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• Introduction
• The Life of Marcus Antonius
• The Life of Caius Martius Coriolanus
• Notes
• The Life of Marcus Antonius
• The Life of Martius Coriolanus

THE LIFE OF MARTIUS CORIOLANUS

P. 137, l. 8, 9. Censorinus also came of that family, that was so surnamed. These words suggested the emendation of Delius (Coriolanus, II. iii. 251): ‘And Censorinus, that was so surnam'd.’ The line is not found in the folio of 1623, our only source for the text of Coriolanus, but it or something similar is required by the sense, and it is not at all improbable that North here helps us to the identical words which Shakespeare wrote and his printer by mistake omitted. The folio version of ll. 250–253 is obviously defective:

• ‘That our best Water, brought by Conduits hither,
• And Nobly nam'd, so twice being Censor,
• Was his great Ancestor.’

The printer was no doubt confused by two successive lines beginning with ‘And,’ and accidentally omitted the first.

l. 16. who taught us by experience: ‘who’ refers to Caius Martius. ‘Experience ‘must be understood as meaning ‘our actual observation.’ There is no corresponding word in the Greek, but the Latin version has ‘suo exemplo docuit.’ Cf. N.E.D. s.v. Experience sb. 3.

l. 19. they are. We should say ‘they who are.’ For another instance of this very common omission of the relative see the next page, l. 4, ‘that were meet.’

P. 138, l. 7, 8. like as a fat soil bringeth forth herbs and weeds that lieth unmanured. The editors of 1603, ff. had grown more squeamish about the position of relative clauses; so we read in their texts: ‘as a fat soile that lyeth vnmanured bringeth foorth both hearbes and weedes.’

l. 24. bringeth men unto: bringeth unto men, 1595, etc.

P. 139, l. 2. called: ‘call,’ 1595, etc. self: ‘it selfe,’ 1595, etc.

l. 23. with all the aid of the Latins. Cf. Vol. I. p. 165, l. 24, 25, and note. The Greek has here simply πλεῖστοι ∧ατίνων.

l. 24. set up his whole rest. Cf. p. 119, 1. 5, and note.

P. 140, l. 15. in very old time. For ‘very’ ed. 1595 substitutes ‘the,’ while ed. 1603, etc., omit both.

P. 141, ll. 9–13, marginal note. It will be observed that the note here fails, as is often the case, to represent accurately the substance of the text.

l. 12. no great courage. The 1603 edition relieves the ears of modern readers by substituting ‘any’ in place of ‘no.’

P. 142, l. 7. from whence he returned not without somereward. The 1603 edition changes ‘without’ to ‘with,’ which is, of course, what we should say. But it is probable that North wrote ‘without’; he has no prejudice against double negatives.

l. 21. Leuctra. North, following Amyot, spells the word ‘Leuctres.’

P. 143, ll. 1, 2. two children. The numeral is North's contribution. Plutarch and Amyot use the plural only.

l. 20. Marcus. The name is ‘Manius’ in Plutarch.

P. 144, l. 1. made. So ed. 1595, etc. The first edition prints ‘make’—probably a typographical error.

P. 145, l. 27. were: ‘was’ in the first edition.

P. 147, l. 7. Volsces. This is the spelling of North and Shakespeare, due to Amyot's ‘Volsques.’ The Latin form of the word is Volsci, which Plutarch transliterates Oὐολ-οῦσκοι. Similarly Corioli is spelled by Amyot and North ‘Corioles’ (e.g. l. 9), but in the case of this word Shakespeare restores the Latin form.

P. 149, l. 13. Lartius. The edition of 1595 prints ‘Martius,’ a mere blunder which, however, some modern editors retain.

l. 18. to lock up. The early editions print ‘to looke up.’

P. 150, l. 5. to be so gracious. Ed. 1595 omits ‘so.’

l. 9. to gird them upon. For another instance of this common transposition of preposition and pronoun see p. 167, l. 3.

P. 151, l. 24. distressed. Cf. Vol. 1. p. 28, l. 20.

P. 152. ll. 13–18, marginal note. The tenth part of the enemies' goods offered Martius for reward, etc. Observe that this is not at all equivalent to the ‘ten of every sort’ mentioned in the text; the English writer who appended the notes was frequently careless.

l. 24. price. Used here in the sense of ‘prize.’ The two words were formerly not distinguished. Cf. ‘games of price,’ p. 51, l. 13.

P. 153, l. 18. they were moe: ‘there were more,’ ed. 1595, etc. In Elizabethan usage little difference was made between the use of the adverbial ‘moe’ (O.E. mᾱ) and the adjectival ‘more’ (O.E. mᾱra).

l. 19. contentation: ‘contentment.’

P. 154, l. 17. our Christian name. The adjective is, of course, not in Plutarch, whose phrase is τῶν ὀνομάτων ἴδιον.

ll. 17–20, marginal note. How the Romans came to have three names. The first edition omits ‘have,’ which is supplied by ed. 1595.

P. 155, l. 7. the second of the Batti. For some account of Battus II. and his family cf. Harper's Dict. Classical Literature and Antiquities, s.v. ‘Battiadae.’ The marginal note, added by Amyot, is substantially correct.

ll. 17, 18. Celer, the quick fly. The definition is North's own.

11. 19, 20. the cruel fight of fencers at unrebated swords. North's imaginative rendering of Plutarch's μονομάΧων ἀγῶνας. Amyot had been satisfied with ‘escrimeurs ὰ oultrance.’

P. 156, l. 1. As Sylla, to say, crooked-nosed. North omits Amyot's note to this passage: ‘Toutefois Sex. Pompeius escrit que les homes bruns s'appelloient Sullae.’

l. 16. earabie. The native English adjective from O.E. erian, ‘to plough.’ The edition of 1595 substitutes the more common ‘arable,’ derived from Latin arabilis.

P. 158, l. 7. tuition. Used in the sense of Latin tuitio, ‘protection.’

P. 159, ll. 12, 13. the home-tarriers and house-doves, that kept Rome still. There is no suggestion of this picturesqueness of epithet either in Plutarch or in Amyot. For keep in the sense ot ‘remain in,’ cf. N.E.D. s.v. Keep, v. 33.

P. 161, ll. 6, 7. the first that fee'd the judges with money: ‘celuy qui premier donna de l'argent aux iuges pour les corrompre.’ Instead of ‘fee'd’ the early editions print ‘fedde.’

l. 9. Pylos. North retains the French form ‘Pyle.’ I. 10. unfoiled: ‘undefiled.’ For this meaning of ‘foil’ cf. N.E.D. s.v. Foil v.¹, 6.

P. 163, l. 25. good cheap. Cf. Vol. I. p. 7, l. 19, and note.

P. 167, ll. 2, 3. how it stood them upon: ‘how it behoved them.’ A very common Elizabethan idiom. For Shakespearean examples cf. Schmidt, Shakespeare-Lexicon, s.v. Stand, e. 4.

P. 170, l. 24. Nundinae: originally the name applied to the market days, which occurred at the end of each eight day week. It was only relatively late that courts were held on the Nundinae. Cf. Harper's Dict. Class. Lit. and Antiq. s.v.

P. 171, ll. 8, 9. Appius Claudius, the founder of the Gens Claudia. By birth a Sabine, he attached himself with a number of his followers to the Roman state and became Consul B.C. 495. The Decemvir of the same name was either his son or his grandson.

P. 174, l. 16. good hap. The edition of 1603 substitutes ‘evil hap,’ but North probably wrote ‘good hap’ as we use the similar word ‘fortune,’ without any favourable or unfavourable connotation.

P. 175, l. 1. in that taking: ‘in that condition.’

ll. 12, 13. sundry sorts and kind of thoughts. The second edition substitutes ‘kinds,’ but ‘kind’ in such cases is almost an indeclinable. For an account of the stages by which it became so, cf. Kellner, Historical Outlines of EnglishSyntax, §§ 167–169.

l. 25. called Tullus Aufidius. The proper form of the name is Amfidius ('AμΦίδιος).

P. 176, l. 13, the true words of an ancient poet. The ‘ancient poet’ is Amyot's fabrication. Plutarch refers to the author of the saying merely as τῷ εἰπόντι; he was in fact the philosopher Heraclitus, the first of the Greek prose writers. The maxim which North has expanded into four lines of verse is thus quoted by Plutarch: Θυμῷ μάΧεσθαι Χαλεπόν ὀ γàρ άν θέλη ΨυΧὴς ὠνεῖται. The accepted version differs somewhat. It runs as follows: Θυμῷ μάΧεσθαι Χαλεπόν ὄ τι γὰρ ἄν Χρηίξῃ γινέσθαι, ΨυΧῆς ὠνέεται. (CY. Heracliti Ephesii Reliquiae, ed. I. Bywater. Oxon, 1877, p. 41, frog. CV.)

1. 22. So did he enter into the enemy's town: 'Aνδρῶν δυσμενέων κατέδυ πόλιν (Odyssey, IV. 246).

P. 178, l. 10. between my enemies. The earliest editions have the misprint ‘thy’ for ‘my.’

P. 181, l. 4. limmer: ‘a shaft.’ Cf. N.E.D. s.v. Limber, sb.¹ 1.

P. 182, l. 16. hollowed coaches or charrets. Charrets or charets, from Fr. ‘charette,’ were ordinarily carriages with two wheels, whereas chariots had four. Cf. N.E.D. s.v. Charet.

P. 184, l. 13. tract of time. A very common phrase answering to the Latin tractus temporis. Cf. Paradise Lost, V. 498.

P. 185, ll. 18, 19. that had the enemy abroad, to keep thatthey had in safety: ‘qu'ilz auoient au dehors l'ennemy mesme qui leur gardoit leurs biens.’

P. 186, l. 21. Vicanians. By some accident the word has lost its first syllable in Amyot and North. Plutarch's form is ∧αουικάνους, corresponding to Latin ‘Lavicos.’

P. 190, l. 26. in reason. So ed. 1603, etc., but the first two editions read ‘in treason’—apparently a misprint. Amyot's equivalent of lines 25, 26 runs: ‘qui estoit perte de plus grande consequence, pource que c'estoit ordinairement ce qui faisoit ou perdre ou cōseruer cela & toute autre chose.’

P. 191, ll. 6, 7. seven cities of theirs well inhabited. So ed. 1579; the second edition, however, inserts ‘great’ before ‘cities,’ which is supported by Amyot's ‘sept uilles grandes & bien peuplees.’

P. 192, ll. 26, 27. all this goodly rabble of superstition and priests: ‘ces gens de religion.’ The difference between the point of view of the French and that of the English translator could hardly be brought out more strikingly.

P. 193, ll. 11, 12. Tῷ δ'ἂρ' ἐπὶ Φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Aθήνη. The line occurs in the Odyssey, V. 427, with the substitution of ἐι μὴ for Tῷ δ' ἂρ'.

ll. 14–17. 'Aλλά τις αθανάτων Φρένασ, ός γ' ένὶ θυμῷ δήμου θῆκε Φάτιν. Cf. Iliad, IX. 459, 460, where the modern editors read παῦσεν Χόλον ὄς ῤ' ἐνὶ θυμῷ.

ll. 19, 20. *Hτοι ὀϊσσάμενος ἢ καὶ θεὸς ὢς ἐκέλευε.. The modern texts of Homer (Od. IX. 339) vary in one or two small details from Plutarch's version as given above.

P. 194, l. 3. Aὐτὰρ ἐγὼ βόυλευσα κατὰ μεγαλήτορα θυμόν (Od. IX. 299).

ll. 5, 6. “Ως Φάτο IIηλείωνι δ' ὄΧος γένετ', ἐν δέ οί ἧτορ στήθεσσιν λασίοισι διὰνδιΧα μερμήριξεν (Iliad, I. 188, 189).

11. 8, 9.

• ἀλλὰ τὸν ὀύ τι

τεῖθ' ἀγαθὰ Φρονέοντα δαἱΦρονα BελλεροΦόντντην (Iliad, VI. 161, 162).

P. 196, l. 25–27. rather to see him forthcoming and safe kept, than of any love to defend his person: ‘plus tost pour s'asseurer de luy que pour le garder.’

P. 197, l. 20. knowing his wife. On the last word Amyot has a note, omitted by North: ‘Aucuns uieux exēplaires lisēt, μητέρα, sa mere.’ However, the modern texts of Plutarch give neither the one nor the other, but instead τὰς γυναῖκας, ‘the women.’ The phrase which cameforemost (l. 21) is represented in the Greek by προσιούσας, ‘advancing.’

P. 198, l. 16. most pleasant to all other. Doubtless we ought to read ‘of all other.’

l. 26-p. 199, l. 3. For the bitter sop of most hard choice is offered thy wife and children, to forgo the one of the two: either to lose the person of thy self, or the nurse of their native country. Much improved by North. Amyot wrote: ‘pource qu'il est force ὰ ta femme & ὰ tes enfans qu'ilz soient priuez de l'un des deux, ou de toy, ou de leur paϊs.’ The nurse of their native country is a case of apposition like ‘the city of Rome.’

P. 202, ll. 24, 25. a temple of Fortune of the women: a sutficiently accurate translation of Amyot's ‘temple de Fortune feminine,’ which answers to the TύΧης Tυναικείας ἱερὸν of Plutarch. The compiler of the marginal notes in North seems, however, to have misunderstood the text, and it is worthy of remark that in this case, as on p. 152, Shakespeare adopts the less authentic statement.

P. 206, l. 7. ought: used in its original sense as preterite of ‘owe.’

P. 207, l. 12. that fray s and murders fell out. ‘That’ is the reading of the second and all subsequent editions; the editio princeps has ‘and,’ which is probably a printer's error. Amyot's expression is ‘iusques à.’

Richard Clay & sons, Limited,
bread street hill, e.c., and
bungay, suffolk.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III vi. 1–16.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III. vi. 16–19.

[2]Ibid. III. vi. 19–22.

[1]Cf Antony and Cleopatra, III. vi. 22–30.

[2]Ibid. III. vi. 32–7.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III. vii. 1–12.

[1]Cf. Antony and cleopatra, III. vii. 12–15.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III. viii. 12.

[2]Ibid. IV. x. 16, 17.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra III vi. 68–76.

[2]Ibid. III. vii. 27–53.

[3]Ibid. III. vii. 34–6.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III. vii. 38.

[2]Ibid. III. vii. 30–2.

[3]Ibid. III. vii. 20–3, 54–7.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, IV. v. 4–17.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, IV. vi. 20–39; ix. 5–24.

[2]Ibid. III. viii. 43, 4.

[3]Ibid. III. vii. 36, 7.

[4]Ibid. III vii. 41–8

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III. vii. 50.

[2]Ibid. III. vii. 49.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III. vii. 60–6.

[2]Ibid. III. vii. 72, 3.

[3]Ibid. III. vii. 77, 8.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III. viii. 12, 13, 21–5.

[2]Ibid. III. viii. 40.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III. viii. 27–33.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III. ix. 25, ff.

[2]Ibid. III. ix. 2–24.

[1]Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III. vii. 58–9

[2]Ibid. III viii. 42–3.

[1]Cf. Timon of Athens, V. i. 210–1,7.