, a man of quite other views, he judges that uberibus should indeed be read, but in a sense far different from all the rest. For since he had most rightly perceived that between mammae and ubera either no distinction, or only a most inept one, is laid down by the grammarians, and that therefore this tautology could scarcely be attributed without fault to a writer of careful and concise diction, he very ingeniously judged that the many and fruitful breasts of the Ephesian Diana were to be explained as swollen and distended with much milk. By this he plainly cuts the throat of the corruption of Ursinus and of all the critics who afterwards followed in his footsteps; yet he did not reach the meaning of Minucius, because he rashly put his trust in a recent and interpolated edition, which he seems to have used.

Caeterum istis omnibus in perspicuo Minucii loco oculos mentemque glaucoma praestrinxit, quod nequaquam exploratum haberent, quo significatu verua antiquis linguae Latinae auctoribus proprie dicta acceptaque fuerint. Cum enim assatoria illa, sive transfixoria, ut Papias vocat, quorum in coquina usus est, et quae in Gallica

But for all these men, in a clear passage of Minucius, a glaucoma dimmed their eyes and minds, because they had by no means ascertained in what meaning verua were properly so called and understood by the ancient authors of the Latin tongue. For since those roasting [spits], or piercing ones, as Papias calls them, whose use is in the kitchen, and which Tristan rightly laughs at in the French

Editors' notes and page, col. 378

Page

running head: UBUS DIANÆ EPHES. (cut off at the left edge of the image)
marginal letters: A ‹lib. III comprobasse sciebant›; B ‹miam a venatrice, quae arcum tenet›; C ‹sive Caduenorum (ita enim›; D ‹censuit explicandas. Quo quidem›
old-edition numerals: 369 after ‹usus est,›
other: editors' matter: the dissertation on Diana's "verubus" in Minucius continues through the whole column (‹lib. III comprobasse sciebant›); the column begins mid-sentence; "v⟨e⟩natrice" has a damaged letter; "mullis" and "cavitibus" in Elmenhorst's italic quotation are set as printed (italic t/l and p/v are UNSURE in the low-resolution image); "alta succincta" in Faber's quotation is set as printed (perhaps for alte); the left-column fragments belong to col. 377 and are not set
other (Q2): further misprints set as printed: "quipem" (for quidem), "succuncta" (for succincta, in Elmenhorst's quotation), "mullas" (for multas, in Tristan's "mammas mullas uberesque")

PL 3:379

Minucii interpretationes merito ridet Tristanus, ad Dianam Ephesiam exstruendam nihil quidquam facere viderent; non nisi de verutis sive jaculis Dianae venatricis Minuciana verua accipi explicarique posse uno omnes, quod miror, consensu censuerunt. Unde factum, ut tot summi et incomparabiles viri ad vocem illam interpolandam certatim conspirarint. Ego vero adversus conjuratum agmen verua ista extra vitium esse affirmo, eaque nec Dianae Ephesiae, nec Minucio subtrahenda pertendo. Nam verua haec, quibus Dianam suam exstruebant Ephesii, non pila aut veruta sunt, sed fulmenta ferrea oblonga, quae brachiis supposita totam mammosi pectoris molem sustinebant.

interpretations of Minucius, they saw contributed nothing whatever to the building up of the Ephesian Diana; all of them by one consent, which I wonder at, decided that the verua of Minucius could be taken and explained only of the darts or javelins of Diana the huntress. Hence it came about that so many eminent and incomparable men vied with one another in conspiring to emend that word. But against this sworn band I affirm that these verua are free from fault, and I maintain that they are to be taken away neither from the Ephesian Diana nor from Minucius. For these verua, with which the Ephesians built up their Diana, are not pikes or javelins, but long iron props, which, set beneath the arms, sustained the whole mass of the many-breasted bosom.

Cum enim antiquissimum hoc signum ad Aegyptiorum simulacrorum instar pedibus esset arcte compressis, tantilla basis superimposito corporis ponderi ferendo impar, adminiculis suffulcienda fuit; quibus subtractis universam molem fatiscere et collabi necessum erat. Ea fulcra sive sustentacula, quod ex ferro longius producta essent, Minucius propria et eleganti voce verua dixit, non sequioris, quo vixit, sed Augustaei saeculi usum secutus. Nam Glossarium Latinum optimae notae, quod in tribus vetustissimis codicibus Vaticanis exstat verua virgas et virgulas ferreas interpretatur.

For since this very ancient statue, after the manner of the images of the Egyptians, had its feet tightly pressed together, so small a base was unequal to bearing the weight of the body set upon it and had to be propped up with supports; if these were taken away, the whole mass would of necessity give way and collapse. These props or supports, because they were drawn out at some length in iron, Minucius called by the proper and elegant word verua, following the usage not of the later age in which he lived but of the Augustan age. For a Latin glossary of the best repute, which survives in three very ancient Vatican manuscripts, interprets verua as rods and small rods of iron.

Eamque explicationem veram ac genuinam esse res ipsa me docuit: cujus etiam nunc te meminisse arbitror, Eminentissime Cardinalis, quod juxta mecum oculis eam olim usurpaveris. Anni enim sunt, ni fallor, quindecim, cum Jesuitarum societas ad S. Andreae in Quirinali, dum novae aedificationis fundamenta molire⟨t⟩ur, lapides aliquot Tiburtinos praegrandes ordine quadrato dispositos offenderet: quorum duo ita erant inscripti, uti cum te jubente et adminiculante ex saxo scabro et male polito excepi:

And that this explanation is true and genuine the thing itself taught me: which I think you still remember, Most Eminent Cardinal, since you once saw it with your own eyes together with me. For it is, unless I am mistaken, fifteen years since the Society of Jesuits at Saint Andrew's on the Quirinal, while it was laying the foundations of a new building, came upon some very large blocks of Tiburtine stone set out in a square: two of which were inscribed thus, as I copied it, at your bidding and with your help, from the rough and badly dressed stone:

HAEC. AREA. INTRA. HANCCE / DEFINITIONEM. CIPPORVM / CLAVSA. VERIBVS. ET. ARA. QVAE / EST. INFERIVS. DEDICATA. EST. AB / IMP. CAESARE. DOMITIANO. AVG. / GERMANICO EX. VOTO. SVSCEPTO / QVOD. DIV. ERAT. NEGLECTVM. NEC. / REDDITVM. INCENDIORVM / ARCENDORVM. CAUSA.

THIS AREA, ENCLOSED WITHIN THIS BOUNDARY OF STONE POSTS BY RODS, AND THE ALTAR WHICH IS BELOW, WERE DEDICATED BY THE EMPEROR CAESAR DOMITIAN AUGUSTUS GERMANICUS IN ACCORDANCE WITH A VOW UNDERTAKEN WHICH HAD LONG BEEN NEGLECTED AND NOT FULFILLED, FOR THE SAKE OF WARDING OFF FIRES.

Cippi illi utroque latere bina foramina, et veruum sive virgarum ferrearum vestigia plumbo circumfusa servabant: quibus olim inter se conjuncti aream interiorem ita clauserant, ne aditus vulgo pateret. Ibi tum reipsa perspexi, egregie falsum esse N. Rigaltium hominem naris emunctissimae dum ad Finium regundorum scriptores verua ista stipites instar subularum praeacutos explicat, quae nihil acuminis aut cuspidis habuisse oculis manibusque cognoveram. Eodem vetustatis sensu Marcellus antiquus rei medicae auctor, sanguinis profluvio ex naribus sistendo praescribit cap. 10: « Veru ferreum

Those posts kept on each side two holes, and traces of verua, that is, of iron rods, with lead poured round them: joined to one another by these, they had once so enclosed the inner area that no access lay open to the common people. There I then saw in very fact that N. Rigault, a man of the keenest discernment, is badly mistaken when, on the writers on the regulating of boundaries, he explains these verua as stakes sharpened to a point like awls, which I had learned with my eyes and hands to have had no point or tip at all. In the same ancient sense Marcellus, an ancient writer on medicine, prescribes for stopping a flow of blood from the nostrils, chapter 10: "An iron veru

Editors' notes and page, col. 379

Page

running head: 379 DE MINUCII OCTA[VIO] (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹Minucii interpretationes merito›; B ‹Cum enim antiquissimum hoc signum ad Aegy-›; C ‹ni fallor, quindecim›; D ‹ARCENDORVM. CAVSA.›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: editors' matter: dissertation on Minucius's verua (‹Minucii interpretationes merito ridet Tristanus›), set in full; column begins mid-sentence; first words blurred in the scan, read as interpretationes and Tristanus (UNSURE); "molire⟨t⟩ur": the t is damaged; the inscription is set as one paragraph with its printed line breaks run together; last word "fer-" is split at the column break
other (Q2): the inscription's printed line ends are now marked with ' / ' (unit rule); its last word is printed CAUSA (with U, unlike the V elsewhere in the inscription) and is set as printed. The grammar wants "interpretatione" (ablative, after "in Gallica" at the end of col 378); the blurred ending cannot be resolved at this resolution (UNSURE)
other: the word ferreum was split at the column break and stands whole here (joined on receipt); check that the English reads whole across the break into col 380

PL 3:380

candens in aceto assidue extingue, et fumum ejus naribus ducito. » Quis non videt simpliciter hic et absolute ferri in virgam oblongam producti massam intelligi, qua forma fere omne ferrum rude et infectum vulgo venit?

glowing, quench it continually in vinegar, and draw its smoke in through the nostrils." Who does not see that here a mass of iron drawn out into an oblong rod is meant, simply and absolutely, the form in which nearly all raw and unworked iron commonly comes?

Verum nihil ad Minucii mentem, et rei, de qua agitur, illustrationem afferri potest aptius versibus Prudentii ex priori contra Symmachum carmine; quibus geminorum fratrum Castoris et Pollucis simulacra describit eo habitu gestuque, quo tunc in sua sibi aede ad viam Sacram visebantur. Versus isti sunt:

But nothing can be brought forward that better illustrates Minucius's meaning and the matter in question than the verses of Prudentius from the first poem against Symmachus. In them he describes the statues of the twin brothers Castor and Pollux in the attitude and gesture in which they were then seen in their own temple on the Sacred Way. These are the verses:

. . . . Gemini quoque fratres / Corrupta de matre nothi, Le⟨d⟩eia proles, / Nocturnique equites, celsae duo nomina Romae, / Impendent retinente veru, magnique triumphi / Nuntio suffuso figunt vestigia plumbo.

. . . . The twin brothers too, bastards of a corrupted mother, Leda's offspring, and riders of the night, the two lofty names of Rome, hang overhead held back by a spit, and as messengers of a great triumph they fix their footsteps in lead poured beneath them.

Graphice depingit Dioscuros currentium gestu ita effigiatos, ut extra perpendiculum et basin prominentes spectantibus non sine horrore ac metu impendere viderentur. Impendent enim, quae supra caput jamjam casura pendent, ut recte ait Valla. Timor autem et admiratio apud rude et superstitiosum vulgus religionis opinionem conciliabat. Eum metum poeta Christianus ridet, cum nullum esset ruinae aut fugae periculum: quod veru, hoc est, vectis sive uncus ferreus a tergo infixus eos retineret, pedesque basibus applumbati moveri non possent.

He vividly depicts the Dioscuri, shaped in the posture of men running, so that, jutting out beyond the vertical line and the base, they seemed to the onlookers to hang over them, not without dread and fear. For things that hang above the head, on the point of falling, "impend", as Valla rightly says. Among the rude and superstitious common people this fear and wonder won them a reputation for sanctity. The Christian poet laughs at that fear, since there was no danger of their collapsing or running away: a spit, that is, an iron bar or hook driven into them from behind, held them back, and their feet, leaded to the bases, could not move.

Duplex hoc retinaculorum genus, queis numinum simulacra vel uti vinculis constricta defigebantur. Arnobius similiter libr. VI Nationibus exprobrat: « Si permanendi, inquit, necessitatem patiuntur, quid miserius his esse, aut quid infelicius poterit, quam si eos in basibus ita unci retinent et plumbeae vinctiones? » Utrumque etiam conjungit lex II Dig. De sepulcro violato: « Celsus quaerit si neque applumbata fuit statua, neque affixa, an pars monumenta effecta sit, an vero maneat in bonis nostris. » Sed Prudentius quoque Minucii fatum et malam criticorum manum ut experiretur, ejusdem vocabuli non satis recte observata significatio fecit. Unde jam olim in pervetustis membranis Vaticanae Bibliothecae, retinente solo, pro retinente veru, substitutum videre est: quam lectionem Aldius, aliique ejus fidem secuti expresserunt. Georgius autem Fabricius, cum in suis exemplaribus retinente veru constanter scriptum reperisset, nec tamen proprium vocis usum apud veteres satis haberet perspectum, ad correctionem, sacram criticorum anchoram, confugit. Quocirca cum Dioscuros hastis sive pilis ad discursionem vulgo armari sciret, veru hoc ex rudi et obtuso ferro in verutum cuspide spicavit, et interpolata dictione, impendent retinentque veru, de suo, quo pollebat, ingenio procudit: eaque lectio exinde plerasque recentiores editiones insedit. Tantum vero absum, eam ut probem, ut contra priscam et genuinam mordicus tueri non dubitem, cum rei ipsius perspicuitate, tum veterum librorum auctoritate fretus; in quibus facile principem

This is the twofold kind of fastening by which the images of the gods were fixed in place, bound as if with chains. Arnobius likewise reproaches the Nations in book 6: 'If,' he says, 'they suffer the necessity of staying put, what could be more wretched or more unhappy than they, if hooks and leaden bindings hold them thus on their bases?' Law 2 of the Digest, On a violated tomb, also joins the two: 'Celsus asks whether, if the statue was neither leaded nor fastened, it has become part of the monument, or whether it remains among our goods.' But a meaning of this same word, not observed correctly enough, caused Prudentius too to suffer the fate of Minucius and the evil hand of the critics. Hence already long ago in the very ancient parchments of the Vatican Library one may see retinente solo substituted for retinente veru, a reading which Aldus and others who followed his authority printed. Georg Fabricius, however, though he had found retinente veru written consistently in his copies, and yet did not sufficiently understand the proper use of the word among the ancients, took refuge in correction, the sacred anchor of the critics. Accordingly, knowing that the Dioscuri were commonly armed with spears or javelins for skirmishing, he sharpened this veru from a rough and blunt iron into a pointed javelin, and from his own talent, in which he was strong, he forged the interpolated phrase impendent retinentque veru; and that reading has since settled into most of the more recent editions. But I am so far from approving it that I do not hesitate to defend the ancient and genuine reading tooth and nail, relying both on the clarity of the matter itself and on the authority of the old books, among which easily the foremost

Editors' notes and page, col. 380

Page

running head: MINUCII OCTAVIO (start of the running head cut off at the left edge; column number partly obscured)
marginal letters: A ‹reum candens in aceto›; B ‹Nuntio suffuso figunt›; C ‹Arnobius similiter libr.›; D ‹scriptum reperisset, nec tamen›
old-edition numerals: 370 after ‹Quis non›
other: the whole column is editors' prose (editors' matter: notes on Minucius, ‹reum candens in aceto›); first word "reum" continues "fer-" from the previous column; the five verses of Prudentius are set as one paragraph with " / " between the verse lines; in "Le⟨d⟩eia" the d is damaged; "Cclsus" looks damaged or misprinted, set as Celsus (UNSURE); the italic "retinente" (second occurrence) and "retinentque" have worn letters (rcl-), set as retinente/retinentque (UNSURE); "perpendiculum" has a damaged m; "monumenta" (for monumenti?) kept as printed; left column partly visible, not set

PL 3:381

⟨Q⟩uo codicem praestantissimum Urbinatis Biblio⟨thec⟩ae, quae nuper Alexandri septimi sapientissimi Pontificis i⟨m⟩mortali beneficio Vaticanae accessit; ⟨i⟩n quo ita scriptum reperi.

[In] which most excellent codex of the Urbino Library, which recently came to the Vatican [Library] by the immortal kindness of Alexander the Seventh, the most wise Pontiff; in which I found it written thus.

Haec ad Dianae Ephesiae statuas nummosque veteres illustrandos scripsi, ut mutua eorumdem

These things I wrote to illustrate the statues and the ancient coins of the Ephesian Diana, so that by their mutual

ope duo veterum scriptorum loca minus recte hactenus intellecta a criticorum corruptelis vindicarem: tum vero ut illustri exemplo ostenderem, antiquitatis studium non metiendum inani delectatione, sed suum illi constare fructum, si recte colatur.

help I might vindicate from the corruptions of the critics two passages of ancient writers hitherto not rightly understood; and then that I might show by a notable example that the study of antiquity is not to be measured by empty delight, but that it yields its own fruit, if it is rightly pursued.

Editors' notes and page, col. 381

Page

running head: DISSERTATIO (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹Quo codicem praestantissimum Urbinatis Biblio-›; B ‹ATICULUS PRIMUS.›; C ‹quam jucunda eorum, quae sibi cum Octavio›; D ‹redundare hujusce impii facinoris›
old-edition numerals: 371 before Haec (head of paragraph); 372 after tamen
other: editors' matter: ‹Quo codicem praestantissimum› and ‹Haec ad Dianae Ephesiae› (the end of the preceding editors' piece), then Le Nourry's dissertation ‹ATICULUS PRIMUS›. The first letter of Quo is damaged and the word is UNSURE. Biblio⟨thec⟩ae: the start of the line is smudged. i⟨m⟩mortali: printed "i.nmortali" with damaged type. ⟨i⟩n: the first letter is lost. "eorum-" breaks to the right-hand column above the title band; its tail "dem" is joined, so the word stands whole as "eorumdem" at the end of the left column's text, and the right column's text above the band follows in reading order from "ope duo" (one printed paragraph, set as two blocks at the column change). tontisque, ills, imfamiam and ascito are read from worn type and are UNSURE. The opening guillemet before "inambulando" is not printed, so it is set as printed. Full-width lines not set, all cut off at the right edge, standing between "eorum-" and "ATICULUS PRIMUS": the title DISSERTATIO / IN MARCI MINUCII FE[LICIS ...] / QUI OCTAVIUS INSC[RIBITUR], the line AUCTORE D. NIC. LE NOURRY, MONACHO O. S. B. E[...], the heading CAPUT PRIMUM., and the summary "Analysis hujus libri, quis illius auctor, ac qui fuerint C[...] tantes introducuntur".
other: a full-width band stands across cols 381/382 in mid-page: the 1 paragraph(s) above it in col 382 are set here, after the 2 above it in col 381 (reading order, moved on receipt); the band itself (its title lines) is not set by the volunteer page: set it here, at the move, with full_width
other: the column continues with ATICULUS PRIMUS. (another unit); not set here

PL 3:382

Editors' notes and page, col. 382

Page

running head: ISSERTATIO 382 (left part cut off at the image edge; presumably DISSERTATIO)
marginal letters: A ‹dem ope duo veterum›; B ‹Ibi porro cum pueros›; C ‹haud dubitanter asseverat›; D ‹renarum rerum casibus›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: column begins with the fragment "dem" of a word broken from column 381 (probably eadem); full-width lines not set: the double rule and the title "...ERTATIO / ...CII FELICIS LIBRUM / ...IUS INSCRIBITUR. / ...CHO O. S. B. E. CONGREGATIONE SANCTI MAURI." and the heading "...PUT PRIMUM." with its summary "...e qui fuerint Caecilius et Octavius qui in eo disputantes introducuntur." stand across both columns between the first and second paragraphs; the punctuation after "regatur" may be a damaged comma; whole column is editors' matter (dissertation on Minucius Felix): ‹dem ope duo veterum›, ‹Ibi porro cum pueros›, ‹Ad hanc porro disputationem›
other: the 1 paragraph(s) of this column above the full-width band are set under col 381 (reading order, moved on receipt)
other: the text of this column below the full-width band belongs to the next unit; not set here (rail-only part)
other (Q1, 2026-10-25): this column's 34 words above the band (set under col 381) were checked against the page: they match. In col 381's file, the word broken at the column break stands as "eorum-" at the end of one paragraph, with "dem" opening a separate paragraph. On the page it is one word, eorumdem, in one paragraph. Col 381 should join the two paragraphs and their English into one (col 381 not written by Q1).