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Saturnian (poetry)

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The meter was moribund by the time of the literary verses and forgotten altogether by classical times, falling out of use with the adoption of the hexameter and other Greek verse forms. Quintus Ennius is the poet who is generally credited with introducing the Greek hexameter in Latin, and dramatic meters seem to have been well on their way to domestic adoption in the works of his approximate contemporary Plautus. These Greek verse forms were considered more sophisticated than the native tradition; Horace called the Saturnian horridus. Consequently, the poetry in this meter was not preserved. Cicero regretted the loss in his Brutus:

Atque utinam exstārent illa carmina, quae multīs saeclīs ante suam aetātem in epulīs esse cantitāta ā singulīs conuīuīs dē clārōrum uirōrum laudibus in Orīginibus scrīptum relīquit Catō.
'I heartily wish those venerable Odes were still extant, which Cato informs us in his Antiquities, used to be sung by every guest in his turn at the homely feasts of our ancestors, many ages before, to commemorate the feats of their heroes.'

However, it has been noted that later poets like Ennius (by extension Virgil, who follows him in both time and technique) preserve something of the Saturnian aesthetic in hexameter verse. Ennius explicitly acknowledges Naevius' poem and skill (lines 206–7 and 208–9 in the edition of Skutsch, with translations by Goldberg):

[...] scrīpsēre aliī rem
vorsibus quōs ōlim Faunei vātesque canēbant
'[...] Others have given an account
in rhythms which the Fauns and seers sang.'
nam neque Mūsārum scopulōs ēscendit ad altōs
nec dictī studiōsus fuit Rōmānus homō ante hunc.
'For no Roman scaled the Muses' lofty crags
or was careful with his speech before this man.'

Ancient grammarians sought to derive the verse from a Greek model, in which syllable weight or the arrangement of light and heavy syllables was the governing principle. Scholars today remain divided between two approaches:

  1. The meter was quantitative (but not borrowed from Greek).
  2. The meter was accentual or based on accented and unaccented syllables.

Despite the division, there is some consensus regarding aspects of the verse's structure. A Saturnian line can be divided into two cola or half-lines, separated by a central caesura. The second colon is shorter than or as long as the first. Furthermore, in any half-line with seven or more syllables, the last three or four are preceded by word-end. This is known as Korsch's caesura or the caesura Korschiana, after its discoverer.

The Saturnian as quantitative

Most—but not all—Saturnians can be captured by the following scheme:

  • ∪ = light syllable
  • – = heavy syllable
  • ∪∪ = two light syllables that occupy the space of one heavy
  • || = caesura
  • ∪ over – (x at verse-end) = position can be occupied by either light or heavy syllable
  • ∪∪ over – over ∪ = position can be occupied by any of the three

Examples

Numeration of literary fragments is according to Warmington's edition; translations are also by Warmington (see bibliography infra).

(1) Livius Andronicus, Odissia fragment 1

Virum mihī Camēna īnsece versūtum
∪ – ∪ – || ∪ – ∪ || – ∪ ∪ – – x
'Tell me, O Goddess of song, of the clever man'

(2) Naevius, Bellum Poenicum fragments 2–4

Postquam avem aspexit in templō Anchīsa
sacr(ā) in mēnsā Penātium ordine pōnuntur
immolābat auream victimam pulchram
– ∪ ∪ ∪ || – – ∪ || – – – – – x
∪ – – – || ∪ – (∪) – || – ∪ – – – x
– ∪ – – || – ∪ – || – ∪ – – x
'After Anchises had seen a bird within the range of view,
hallowed offerings were set in a row on the table of the Household Gods;
and he busied himself in sacrificing a beautiful golden victim.'

(3) Epitaph for Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus (c. 270–150 BC)

GNAIVOD•PATRE
PROGNATVS•FORTIS•VIR•SAPIENSQVE—QVOIVS•FORMA•VIRTVTEI•PARISVMA
FVIT—CONSOL CENSOR•AIDILIS•QVEI•FVIT•APVD•VOS—TAVRASIA•CISAVNA
SAMNIO•CEPIT—SVBIGIT•OMNE•LOVCANA•OPSIDESQVE•ABDOVCIT
In regularized orthography (note the punctuation on the stone, viz. — = verse-end):
Gnaevō patre / prōgnātus, fortis vir sapiēnsque
cuius fōrma virtūtī parissuma / fuit
cōnsul, cēnsor, aedīlis quī fuit apud vōs
Taurāsiam, Cisaunam, / Samnium cēpit
subigit omnem Lūcānam, opsidēsque abdūcit.
– – ∪ ∪ || – – – || – – – || ∪ ∪ – x
– ∪* – ∪ || – – – || ∪ – ∪ ∪ ∪ x
– – – ∪† || – – ∪* || – ∪ ∪† ∪ –** x
– – ∪ – || ∪ – – || – ∪ – – x
∪∪ ∪ – – || – – ∪ || – ∪ – ∪ || – – x
* As in early Latin poetry, if not – as in later.
** Some early Latin poetry treats this as ∪.
† This syllable is historically –.
'Sprung from Gnaeus his father, a man strong and wise,
whose appearance was most in keeping with his virtue,
who was consul, censor, and aedile among you,
he captured Taurasia, Cisauna, Samnium,
he subdued all Lucania and led off hostages.'

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