Macrobius Stuff

Just wanted to post some links here to a couple of items on Google Books that are useful for the study of Macrobius.

Ludwig von Jan's edition of Macrobius' Works (2 voll., 1848-52):
Volume 1
Volume 2

The older Teubner edition of the text, ed. Eyssenhardt, here (There is also a newer Teubner edition, ed. J. Willis, but not available on Google Books.)

An Ancient Way of 'Giving One's Two Cents'?

We’re all familiar with the idea of a person’s ‘two cents’. Someone pontificates on a given topic, and rounds it off with something like, ‘Well, those are my two cents, anyway.’ I’m wondering if I’ve come across an ancient way of expressing a similar sentiment.

Toward the end of Book 1 of Macrobius’ Saturnalia, Symmachus proposes that everyone present at their discussion tell of what they have noticed to be exceptional de Maronis ingenio. Here are his words:

reliquos omnes qui adestis impense precatus sim, ut quid vestrum quisque praecipuum sibi adnotaverit de Maronis ingenio, velut ex symbola conferamus.

Symbola can mean a contribution of money to a feast, so perhaps we could loosely paraphrase Symmachus’ proposal as, ‘I would ask all the rest of you here to give us your two cents concerning what you have noticed to be outstanding in Vergil’s talent.’

Vergil the Same, despite the Praises or Rebukes of Critics

So says Macrobius' Symmachus:

haec est quidem, Euangele, Maronis gloria ut nullius laudibus crescat, nullius vituperatione minuatur... .
Saturnalia 1.24.8

Some Favorites

Two of my favorite scholars that I've been reading recently on Late Antiquity are Alan Cameron and Robert Kaster. Their writings are models of careful, well-documented scholarship, presenting interesting ideas in a lucid and clearly-argued fashion.

Two absolutely wonderful articles by Prof. Cameron on Macrobius, inter alia, are:

'The Date and Identity of Macrobius', JRS 56 (1966) 25-38
'Macrobius, Avienus, and Avianus', CQ 17 (1967) 385-99

Prof. Kaster has written, in addition to his monumental study on the Late Antique grammarian entitled Guardians of Language, a number of other fascinating articles on Late Antique education and literary culture. See, for example:

'The Grammarian's Authority', CP 75 (1980) 216-41
'Macrobius and Servius: Verecundia and the Grammarian's Function', HSCP 84 (1980) 219-62
'Notes on "Primary" and "Secondary" Schools in Late Antiquity', TAPA 113 (1983) 323-46
'Servius and Idonei Auctores', AJP 99 (1978) 181-209

If you have access to JStor, all of these articles can be found there.