The Meaning of 'Fulcrum' and 'Fulcri Genius'

Author(s): W. C. F. Anderson
Source: The Classical Review, Vol. 3, No. 7 (Jul., 1889), pp. 322-324
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/691893
Accessed: 17-09-2018 18:25 UTC

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322 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW.

to the Aristotelian ferent

writings,department he of knowledge-I
had in refer
his to
his Introduction
heart, I think, no great sympathyto Greek Accentuation,
with this
undertaken,
direction of study; and in Ifact,
believe, at with
the suggestion of
certain
the late Dr. Jeune.
reserves and exceptions, no The ironical tone he
doubt, ob- ac-
cepted the Aristotle we
servable in have
the prefaceas he now
is perhaps enough to
show that
stands. A certain inner the subject wasof
affinity not of his own
mind
choice, and
drew him rather towards thehad older
no real interest for him;
interpre-
ters of Aristotle--the but for all that the work
scholars ofis executed
thewith16th
Chandler's
and 17th centuries, their scholastic prede- characteristic thoroughness, and
cessors, and above all it the
must have Greekgiven him at times a real
commenta-
tors. As for these last, Chandler studied satisfaction to be able to show the unten-
them and knew them in a way in which no ableness of some of Goettling's theories.
man of our century has known them. I There was, in fact, a considerable vein of
well remember the impression he made on scepticism in Chandler's nature, and it ex-
Torstrik, who came to Oxford to investi- tended even into the region of Greek accents.
gate the MSS. in our libraries for the pur- In philosophy proper, as distinct from Aris-
poses of the grand series of Commentaria in totle, we have only one acknowledged
Aristotelem graeca, now in course of publi- writing of his, his Inaugural Lecture (1867) ;
cation under the auspices of the Berlin I have reason, however, to think that the
Academy. Torstrik could not conceal his translation of Raue-Beneke's Psychology,
surprise at finding such a scholar in Oxford: which appeared at Oxford in 1871, was
'We have no one in Germany who knows really due to him, though for some reason
this literature as your friend does.' or other he withheld his name. In the
It is sad, inexpressibly sad, to those who preface to the book the translator speaks
knew the man himself, to think that so much interruptions occasioned by ill-health. Fro
learning has passed away without leaving this point onward ill-health made Chandle
behind it some enduring monument. Even shrink from any prolonged or serious literar
on the subject of Aristotle Chandler pro- effort; and he was much too fastidious
duced very little-nothing more in fact allow anything to go forth in his name th
than an anonymous pamphlet on an indif- did not come up to his idea of scholar
ferent edition of the Ethics (1856), a para- accuracy and finish. A book illustratin
phrase (likewise anonymous) of the First the mediaeval system of land-tenure i
Book of the Ethics (1859)-drawn up no England (1885)-a subject in which he h
doubt for the use of his pupils-a little a passing interest-and sundry pamphlets o
brochure of Miscellaneous Emendations Bodleian matters represent the literar
(1866), and two short but truly admirable labours of the last years of his life.
He once told me that the insomnia from
contributions to the Bibliography of Aris-
totle (1868-1878). The great work whichwhichhe suffered began at the time of his
he contemplated at one time, and fortaking
whichhis degree ; and I learn from a friend
who read
he collected a mass of materials, an edition ofwith him at the time that even in
those early days his face was often marked
the Aristotelian Fragments, was necessarily
bybook;
dropped on the appearance of Rose's the pained and worn look which after-
wards of
and a similar work for the Fragments was habitual with him. The marvel
Theophrastus was never more than is just
that, suffering as one knows he did, he
lived so long and was able to do so much.
begun. The book by which he may possibly
be remembered hereafter is in a very dif- I. B.

ARCHAEOLOGY.
THE MEANING OF ' FULCRUM' They all represent the head and sho
AND 'FULCRI GENIUS.' of a mule or ass, turning sideways
backwards, with ears put down and a v
IN the British Museum there is a groupwhich is rendered in a pecu
expression,
of bronze ornaments which, thoughnaturalhitherto
manner. The head is in almost
unnoticed, are highly interesting, from
every case a
decorated with a garland of vin
leaves entwined
philological no less than an artistic point of with tendrils and bunches
view. of grapes, while the shoulders are covered

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 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW. 323

to which these
with a curious leather ornaments were
collar, attachedtop
the so of
which is turned down
accuratelyjust
that itswhere
identificationit withjoins
the
the shaggy skin of fulcrum
some wild certain.
is absolutely animal, which
is thrown over it. This collar seems to be In the eleventh Satire Juvenal says,
almost unique in its kind, and well deserves
speaking of the good old times:-
investigation, for it is evidently borrowed
Nemo
from actual life and is of a fixed type in inter
all curas et seria duxit habendum
these bronzes. The workmanship in all in Oceanofluctu testudo nataret
Qualis
cases is very careful, and in one specimen
Clarum Trojugenisfactura et nobile fulcrum
from France rises to a high artisticSed level.
nudo latere et parvisfrons aerea lectis
As for the purpose of these ornaments, Vile coronati caput ostendebat aselli.
there can be no doubt whatever, for they [903-8.]
have been found in situ, surmounting a
characteristic part of many Roman couches
and chairs. This part, or more properly
parts, for they are always found in pairs,
has been generally regarded as ornamenting
the space between the seat and the crossbar
below which joined the legs. They are to
be seen restored in this fashion in the two
Pompeian chairs in the Museo Borbonico,
ii. 31 (Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities,
illustration to art. Sella, and in many other
places), and in the chair from the Hamilton
Collection in the British Museum. Measure-
ment has shown that such a restoration is
quite incorrect, and the true position of
these ornaments has been proved by the
bed discovered at Pompeii in 1868 (Bliimner
":.:
Kunstgewerbe, ii. Fig. 20, and Baumeister,
Denkmdiler, p. 314), which shows beyond a
doubt that they formed the ends of the frame-
work on which the pillows of a couch or the
cushions of a chair were placed, purpose
for which their shape fits them admirably,
for they are in fact not unlike the head of
a modern sofa. They are invariably orna-
mented with inlaid bronze, which is some-
times of the richest kind, as in the case of
the bisellium described by Castellani in the
Bulletino della Commissione Archaeol. Muni-
cipale, 1874, p. 22, from which the following
cut is taken, and are always surmounted by
bronze ornaments of the type described
above, the ass's head being supplanted by
a boy's head or a goose's head and neck in
only a few stray instances. The lower part
is decorated with a round boss of some
size, from which springs a bust of a Genius
in full relief or of some jovial young deity,
like Bacchus or Hercules. Such bosses are
undoubtedly prophylactic and bear a Here
close the aerea frons is
with the fulcrum, and tha
resemblance to phalerae of the Lauersfort
type, but are larger. They have been work
found we have been describ
in situ, but are much more common alone,
by no one who compares t
aselli with the specimen
and indeed form one of the best represented
Museum.
classes of bronze busts springing from a By a very curi
vertical base. By a fortunate chance, a
Juvenal supplies us also w
the other ornament of th
passage in Juvenal describes the framework
NO. XXVI. VOL. III. Y

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 324 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW.

genius who lurked atimpossible

the lower end.
to regard the fulcraIn the
as identical
sixth Satire he says :--
with pedes, or to resort to the commentators'
deus ex machina and treat it as pars pro toto.
Indeed so perplexing
Antiquum et vetus est alienum, did Forcellini
Postume, find the
lectumr
Concutere et sacri genium
lines that contemnere
he ventured a conjecturejulcri-
that
[21-2.] fulcra meant a staff, which none of his
a passage which gains new meaning when followers have felt able to accept. Most of
them have been fain to risk an anachronism
we see the little urchins, whom he makes
and to assume that the Roman bed had
guardians of the inviolability of wedlock.
There is no doubt a reference to the same posts. Such an interpretation is however
genius fulcri in Propertius iv. 8, 68, whereput absolutely out of court by Suetonius
he says:-- (Claud. 32), Adhibebat omni coenae et liberos
suos cum pueris puellisque nobilibus qui more
Lygdamus ad plutei fulcra sinistra latens veteri ad fulcra lectorum sedentes vescerentur,
Eruitur geniumque meum prostratus adorat-- for no commentator has yet had the hardi-
hood to suggest that the Romans dined in
and there is perhaps a possibility that some- fourposters. These passages however become
thing similar is intended by Virgil's use of perfectly simple when the true meaning is
genialis in Aen. vi. 603-604, lucent genialibus substituted, for what place can be more
altis aurea fulcra toris. This meaning of ful- appropriate for love than the poet's pillow ?
crum is of course not that of the dictionaries, -does not Propertius say Cynthia namnque
which all agree in taking the word as mean- meo visa est incumbere fulcro ? (4, 7, 3)-and
ing, (1) ' the post or foot of a couch, a bed- what can be more natural than for children
post,' (2)--pars pro toto-' the bed itself'- to sit at the pillows on which their parents
and (3) a conjecture of Forcellini's, 'a staff' recline ? But then a commentator pro-
(though this last is only to explain Ovid, bably never noticed a child breakfasting in
P. 3, 3, 13). bed.
It would be interesting to know how the One might have thought that the epithet
mistake arose, for the true meaning was plumeum given by Ammianus (28, 1, 47) to
known to Isidorus, who says:-Fulcra sunt thefulcrum would have led the lexicographers
ornamenta lectorum dicta, quod in iis fulci- on the right track, especially with Isodorus
mur, vel quod toros fulciunt sive caput, quae to tell them the traditional meaning, and
reclinatoria vulgus appellat, which is a per- the later Latin use of the word for the
fectly plain and unmistakable description of pommel of a riding saddle (Sid. Apoll. Ep.
the framework as seen in the specimens in 3, 90, quoted by Rich) to guide them, but
our Museum. The mistake of the diction- their faith in the pars pro toto solution was
aries is all the more curious because almost
too strong, and they still continue in their
all the passages quoted to support theirdogmatic
view slumbers.
are manifestly inconsistent with it. Thus,
The writer is aware that several points
they cite Pliny's phrase tricliniorum pedibus
yet remain to be answered, such, for instance,
fulcrisque (N.H. 34, 2, 4) and yet maintain as the relation of the fulcra to the pluteus in
that the fulcra are, in a general way, identical
one of the passages from Propertius, and the
with the pedes. This however is all meaning of a of capsula, strue and ferto in that
piece with their other citations, for they from
also Gellius, but this is owing to lack of
appeal to Aulus Gellius (N.A. 10, 15, 2) monumental
who and literary evidence sufficient
describes the couch of the Flamen Dialis as to solve the question, a want which he trusts
follows :-Pedes lecti in quo cubat luto tenui
may be supplied in time. As to the wider
circumlitos esse oportet-neque apud ejus lecti
inquiry into the origin and history of the
fulcrum capsulam esse cum strue atque ferto use of the ass's head suggested by Hyginus
oportet; a passage which places the difference
(Fab. 274, antiqui autem in lectis triclini-
of the pedes and the fulcrum beyond a doubt.oribus infulcris capita asellorum rite alligata
The consequences of this carelessness onhabuerunt)
the he has at present nothing to add
part of the lexicographers have been to
far-
the notes in Mayor's Juvenal on xi. 97,
reaching, and have led to the misunder-
and would be sincerely glad to learn of any
standing of most of the passages where
other passages bearing on the subject.
fulcrum occurs. The most flagrant instance
is undoubtedly Ovid, P. 3, 3, 13 :-Stabat W. C. F. ANDERSON.
Amor vultu non quo prius esse solebat Fulcra
tenens laeva tristis acerna manu, because it is

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