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Marcus Vipsanius (or Vipranius) was an ancient Roman man of the late Roman Republic mentioned by Suetonius who criticised the language of the Aeneid, and called its author Virgil a puppet of the politician Maecenas (who was an associate and advisor of the emperor Augustus). His statement may be the only known contemporary criticism of the Aeneid to survive. The exact name and identity of this individual subject to controversy.[1] Some historians identify him as the general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who like Maecenas was a close friend of Augustus, while others are critical of the idea and regard him as a separate individual, with some instead arguing for an identification with an obscure grammaticus.[a]

Attestation

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"M. Vipsanius a Maecenate eum [Vergilium] suppositum appellabat novae cacozeliae repertorem, non tumidae nee exilis, sed ex communibus verbis atque ideo latentis"
"M. Vipsanius called Virgil a supposititious child of Maecenas,[b] that inventor of a new kind of affected language, neither bombastic nor of studied simplicity, but in ordinary words and hence less obvious"[3]

— Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus - Vita Vergili (before 122 AD)

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The 7th century Spanish bishop and saint Isidore of Seville mentions a Vipsanius who is sometimes assumed to be the same man as above, he credits this Vipsanius as an early creator of Tironian notes[c] after Marcus Tullius Tiro, among others.

"Post eum Vipsanius, Philargius, et Aquila libertus Maecenatis alius alias addiderunt"
"Vipsanius, Philargius, and Aquila, a freedman of Maecenas, added various signs"

— Isidorus Hispalensis - Etymologiae (before 625 AD)

Identification

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Marcus Agrippa personally disliked being referred to by his obscure nomen gentilicium Vipsanius and avoided its use. It would also have been odd to mention him without including his best well known name Agrippa. Donatus' Vita 44 says M. Vipranius, but it is widely assumed to be a corruption in the text, and is nearly always corrected to Vipsanius.[11] The name Vipranius is otherwise unattested.[12][11][13]

Harry Jocelyn disagreed with majority opinion, and asserted that the original is correct.[14] Oliver Lyne agreed with Jocelyn's article, underscoring that the individual's name should not be amended to "Vipsanius", nor should he be identified with Agrippa.[15] P. T. Eden disagreed with Jocelyn that the name should not be amended, but held that it was unlikely that such a blunt man as Agrippa would have expressed himself with such technical terms (worthy of Quintilian) on poetry, and that if it was actually Agrippa, then he probably derived his opinion from Quintus Caecilius Epirota,[d] who was the first to lecture on Vergil.[11]

Nicholas Horsfall has pointed out that Agrippa is not the only Vipsanius with whom it is possible to identify the critic. For example, an otherwise unknown grammarian Vipsanius is mentioned by Isidore; but Horsfall emphasizes, in contrast to Eden, that Agrippa was not an unlettered man. On the other hand, he notes that Agrippa probably would not jeer at Vergil for having been enfranchised by Maecenas, since he himself was elevated from an obscure family, and would be unlikely to draw attention to it by this kind of comment.[16] Gian Biagio Conte shares Horsfall's opinion, and regards an identification with the grammarian as possible.[17] Peter White also opined that this Vipsanius should probably not be assumed to be the general Agrippa, but perhaps instead with the grammarian, as the general disliked using his nomen.[18]

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A freedman of Agrippa named Philargius or Philargyrus is mentioned by the historian Suetonius once in De Viris Illusribus,[23] and as freedmen of Roman patrons took on their nomen and often their praenomen, this man was plausibly called "Marcus Vipsanius Philargius" and some historians such as have interpeted Isidore's text to mean that the grammarian "Vipsanius" and the grammarian "Philargius" were not separate people but one man going by both nomen and cognomen.[24][25] but ___ believes the "Philargius" mentioned by Isidore is Junius Philargyrius, an early commentator of Virgil's Bucolica and Georgica[26] but this requires one to assume Isidore did not name the men in chronological order (which is generally accepted) as Aquila mentioned after "Philargius" lived many centuries earlier than Junius.

Meyer Reinhold is uncertain if the man mentioned by Suetonius in De Viris Illusribus is the same man as the grammarian mentioned by Isidore but thinks it is possible the grammarian was nonetheless a freedman of Agrippa.[23]

(The Aenid paints Agrippa and his ancestry in a good light)[27] [28] On the other hand Maecenas is neither mentioned or alluded to in the work, nor is his ancestors.[29]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In the Greco-Roman world a grammaticus was a teacher responsible for the second stage in the traditional education system, after a boy had learned his basic Greek and Latin.
  2. ^ This may also be translated as "puppet" or "lackey".[2]
  3. ^ A form of shorthand using symbols.
  4. ^ Epirota was the freedman of Agrippa's father-in-law Atticus and a teacher of Agrippa's wife Attica.

References

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  1. ^ Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. Vol. 91. Philological Association of the Pacific Coast. 1960. p. 371.
  2. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=SQShXWLuOboC&pg=PA29&dq=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjLt6yZgJD5AhWWv4sKHTvUC2EQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=onepage&q=%22vipsanius%22%20%22aeneid%22&f=false
  3. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=r1VNbVrf-_EC&pg=PA481&dq=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiU6Z77g5D5AhVqmIsKHQOTAF04KBDoAXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=%22vipsanius%22%20%22aeneid%22&f=false
  4. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=03dfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&dq=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimwoOqgZD5AhX_AxAIHeIFC7c4ChDoAXoECAQQAg
  5. ^ https://books.google.se/books?hl=sv&id=03dfAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22tricks+with+ordinary+words%22+%22his+annoyance+shows+the%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22extent+to%22
  6. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=X1J71zbmu7kC&pg=PA12&dq=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimwoOqgZD5AhX_AxAIHeIFC7c4ChDoAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=%22vipsanius%22%20%22aeneid%22&f=false
  7. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=B7cfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PR29-IA3&dq=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_tNXSgpD5AhUSyosKHX4dDYc4HhDoAXoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=%22vipsanius%22%20%22aeneid%22&f=false
  8. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=19g3BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA79&dq=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_tNXSgpD5AhUSyosKHX4dDYc4HhDoAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=vipsanius&f=false
  9. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=WHaIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA265&dq=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRm9qhh5D5AhWQxIsKHUJhCJE4WhDoAXoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=%22vipsanius%22%20%22aeneid%22&f=false
  10. ^ https://books.google.se/books?hl=sv&id=EHJfAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22vipsanius%22
  11. ^ a b c Eden, P. T. (1975). A Commentary on Virgil: Aeneid VIII. Leiden Supplementum. Vol. 35. BRILL. p. 6. ISBN 9789004042254.
  12. ^ Cairns, Francis, ed. (1979). Papers of the Liverpool Latin Seminar, Second Volume 1979: Vergil and Roman Elegy, Medieval Latin Poetry and Prose, Greek Lyric and Drama. F. Cairns. p. 67. ISBN 9780905205038.
  13. ^ Putnam, Michael C. J.; Farrell, Joseph (2010). A Companion to Vergil's Aeneid and its Tradition. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. John Wiley & Sons. p. 109. ISBN 9781444318067.
  14. ^ de Jonge, Casper C.; Hunter, Richard (2019). Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Augustan Rome: Rhetoric, Criticism and Historiography. Greek Culture in the Roman World (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 265. ISBN 9781108474900.
  15. ^ Lyne, R. O. A. M. (1998). Words and the Poet: Characteristic Techniques of Style in Vergil's Aeneid (illustrated, new, reworked ed.). Clarendon Press. p. 18. ISBN 9780198152613.
  16. ^ Horsfall, Nicholas (2000). A Companion to the Study of Virgil. BRILL. p. 225. ISBN 9789004217591.
  17. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio (2007). Harrison, S. J. (ed.). The Poetry of Pathos: Studies in Virgilian Epic. OUP Oxford. p. 62. ISBN 9780191536892.
  18. ^ White, Peter (1993). Promised Verse: Poets in the Society of Augustan Rome (illustrated ed.). Harvard University Press. p. 265. ISBN 9780674715257.
  19. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=5vQnAQAAIAAJ&q=%22agrippa%22+%22vipsanius%22+%22isid%22&dq=%22agrippa%22+%22vipsanius%22+%22isid%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj0l_qrpfj2AhUWCRAIHbOqBPU4ChDoAXoECAYQAg
  20. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=N5pbAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA185&dq=%22bernhardy%22+%22m.+vipsanius%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0wKzVnfj2AhWXvIsKHch6CEQQ6AF6BAgFEAI#v=onepage&q=%22bernhardy%22%20%22m.%20vipsanius%22&f=false
  21. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=9RZDpWtwkMgC&pg=PA257&dq=%22bernhardy%22+%22m.+vipsanius%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0wKzVnfj2AhWXvIsKHch6CEQQ6AF6BAgGEAI#v=onepage&q=%22bernhardy%22%20%22m.%20vipsanius%22&f=false
  22. ^ https://books.google.se/books?hl=sv&id=-oxfAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22but+with+a+reputation+for+rusticity%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22has+given+colour+to+the+identification%22
  23. ^ a b Reinhold, Meyer (1965). Marcus Agrippa: A Biography. Studia historica. Vol. 16 (new ed.). L'Erma di Bretschneider. p. 130.
  24. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=0wtQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA22&dq=agrippa+%22Philargyrus%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0n67Micz4AhUB_SoKHUjCB2YQ6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=agrippa%20%22Philargyrus%22&f=false
  25. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=BHtVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA247&dq=grammarian+Philargius&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVtpKSicz4AhUKQfEDHXPwDoAQ6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=grammarian%20Philargius&f=false
  26. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=igxC93_A-fIC&pg=PR56&dq=isidore+vipsanius&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPhKWDiMz4AhWcQvEDHesPCJAQ6AF6BAgEEAI#v=onepage&q=isidore%20vipsanius&f=false
  27. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=KhsJEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA208&dq=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjUuqLLhZD5AhVHmosKHXD8Auo4MhDoAXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=%22vipsanius%22%20%22aeneid%22&f=false
  28. ^ https://books.google.se/books?hl=sv&id=rHN0AAAAIAAJ&dq=%22vipsanius%22+%22aeneid%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22and+the+scholiasts+detect+implicit%22
  29. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=p3d1AAAAIAAJ&q=%22agrippa%22+%22aeneid%22+ancestry&dq=%22agrippa%22+%22aeneid%22+ancestry&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwikzeeujJD5AhVswIsKHZorAGA4ChDoAXoECAMQAg

Category:Vipsanii Category:1st-century BC Romans Category:Aeneid

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