Notes to Ausonius, Epigrammata 19

Lais, Laidis f.
Lais, a typical name for a Greek courtesan. Laidas is a "generalizing plural," the object of legeret.

Glycera,-ae f.
Glycera, a typical name for a Greek courtesan. Ausonius uses the name generically ("generalizing plural"); also the object of legeret. Glycera, a character in Greek romances, appears in the poetry of Horace and Martial.

coniunx, -iugis m. f.
wife; husband; spouse; note how the women are separated and contrasted by the word order. Ausonius’s wife is Sabina (see Epigrammata 20), the subject of legeret and dixit.

lascivus, -a, -um
wanton, sportive, roguish.
cum conjunction
whenever; followed by the subjunctive.
ludo, -ere, ludi, lusum
play; amuse one’s self.
falsus, -a, -um
pretended; feigned; fictitious.
iocor (1, deponent)
jest, joke; say in jest.
illi = Sabina; dative of possession with est.
probitas, -atis f.
goodness, uprightness, honesty; here, in particular, it means sexual purity.
fides, -ei f.
faith, trust; belief; confidence; modified by tanta.

Notes to Ausonius, Epigrammata 27

laudo (1)
praise,commend, extol. Note the independent subjunctive (jussive); its subject is gloria.
Achaemenius, -a, -um
Persian. The term Achaemenid is the Latinized version of the Old Persian name Haxāmaniš, meaning in Greek "of the family of Achaemenis." Achaemenes was a seventh century BCE ruler of a territory located in southwest Iran.
oriens, -ntis m.
the rising sun; the East.
gloria, -ae f.
fame, renown.
tela, -ae f.
web; woven fabric. Luxury cloths of silk and wool were produced in the East and exported to the West. Note the internal rhyme with its modifier Achaemenias.
mollis, -e
soft, pliant, delicate.
palla, -ae f.
long robe or mantle (worn by Roman women); supply in with the ablative. Note the internal rhyme with its modifier tuis.
texo, -ere, -ui, textum
weave; intertwine; fabricate; the note the direct address.
Ausonius, -a, um
of Ausonia, used poetically for Italian or western. Note the play on words: Sabina is both Ausonius' wife and she is Italian, a challenge to the famed tapestries of the East.
celebro (1)
celebrate, honor; crowd, frequent.
dum conjunction + subjunctive
as long as, provided that; translate at the beginning of the line, before non minus.
parco, -ere, peperci, parsum + dative
refrain from; spare; frugality and skill at weaving were attributes of the virtuous materfamilias.
sumptus, -us m.
expense, outlay, cost; i.e. the costly fabrics of the East.
par, paris m. f.
equal to; a match for.

Notes to Ausonius, Epigrammata 28

sive . . . seu conjunction
if ... or if; whether ... or; seu can be found on the next line.
probo (1)
approve; esteem as good; recommend.
Tyrius, -a, -um
of Tyre; an island city noted for its production of purple dye from the tiny myrex shell (click on SPQR). It required 8-10 thousand snails to produce 1 gram of dye. The color was associated with royalty as it was more costly than gold.
texo, -ere, -ui, textum
weave; compose; fabricate.
subtemen, -inis n.
the woof/weft of a web; thread, yarn; synecdoche for cloth.
vestis, is f.
clothing; garment.
inscribo, -ere, -scripsi, -scriptum
write in/upon; inscribe. R.P.H. Green (The Works of Ausonius, Oxford, 1991) explains this as a reference to embroidering words on cloth.
commoditas, -atis f.
proportion, symmetry, fitness; subject of placet.
titulus, -i m.
title, notice; inscription; epitaph; note the internal rhyme with inscripti.
domina, -ae f.
mistress; lady; ruler; wife; a term appropriated by the elegiac poet for the mistress of his heart.
concinno (1)
join together, unite; produce, arrange appropriately.
venustas, -atis f.
loveliness, charm, grace, beauty, elegance, refinement.
geminus, -a, -um
twin, double, two; i.e., weaving/writing and embroidering. Note the word play on double and single, two and one.
colo, -ere, -ui, -cultum
cultivate; care for, attend to; adorn.

Notes to Ausonius, Epigrammata 29

licium, -i n.
a thread of the web; synecdoche for the cloth.
carmen, -inis n.
poem; song.
Musae, -arum f. pl.
Muse; nine daughters of Zeus, patrons of the arts: Clio (history), Melpomene (tragedy), Thalia (comedy), Euterpe (flute), Terpsichore (dance), Calliope (epic poetry), Erato (lyric poetry), Urania (astronomy), Polyhymnia (hymns).
contribuo, -ere, -ui, -utum
assign; ascribe; render; dedicate; the subject is the unexpressed antecedent (supply ei) of the relative pronoun qui in line 1. The verb has two objects: licia, carmina.
castus, -a, -um
chaste; morally pure; guiltless.
Minerva, -ae f.
goddess of war and wisdom; Roman counterpart of the Greek goddess Athena, she was patron of handicrafts, especially weaving.
ast conjunction
but; then; whereas.
socius, -a, -um
kindred, allied; related.
dissocio (1)
disjoin, disunite, separate.Note the poet’s emphasis on self (ego, mea, meis): N.M. Kay (Ausonius: Epigrams, London, 2001) argues that this poem was written by Sabina herself. At the very least Ausonius is using her persona.
versus, -us m.
line; row; i.e., literally verses (ablative of means).



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