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Pollio, Saloninus and Salonae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Ronald Syme
Ronald Syme
Affiliation:
Trinity College, Oxford
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Extract

A calm has succeeded the clamour of the Virgilian Bimillenary, to be shattered all too soon by the commemoration of Augustus. In this brief interval there may be leisure to examine a question touching the career of Asinius Pollio and the history of the years 42·39 B.C. The Virgilian celebrations evoked two outstanding studies of the Fourth Eclogue, a poem dedicated to Pollio and written during—or perhaps just after—the consulate of Pollio (40 B.C.). Carcopino restated and sought to reinforce an opinion widely held in late antiquity among commentators of Virgil—the miraculous child of the poem was Saloninus, a son of Asinius Pollio: the child was born, he suggests, soon after the conclusion of the Pact of Brundisium, and shortly before the end of the year 40, while Pollio was still consul. At the time Pollio was at Salonae, on the coast of Dalmatia, which city his son's name commemorates. Tarn, however, adopting and reinforcing the theory put forward by Slater in 1912, argued that the Fourth Eclogue shows traces of being an epithalamium in form, designed to celebrate the wedding of Antony and Octavia, the seal and bond of the Pact of Brundisium which was concluded in the autumn of the year 40 between the dynasts Antony and Octavian; Pollio, a friend and a partisan of Antony, acted as his plenipotentiary in the negotiations; the new epoch was thus introduced under the auspices of Pollio, ‘te duce’; the child was the child to be expected from the marriage of Antony and Octavia; it turned out in fact to be a girl.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , January 1937 , pp. 39 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1937

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References

page 39 note 1 Carcopino, J., Virgile et le mystère de la, IVe églogue, 1930Google Scholar.

page 39 note 2 Tarn, W. W., ‘Alexander Helios and the Golden Age’, JRS XXII (1932), 135 ffGoogle Scholar.; cf. Slater, D. A., ‘Was the Fourth Eclogue written to celebrate the marriage of Octavia to Mark Antony?’ CR XXVI (1912), 114Google Scholar.

page 39 note 3 Groebe, , in Drumann-Groebe, , Gesch. Roms II2, 8 f.Google Scholar and P-W, s.v. Pollio, C. Asinius, 1592Google Scholar: Schanz-Hosius, , Gesch. der r. Litt. II (1935), 25Google Scholar; Groag, PIK 2, s.v. Pollio, C. Asinius: Gardthausen, , Augustus u. seine Zeit I, 1, 236Google Scholar; Tarn, in CAH X, 49Google Scholar; Dessau, , Gesch. der r. Kaiserzeit I, 400 f.Google Scholar; Zippel, , Die r. Herrschaft in Illyrien, 223 ff.Google Scholar; Patsch, , Beiträge zur Völkerhunde von Südosteuripa V, 1, 55Google Scholar; Ganter, , Die Provinzialverwaltung der Triumvirn, Diss. Strassburg (1892), 71 ff.Google Scholar

page 39 note 4 Bennett, H., ‘Vergil and Pollio’, AJP LI (1930), 341Google Scholar.

page 39 note 5 Mommsen, , CIL III, p. 304Google Scholar; Carcopino, , o.c, 173Google Scholar.

page 40 note 1 Appian, , BC 5, 3Google Scholar; cf. ib., 21 and Dio 48, 12, 5.

page 40 note 2 Velleius 2, 76, 2; Appian, , BC 5, 20Google Scholar.

page 40 note 3 Carcopino (o.c, 169) describes Pollio as governor of Cisalpine Gaul, Groebe (Drumann Groebe II, 7) and Bennett, (A/P LI, 328Google Scholar) say that he was Antony's legate in charge of the Transpadana. The terms ‘governor’ and ‘legate’ have a convenient vagueness. Cisalpine Gaul, to be sure, was to be reckoned a part of Italy after Philippi (cf. Appian, , BC 5, 3, above, n. 1Google Scholar): yet even in the time of Augustus a proconsul is attested at Milan (Suetonius, , De Rhet. 6Google Scholar). In the matter of Pollio's status in 41–40 B.C. I do not feel called upon to discuss the theory of Bayet, J. (‘Virgile et les “triumviri agris dividundis”’, Rev. ét. lat. VI (1928), 270 ff.Google Scholar) to the effect that Pollio was one of a board of three rotating land-commissioners, Pollio functioning in 41, Alfenus Varus in 40 and Cornelius Gallus in 39. Gallus, be it noted, was not a senator, but a man of equestrian rank.

page 40 note 4 Appian, , BC 5, 31·33; 35; 50Google Scholar.

page 40 note 5 Velleius 2, 76, 2; cf. Appian, , BC 5, 50Google Scholar.

page 41 note 1 As an indication of the date, Pais, (Dalle guerre Punichea Cesare Augusto I, 367 ff.)Google Scholar adduced the inscription CIL X, 5159, which records the setting-up of a ‘Signnm Concordiae’ on October 12th at Casinum, a veteran colony. Carcopino, (o.c, 123)Google Scholar seeks to fix the date of the Pact as October 5th or 6th.

page 41 note 2 Appian, , BC 5, 65Google Scholar, εύθύς ές τά έπεíϒοѵτα τούς ϕɭλους έκάτερος αύτ⋯ν περιέπεμπεν. Appian does not mention Pollio here—only the sending of Ventidius against the Parthians. And it is not until a later passage (5, 75) that he speaks of the despatch of troops to the Balkans to deal with the Parthini. Further, Pollio's predecessor in Macedonia did not triumph until January 1 st, 39; cf. below, p. 42, n. 5.

page 41 note 3 CIL V2, pp 60 and 64. Dio 48, 32, 1, κάν τούτѱ тоύς τε στρατηϒούς καί ύπάτους, καίπερ έπ έξόδѱ ⋯δη ro⋯ ετους οντος, παύσαντες αλλους άντικατέστησαr, βραϰύ ϕρονтίσανт έί καί επ όλɭϒας ήμέρας αρξουσιν. These words suggest that there was an interval after Brundisium when Pollio was still consnl; so he may well have gone to Rome.

page 41 note 4 Cf., e.g., Josephus, , AJ 14, 389Google Scholar.

page 41 note 5 Carcopino, (o.c. 175 ff.)Google Scholar argues that Pollioc was still consul when he arrived at the other side of the Adriatic. This is necessary to his thesis—and it might be true. His attempt to prove that Pollio's colleague, Calvinus was still consul when he had reached his province of Spain is not conclusive. The inscription CIL II, 6186 (Emporiae), ‘Cn. Do[mitio] M.f. Cal[vino] cos. ite[r], Apoll[…]’, or coins with the legend ‘cos. iter. imp.’, do not prove this. ‘Cos. iter.’ is here a permanent title, not an indication of date. Compare 1LS 42 (Rome), describing Calvinus as ‘cos. iter. imper.’ This inscription must date from 36 B.C. at the earliest.

page 41 note 6 For their situation, see below, p. 42.

page 41 note 7 CIL I2, pp. 50 and 77; Dio 48, 41, 7. Note also the existence of a person called Asinius Epicadus, ‘ex gente Parthina’ (Suetonius, , Divus Aug. 19Google Scholar), presumably a freed slave of Pollio.

page 41 note 8 CIL I2, p. 50—there is no way of deciding whether ‘an. [DCCXIIII]’ ‘or’ ‘an. [DCCXV]’ should be read. The Fasti Barberini (ib., p. 77) do not help.

page 42 note 1 Dio 48, 41, 7; Appian, Ill. 2; cf. Strabo 7, 326.

page 42 note 2 Florus 2, 25; Horace, , Odes 2, 1, 16Google Scholar.

page 42 note 3 Caesar, , BC 3, 11Google Scholar; 41; 42; Strabo 7, 326, τ⋯ς ϒάρ 'Επιδάμνου καί τ⋯ς 'Aπολλωνίας τε καί ΤαυλάντιοιΤαυλάντιοι Παρθνîνοι καί Βρ⋯οι; Appian, , BC 5 75Google Scholar. 'Ιλλυρικόν Επιδάμνѱ πάροικον; Pliny, NH 3 145Google Scholar, ‘a Lisso Macedonia provincia. gentes Partheni et a tergo eorum Dassaretae’; Pomponius Mela, 2, 3, 55; cf. further Cicero, In Pisonem 96; Livy 29, 12; 33, 34 etc. There are certain difficult problems connected with the Parthini. Appian (Ill. 16) mentions Perthegnetae among the tribes conquered by Octavian in 35–33 B.C.—i.e., north-west of the Drin (cf. Pliny, , NH 3, 143Google Scholar); and the existence of Parthini far in the interior of the Balkans, in western Serbia, has been inferred from the dedication to Juppiter Parthinus at Uzice, C1L III, 8353; cf. Ladek, , Premerstein, and Vulić, , Jahreshefte IV (1901)Google Scholar, Beiblatt 157 ff. For another inscription (to ‘I. o. Par.’), cf. ib., 159 = CIL III, 14613. None the less, in view of the evidence of Caesar, Strabo, 3, Appian, Pliny, and Mela, the Parthini proper are clearly to be localized in the hinterland of Dyrrachium.

page 42 note 4 Appian, , BC 5, 65Google Scholar; cf. Dio 48, 28, 4.

page 42 note 5 C1L 2, p. 77.

page 42 note 6 Thilo-Hagen III, 1, 44. For the others, cf. Groag, PIR2, s.v. C. Asinius Pollio; Carcopino, , o.c, 171, ff., and below, p. 44Google Scholar.

page 42 note 7 Bell. Al. 43; cf. Caesar, , BC 3, 9Google Scholar.

page 43 note 1 Apart from the Virgilian scholia, the only mention of a capture of Salonae is Porphyrio, on Odes 2, 1, 15 f., ‘Salonas enim, Dalmatarum civitatem, Pollio ceperat’.

page 43 note 2 Carcopino, , o.c, 179Google Scholar.

page 43 note 3 Die Provmziaherwallung der Triumvirn, Diss. Strassburg (1892), 71 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 43 note 4 Augustus u. seine Zeit I, 1, 236Google Scholar; cf. Groebe, , P-W, s.v. Pollio, C. Asinius, 1592Google Scholar.

page 43 note 5 JRS XXII (1932), 153Google Scholar; cf. Bennett, H.AJP LI (1930), 325 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 43 note 6 Macrobius 2, 4, 21.

page 44 note 1 Velleius 2, 86, 4.

page 44 note 2 For an account of these variants, see Carcopino, , o.c, 171 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 44 note 3 Philargyrius, on Ecl. 4, 4 (Thilo-Hagen III, 2, 74)Google Scholar.

page 44 note 4 Schol, . Bern, . on Ecl. 4Google Scholar, praef. (Hagen, 775), ‘Saloninus dictus a Salonis, civitate Dalmatiae; nam Pollio pro consule Dalmatiae constitutus progenuit eum’.

page 44 note 5 Philargyrius, on Ecl. 4, 1Google Scholar (Thilo-Hagen III, 2, 72), ‘a Salona civitate quam eodem tempore quo natus est pater eius expugnavit’.

page 44 note 6 SHA, Gallieni duo 19, 2 f.

page 44 note 7 Cf. the penetrating remarks of Alföldi, , ‘The numbering of the victories of the Emperor Gallienus and of the loyalty of his legions’, Num. Chron., series V, IX (1929), 265Google Scholar, ‘This is an imitation of the story of Saloninus preserved in the commentary on Virgil's Fourth Eclogue. … This connexion may perhaps reveal other threads from which the Historia Augusta has been woven’.

page 44 note 8 Zur Gesch. lattinischer Eigennamen, 224. It is to be regretted that Scbulze does not mention the name ‘Saloninus.’

page 45 note 1 ILS 968 (Vicetia: Salonia, the mother of a senator, probably a near relation of C. Salonius Matidius Patruinus); Tacitus, . Hist. 2Google Scholar. 20; cf. 3, 8. For the name Saloninus, cf. also Martial, 6, 18, 1. It is perhaps worth mentioning that a soldier with the cognomen Saloninus (CIL III, 6300) was in fact of Dalmatian origin.

page 45 note 2 Wackernagel, J., ‘Zu den lateinischen Ethnika’, Archiv Jür lat. Lexikographic XIV (1906), 1 ffGoogle Scholar. I am deeply grateful to Professor Fraenkel for this reference and for the consequent strengthening of my argument.

page 45 note 3 lb., 9, ‘Bei Stadtnamen, die als letzten Konsonanten ein zwischen – vokalisches n, nn enthalten, werden -anus, -inus durchaus verschmäht, ausschliesslich -ensis oder auch -as angewandt’.

page 45 note 4 Vulié, N. in P–W, s.v. Salona, , 2004Google Scholar, says ‘Ethnikon: Salonitanus, daneben mehrfach: Salonas’. I can discover two examples of ‘Salonas’ (CIL III, 8831; VI, 32895).

page 45 note 5 I must thank Mr. Barber for emphasizing this fact.

page 45 note 6 On Eel. 4, 1 (Thilo-Hagen III, 1, 44), cf above, p. 42.

page 45 note 7 On Eel. 4, 1 (Thilo-Hagen III, 1,46), ‘quidam Saloninum Pollionis nlium accipiunt, alii Asinium Gallum, fratrem Salonini, qui prius natus est Pollione consule designato. Asconius Pedianus a Gallo audivisse se refert hanc eclogam in honorem eius factam’.

page 45 note 8 Num. Chron. IX (1929), 263Google Scholar.

page 45 note 9 ‘Virgil's Golden Age: Sixth Aeneid and Fourth Eclogue’, CR XLVIII (1934), 164 f.Google Scholar The coins are, respectively, Mattingly, and Sydenham, , R. Imp. Coinage V, 1, p. 117, no. 13; p. 127, no. 135; p. 119, no. 32Google Scholar.

page 46 note 1 Tacitus, , Ann. 3, 75Google Scholar.

page 46 note 2 Macrobius 1, 16, 36; cf.. for an amusing incident, Suetonius, Nero 6. The cognomen was often given much later in life.

page 46 note 3 Die r. Privataltcrtümcr, 303 f.

page 46 note 4 SHA, Maximvs et Balbinus 7, 3

page 46 note 5 On Ecl. 4, i, quoted above, p. 42.

page 46 note 6 At least he says that Gallus was born when Pollio was consul designate, above, p. 45, n. 7.

page 46 note 7 Cf. Carcopino, , o.c., 169Google Scholar.

page 46 note 8 On Ecl. 4, 1, quoted above, p. 45, n. 7.

page 46 note 9 Velleius 2, 76, 2; see above, p. 40 f.

page 47 note 1 Servius on Ecl. 8, 12 (Thilo-Hagen III, 1, 93).

page 47 note 1 Philargyrius, on Ecl. 4, 1Google Scholar (Thilo-Hagen 111,2, 72 f.), ‘Hanc eclogam scriptam esse aiunt in Asinium Pollionem, quidam in filium eius Saloninum, qui nomen accepit a Salona civitate, quam eodem tempore quo natus est pater eius eipugnavit, sive in honorem Octaviani Augusti, sive Asinii Pollionis’.

page 47 note 3 Servius on Ecl. 8, 12 (Thilo-Hagen III, 1, 93). Yet Servius himself, commenting on line 6 of that poem, takes it to refer to Augustas! He paraphrases ‘nbi ubi es O Auguste, sive Venetiae fluenta transcendis’ etc.