Notes for Sulpicius Severus' Life of St. Martin

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Praefatio

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Severus Desiderio fratri carissimo. Ego quidem, frater unanimis, libellum quem de vita sancti Martini scripseram, scheda sua premere et intra domesticos parietes cohibere decreveram, quia, ut sum natura infirmissimus, iudicia humana vitabam, ne, quod fore arbitror, sermo incultior legentibus displiceret omniumque reprehensionis dignissimus iudicarer, qui materiem disertis merito scriptoribus reservandam impudens occupassem: sed petenti tibi saepius negare non potui. quid enim esset, quod non amori tuo vel cum detrimento mei pudoris impenderem?

Severus Desiderio: understand salutem dicit, 'sends greetings to.'

ego quidem . . . decreveram: 'I, for my part, had decided' (> decerno, decernere, decrevi, decretum)

schedā suā premere: 'to suppress in it's own paper,' i.e. not publish.

naturā: 'by nature', abl. of specification A&G 418

quod fore arbitror: '[a thing] which I think will happen.' fore = futurum esse.

qui materiem disertis merito scriptoribus reservandam impudens occupassem: 'because I had impudently usurped material that should rightly be reserved for learned writers.' The relative clause is causal (Woodcock sec. 156, A&G 540c).

ocuppassem: = occupavissem (plupf. subj., > occupo [1])

petenti: '(you) asking for (it)'

quid enim esset, quod non . . . impenderem?: 'what would there be that I would not spend for', i.e., 'I would expend any effort for'.

verumtamen ea tibi fiducia libellum edidi, qua nulli a te prodendum reor, quia id spopondisti. sed vereor ne tu ei ianua sis futurus, et emissus semel revocari non queat. quod si acciderit et ab aliquibus eum legi videris, bona venia id a lectoribus postulabis, ut res potius quam verba perpendant et aequo animo ferant, si aures eorum vitiosus forsitan sermo perculerit, quia regnum Dei non in eloquentia, sed in fide constat.

eā . . . fiduciā . . . quā: 'with the confidence that'.

prodendum (sc. esse): 'that it must be revealed' (OLD s.v. prodo 8).

eum legi: 'that it is being read'.

bonā veniā . . . postulabis: 'you must kindly ask', a colloquial use of the future tense like an imperative A&G 449b. For bonā veniā = 'with your indulgence', see OLD s.v. venia 3.

aequo animo ferant: 'bear it calmly'.

vitiosus sermo: 'faulty style'.

perculerit: 'strikes', fut. pf. in a future more vivid condition (> percello, percellere, perculi, perculsum).

meminerint etiam, salutem saeculo non ab oratoribus, cum utique, si utile fuisset, id quoque Dominus praestare potuisset, sed a piscatoribus praedicatam esse. ego enim, cum primum animum ad scribendum appuli, quia nefas putarem tanti viri latere virtutes, apud me ipse decidi, ut soloecismis non erubescerem: quia nec magnam istarum umquam rerum scientiam contigissem, et si quid ex his studiis olim fortasse libassem, totum id desuetudine tanti temporis perdidissem.

meminerint: 'let them recall', pf. subj., jussive.

salutem: salus, -utis, f., salvation (eccl.).

salutem . . . praedicatam esse: 'that salvation was proclaimed' (> praedico [1]).

saeculo: saeculum -i, n., the world (eccl.).

utique:(Adv.), doubtless.

sed tamen ne nos maneat tam molesta defensio, suppresso, si tibi videtur, nomine libellus edatur. sed tamen ne nos maneat tam molesta defensio, suppresso, si tibi videtur, nomine libellus edatur. quod ut fieri valeat, titulum frontis erade, ut muta sit pagina et, quod sufficit, loquatur materiam, non loquatur auctorem.

suppresso . . . nomine: 'anonymously'.

videtur: 'it seems best'.

quod ut fieri valeat: 'in order to do this'.

Section 1

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Plerique mortales studio et gloriae saeculari inaniter dediti exinde perennem, ut putabant, memoriam nominis sui quaesierunt, si vitas clarorum virorum stilo illustrassent.

Plerique: = multi (late Lat.)

studio: '(literary) study', dative with dediti.

gloriae saeculari: 'worldly fame', dative with dediti.

exinde: 'from that source', looking forward to the main verb, quaesierunt.

quaesierunt: 'sought' (> quaero, -ere, quaesii, quaesitum).

illustrassent: illustro (1), give glory or luster to. illustrassent = illustravissent, plupf. subj. This sentence is a pointed reference to the famous preface to Sallust's Bellum Catilinae[1], in which he says, by way of justifying his decision to write history, "Since only a short span of life has been vouchsafed us, we must make ourselves remembered as long as may be by those who come after us" (trans. Handford).

quae res utique non perennem quidem, sed aliquantulum tamen conceptae spei fructum afferebat, quia et suam memoriam, licet incassum, propagabant, et propositis magnorum virorum exemplis non parva aemulatio legentibus excitabatur. sed tamen nihil ad beatam illam aeternamque vitam haec eorum cura pertinuit. quid enim aut ipsis occasura cum saeculo scriptorum suorum gloria profuit? aut quid posteritas emolumenti tulit legendo Hectorem pugnantem aut Socraten philosophantem?

utique: (Adv.) certainly, without a doubt.

et . . . et: both . . . and.

licet incassum: 'though to no purpose' (adverbial, modifying propagabant).

non parva aemulatio: 'no small desire to emulate' the deeds of great men--this is the conventional justification of biography among Roman writers.

haec cura eorum: 'this study of theirs' (OLD s.v. cura 3b), i.e., the works of pagan biographers.

ipsis: dative with profuit.

quid . . . emolumenti: 'what advantage' (emolumenti is partitive genitive, A&G 356).

tulit: 'derived (for itself)'

legendo Hectorem: 'by reading (about) Hector'

cum eos non solum imitari stultitia sit, sed non acerrime etiam impugnare dementia: quippe qui humanam vitam praesentibus tantum actibus aestimantes spes suas fabulis, animas sepulcris dederint: siquidem ad solam hominum memoriam se perpetuandos crediderunt, cum hominis officium sit, perennem potius vitam quam perennem memoriam quaerere, non scribendo aut pugnando vel philosophando, sed pie sancte religioseque vivendo.

sed non acerrime ... dementia: 'but it is also madness not to fight against them very strenuously'

quippe qui ... aestimantes: 'in as much as they valued human life on the basis of worldly deeds alone'.

cum hominis officium sit: 'although it is the duty of a human being' (cum is concessive).

qui quidem error humanus litteris traditus in tantum valuit, ut multos plane aemulos vel inanis philosophiae vel stultae illius virtutis invenerit. unde facturus mihi operae pretium videor, si vitam sanctissimi viri, exemplo aliis mox futuram, perscripsero: quo utique ad veram sapientiam et caelestem militiam divinamque virtutem legentes incitabuntur. in quo ita nostri quoque rationem commodi ducimus, ut non inanem ab hominibus memoriam, sed aeternum a Deo praemium exspectemus, quia etsi ipsi non ita viximus, ut exemplo aliis esse possimus, dedimus tamen operam, ne is lateret qui esset imitandus.

in tantum valuit: 'has become so strong' (> valesco, -ere).

unde facturus mihi operae pretium videor: 'and so I seem to myself to be about to do something worthwhile', an allusion to the famous opening of the preface to Livy's History of Rome, facturusne operae pretium sim si a primordio urbis . . . .

exemplo aliis mox futuram: 'which will serve as an example for others later'. exemplo is 'predicative' dative or dative of purpose (Woodcock sec. 68, A&G 382).

utique . . . incitabuntur: 'will certainly be roused'. The indicative mood of the verb marks this as a confident assertion.

in quo ita nostri quoque rationem commodi ducimus, ut: 'in so doing I am taking into account my own advantage as well, in such a way that'. For rationem ducere = 'take account of', see OLD s.v. ratio 8b. The first person plurals here and below (expetemus, viximus, possimus, dedimus) refer to the author alone, but the tone is polite rather than pompous.

dedimus . . . operam: 'I have devoted myself to the task'.

igitur sancti Martini vitam scribere exordiar, ut se vel ante episcopatum vel in episcopatu gesserit, quamvis nequaquam ad omnia illius potuerim pervenire: adeo ea, in quibus ipse tantum sibi conscius fuit, nesciuntur, quia laudem ab hominibus non requirens, quantum in ipso fuit, omnes virtutes suas latere voluisset. quamquam etiam ex his, quae comperta nobis erant, plura omisimus, quia sufficere credidimus, si tantum excellentia notarentur: simul et legentibus consulendum fuit, ne quod his pareret copia congesta fastidium. obsecro autem eos qui lecturi sunt, ut fidem dictis adhibeant, neque me quicquam nisi compertum et probatum scripsisse arbitrentur: alioquin tacere quam falsa dicere maluissem.

ut se . . . gesserit: indirect question, 'how he conducted himself'.

ad omnia illius . . . pervenire: 'to include all of his deeds'

vel . . . vel: 'both . . . and' (late Lat.).

in quibus ipse tantum sibi conscius fuit: 'to which only he himself was privy'.

quantum in ipso fuit: 'as much as he could'

voluisset: subjunctive because is assumed to be true, rather than personally vouched for by the speaker. "No doubt because he wanted . . ."

nobis: 'by me' (dative of agent), plural for singular, as with omisimus and credidimus below.

si tantum excellentia notarentur: 'if outstanding deeds were merely pointed out' (OLD s.v. noto 11).

consulendum fuit: 'it was necessary to take thought for'.

ne quod his pareret copia congesta fastidium: 'lest a heaped-up abundance (of material) produce any annoyance for them', i.e., in the readers. congesta > congero, -ere, -gessi, -gestum.

fidem . . . adhibeant: 'trust, believe' + dat.

probatum: 'proven true'.

alioquin: 'otherwise'.

maluissem: 'I would have preferred'