Manilius iv 681-95

In his article ‘Notes and Conjectures on the Astronomica of Manilius’, Antichthon ii (1968), 63 ff., of which he has been kind enough to send me a copy, Mr D. B. Gain discusses the following passage:iv 681 quod superest Europa tenet….686 maxima terra viris et fecundissima doctisartibus: in regnum florentes oris Athenae;Sparta manu, Thebae divis, et rege vel unoprinceps Pella domus, Troiani gratia belli;Thessalia Epirosque potens vicinaque utrisqueIllyris et Threce Martem sortita colonum,et stupefacta suos inter Germania partus;Gallia per census, Hispania maxima bellis;Italia in summa, quam rerum maxima Roma695 imposuit terris caeloque adiungitur ipsa.687 artibus Housman, urbibus Ω 689 Pella Schrader, ilia Ω 690 utrisque Gain, ripis Ω</jats:p

Propertiana

David Roy Shackleton Bailey (1917–2005) was a renowned British classicist and academic who specialised in Latin literature. First published in 1956, Shackleton Bailey wrote this book as a contribution to the critical discourse surrounding the four books of elegies which comprise the surviving work of Propertius. Each book is subjected to detailed textual analysis, with the poetry quoted in the original Latin, and an authorial introduction is also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the works of Propertius and Latin literature.</jats:p

Manilius iv 681-95: Further Comments

The parallels to doctis artibus which I overlooked in Housman’s note substantiate my view that doctis means σoφαῖς and not, as Mr Gain renders, ‘acquired skills’: especially Ov. Met. ix 743 num me puerum de virgine doctis/artibus efficiet?, of Daedalus. The following list of European towns and regions, characterized by their several specialities, contains nothing directly relevant to doctis artibus except Athenian eloquence.</jats:p