ISSN 0258-0802. LITERATŪRA 2013 55 (3)

Straipsniai

POLYGLOTS IN ROMAN ANTIQUITY. WRITING SOCIO-CULTURAL HISTORY BASED ON ANECDOTES

Christian Laes Associate Professor of and Ancient History Free University of Brussels, University of Antwerp

Vix discit homo duas aut tres, aut per magistros, aut per regiones in quibus versatur aliqua consuetudine; ut multum tres aut quattuor linguas. Augustinus, Sermo 162/A. 11 So solo che quando ascolto una parola in una lingua diversa, non la dimentico più. Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti (1774–1849)

1. Heinrich Schliemann: dressed to scholars, Greeks, and Turkish a latin testimony on polyglotism officials3. In 1869, after he had made a fortune No doubt, Heinrich Schliemann would in the Californian goldrush (1850–1852), have been honoured to figure in the title after stays in Russia (1852–1856) where of the first part of this article. Indeed, the he had made yet another quick fortune as often contested archaeologist – “Hero or a military contractor in the Crimean War, Fraud” as stated in a contribution on his and after extensive travels in the discovery of the treasure of Troy1 – boast- (1864), the succesful businessman and au- ed of his mastery of several . His todidact submitted two works in order to biography by Ernst Meyer cites 22 lan- obtain the degree of Doctor of Philosophy guages studied by Schliemann throughout at the University of Rostock: a published his life (a ‘Mithradatic number’ to which I French report of his oriental travels and a will refer in the conclusion of this paper)2. published French translation of his archae- Schliemann’s prose in various modern lan- ological research in Ithaca, the Peloponne- guages has survived in letters and diaries. sus and Troy. Along with these two French books, Schliemann submitted Greek and We even have letters in ancient Greek ad- Latin versions of the autobiography that introduced the Ithaca publication. Two 1 Easton (1998). classical scholars from Rostock, who were 2 Meyer (1969) 443. Besides the languages men- tioned in the Latin Vita, Meyer cites German and Low German (native languages), Chinese, Slavonic, Danish, 3 The Schliemann letters are edited by Meyer Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, -. (1953 and 1958).

7 appointed to judge the proposal, found rich Schliemann was granted the degree the research interesting, independent and of Philosophiae Doctor Artiumque Liber- ho­nest, and the candidate’s mastery of alium Magister – Ph.D. and M.A. at once. French praiseworthy. While the Latin of Schliemann’s Latin Vita is both an ex- the Vita was considered satisfactory, the ample par excellence of self-representation ancient Greek was judged as appalling. and a remarkable story about the acquisi- This text was severely criticised: there was tion of multilingual skills, and is therefore not a single sentence without an error, and worth quoting more fully. it ought never to have been submitted4. Be The following table chronologically this as it may be, on 27 April 1869, Hein- lists the various languages he studied, as well as the sometimes curious details Schliemann inserted about his motivation 4 Details, edition and commentary on the Latin for learning a new or the way he Vita are in Calder III (1974). See also Albert (1996) acquired his skills. 501–502.

Year Language Quote Remarks/ observations 1832 Latin Quum Kalkhorsti (...) puer decem anno- Apparently Schliemann was taught rum, patri meo donum in Christi natalitia Latin from an early age by his fa- anno millesimo octingentesimo tricesimo ther who was a Protestant minister. secundo commentariolum, lingua latina The Christmas present is men- male scriptum offerrem de rebus maxime tioned in the Vita as a prodigium; memorabilibus bello Trojano gestis, et de 36 years later the ten-year-old boy Ulyssis et Agamemnonis variis, quibus who wrote the tale was to see the jactati sunt, casibus (...) place of the Trojan war and the fa- therland of his cherished heroes. 1836 Ancient Sorte sua non contentus adolescens ebri- At age fourteen, circumstances Greek (first ositati se dediderat, quod vere vi­tium non forced Schliemann to leave school acquaintance effecit ut Homeri oblivisceretur, recitabat and to become an apprentice at a with) enim nobis fere centum versus, observans grocery. His passion for Homer numerum. Quamvis ne verbum quidem was born when he heard a drunk- eorum intelligerem, tamen hac dulce so- ard reciting Homeric ver­ses. He nanti lingua vehementer commovebar et paid the fellow three bottles of amaras de misera mea sorte profundebam brandy to hear him recite these lacrimas. verses three times. 1842 English (in Quae ratio in eo consistit, ut multum clara Working as a messenger, as office six months) voce legamus, numquam conversiones attendant, and later, as a bookkeep- faciamus, quoque die una schola utamur, er in Amsterdam, bare necessity ut semper de rebus quae nos delectant, (necessitas) was Schliemann’s first commentemur, ut commentariola inspic- and foremost motivation to learn iente magistro emendemus, ea ediscamus English. The method he desribes et ad verbum ea postero die recitemus is very much that of tireless ef- quae priore emendavimus. Memoria mea forts, memorising,­ daily repetition, minuta erat, quia a puero eam non exer- imitation, and language baths. The cueram, sed omne tempus in usum meum pre­sence of a teacher is required. convertebam (...) numquam nisi legens ad cursorem publicum exspectans stabam.

8 1842 French (in Tum rationem meam ad studium linguae Since no further details are of- six months) Francogallicae, cujus difficultates sex fered, the method was presumably mensibus pluribus superavi. the same as that he used learning English. 1842– Dutch, Quae effusa contentio anni spatio me- Again, Schliemann’s stress is on 1846 Spanish, moriam meam ita firmaverat ut studium memorising. He does not mention Italian, linguae Batavae, Hispanicae, Italicae observing linguistic similarities in Portuguese et Lusitanicae facillimum mihi esse vi- structure or vocabulary between (each in six deretur, neque opus erat ut plus temporis these Roman languages. months) quam sex menses impenderem 1846 Russian Itaque solus ad studium huius linguae Business (negotia) is given as his me accinxi et duce grammatica paucis first motivation for learning Rus- diebus litteras Russicas earumque pro- sian. For the first time, Schliemann nuntiationem didici. Incepi tum veterem mentions the problem of not find- meam sequi rationem, ex qua quas ipse ing a teacher. In Amsterdam, he composueram historiolas perscriberem was only able to find an old gram- et ediscerem. Quum nemo mihi adesset, mar book, a dictionary, and a bad qui pensa mea emendaret, foeda esse de- translation of the adventures of bebant (...) Conduxi igitur (...) pauperem Telemachus. Schliemann was Iudaeum, qui quaque vespera veniret well aware that this study without auditurus duas per horas Russicas meas the example of a (native) speaker declamationes, quarum­ ne unam quidem would turn out to be a failure. He syllabam comprehendebat. proceeded with telling stories in Russian to himself. Hence the rather funny event with the Jew who surely was not the only person to be blamed for them not under- standing each other. 1846 Russian Quae vero molestiae ardorem meum adeo Owing to his declamations, (continued) non minuerunt ut tribus hebdomadis per- Schliemann had to move twice, actis primam meam scribe­rem epistolam since the noise disturbed the other ad Russum quendam Londini versantem, inhabitants of the house in which et iam firmam assecutus eram facilitatem he rented his room. Despite all familiari sermone cum mercatoribus Rus- these difficulties, the results of his sicis colloquendi, qui ad indicum venden- study seem to have been even more dum Amstelodamum venerant. successful than his former language efforts: a Russian letter after three weeks, and conversations with Russian merchants in Amsterdam. From Literature Quum linguae Russicae studium ab- Schliemann seems to have been 1846 of the solvissem, serio operam dare incepi liter- very satisfied with his Russian on languages arum monumentis earum quas didiceram progress (absolvissem really sug- acquired linguarum. gests finishing). To a businessman, the practical speaking and writing ability clearly comes before study- ing literature.

9 1854 Swedish, (...) sed primis octo vel novem, quibus in Apparently, business comes before Polish Russia degebam annis negotiis ita obru- language study. tus eram, ut studium linguarum persequi non possem et demum anno 1854 nihil me impedivit quin linguam Suedicam et Poloniam discerem. 1856 Modern Quantocunque Graecae linguae discen- Again, business-related causes Greek (six dae tenebar desiderio, studium ejus non are offered – this time to explain weeks) prius aggredi ausus sum, quam certam Schliemann’s lateness in studying quandam fortunarum assecutus essem the language he loved so much. His possessionem, timens, ne haec lingua method had remained the same, nimis me delectaret atque a mercatura and for the first time his teachers abalienaret. Tandem vero, quum discendi are explicitly mentioned. cupiditati resistere amplius non possem, mense Januario 1856 hoc studium fortiter aggressus sum, primum cum N. Pappa- dace, tum cum Th. Bimpo, Atheniensi- bus, veterem meam semper persequens rationem. Non plus quam sex impendi hebdomades ad superandas neograecae linguae difficultates. 1856 Ancient Tum me ad veteris linguae studium appli- For Ancient Greek, only the abili­ Greek cui, quam tribus mensibus satis didici, ut ty to understand and read texts (of nonnullos veterum scriptorum, imprimis course, mainly Homer) is men- Homerum intelligere possim, quem legi tioned. The short span of learning et relegi vivo animo permotus. is enough to put present-day clas- sicists to shame – though the words satis and nonnullos leave some room for interpretation. 1856- Ancient Tum per biennium omne fere studium po- Again, the envious classicist won- 1858 Greek sui in cognoscendis veterum graecarum ders what could be meant by read- literature literarum monumentis, et paene omnes ing «nearly all» Greek authors at veteres scriptores, aliquoties Iliadem et this stage. Odysseam perscrutavi. 1858 (ca. Anno 1858 adii (...) Aegyptum (...). Usus As for skills in Arabic, its practical one year) sum oblata mihi opportunitate linguae use is stressed. We do not really get Latinae discendae et tum desertum a to know whether Schliemann read Cairo usque ad Hierosolyma peragravi; or wrote Arabic letters. visi Petram, perlustravi totam Syriam ut longiore fruerer linguae Arabicae usu, cujus accuratiorem mihi Petropoli paravi cognitionem.

10 2. What does it mean to be one’s language skills might be more con- a polyglot? nected with impression management. A sense of assertivity, combined with a basic In more than one way, Schliemann’s re- knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, port raises the questions a present-day surely helps in finding one’s way in a fo­ reader spontaneously asks when discuss- reign country. There is a huge difference ing the subject of polyglotism in the past between introducing oneself in a conver- (and nowadays)5. How did polyglots ac- sation and keeping the same dialogue go- quire their language skills, in times when ing when the conversation partners do not handbooks or native speakers were scarce? respond in the way you expect them to do. To Schliemann, both books and speakers / Of course, the domain of the conversation teachers were apparently necessary. But not also matters, as scholars know who are all polyglots need them. In fact, literacy is perfectly able to discuss their speciality, not even a condicio sine qua non. In bor- but find it very difficult to order their food der areas, illiterate people manage to speak in a restaurant. several languages which are hardly related Be that as it may, Schliemann used not (Albanese, Serbian, and Turkish in Balkan only his doctoral title and his archaeologi- countries; Gypsies not seldom manage to cal successes, but most certainly also his get along in five languages without writing polyglotism as a tool to impress. Not only one – just to stick to European examples). the academic community, but also his fam- What does it mean to ‘know’ a lan- ily and friends – and later on the whole guage? In times of world tourism and mas- world – would be amazed by the language sive migration, oral communication and skills he pretended to possess. For sure, getting along in every day conversation are Schliemann was succesful in this image often treated as the hallmark of ‘knowing’ building, as the myth about his submit- a language. But how do we decide about ting his whole Ph. D. in Ancient Greek those languages which are not used any- persists... in the English Wikipedia page more? Surely, in former centuries, intel- dedicated to him. lectuals might have valued the knowledge Schliemann was not the only famous of grammar and access to literary sources polyglot in history. Historical surveys un- and cultural wealth as a sterling achieve- cover a menagerie of polyglot scholars, ment, while present-day language cer- politicians, kings, missionaries, explorers, tificates carefully distinguish between ac- and adventurers, mostly from the Modern tive and receptive competences, between Era on, when the vernacular languages in reading, writing, speaking and listening Europe were classified, valued and studied skills (each divided into different levels of as intensively as Latin and Greek7. Yunus competence6), the everyday perception of Bey, interpreter and dragoman to Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566), is said to 5 Erard (2012) is a highly readable and enjoyable book on the phenomenon of polyglottery. 6 See, for instance, the European Language Quali- 7 Frijhoff (2010); Maas, Vollmer (2005); Van Hal, fications distinguishing between understanding, speak- Isebaert, Swiggers (2013). Besides these very useful ing, and writing. See http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/ surveys, the volumes by Burke (1993 and 2004) are in- en/resources/european-language-levels-cefr . dispensable tools for social and cultural historians.

11 have mastered seventeen languages. With are mentioned); demonstrations (and fail- each visiting embassador from the West, ures!) are on YouTube and on specialised he managed to speak in his own language. websites; neurologists even investigate Emperor Charles V (1500–1558), who was the matter. European politicians like José said to know five or six languages himself, Manuel Barroso (°1956) take pride in their admired him as a prodigy8. During his mastering the major European languages. lifetime, Cardinal Mezzofanti (quoted in All this suggests that polyglotism and the the beginning of this article) was known knowledge of several languages is a thing as “the monster of languages” and “the to be proud of. But how would this have universal interpreter” who ought to have been for the ancient dossier? existed at the time of the tower of Babel. He was visited by dozens of tourists and 3. In search of ancient polyglots students from all over the world; he defeat- In a survey of knowledge of ‘barbaric’ ed the poet Lord Byron in a multilingual languages in the ancient authors, Strobach contest, and he managed to answer, each confidently states that reports on language in their own language, a group of interna- geniuses are quite frequent in ancient li­ tional students brought together to surprise terature9. In fact, if one assumes a mini- him by Pope Gregory XV. Reports on his mum of five languages known, only three language knowledge roughly range from persons qualify. The minimum of five ac- 38, between 40 and 50, even to 72 lan- cords with the remark by Saint Augustine, guages. The German diplomat, interpreter quoted in the beginning of this article, that and sinologist Emil Krebs (1867–1930) three or four languages would already be was denied the extra salary the Foreign Of- fice normally granted for each foreign lan- plenty for a person to learn. In this paper, guage a member of its staff could speak, I enhance the number a little bit beyond since his mastery of about 70 (or 32, or three polyglots, but, to the best of my 60 – again the numbers differ) languages knowledge, this is as far as one gets. would have made him a millionaire and Though derived from the Greek, the would have been way too expensive for concept of polyglotism is not really an an- the state. During his lifetime, he passed cient one. The Greek word often refers to government tests in Chinese, Turkish, oft-repeated or loud-voiced cries or is ap- Japanese, and Finnish. Lists of famous plied to the many-tongued vocal oracle of hyperpolyglots, in the past or still alive, Dodona. An interesting passage in the con- are available on the internet (while six text of this article involves the god Hermes languages are considered the minimum, who claims to be not so πολύγλωττος as amazing examples of over thirty or forty to be able to bring messages to Scyths, Persians, Thracians, and Celts10. Latin

8 Peeters (1935) 133 on Yunus Bey (the article dictionaries do not mention the loanword by Peeters is remarkable, since it often links polyglot- ism with orientalism); Burke (2004) 45 and 113–115 (Charles V and other polyglots in the Modern Age); 9 Strobach (1997) 160–170 (die Kenntniss ‘Bar- Erard (2012) passim on Mezzofanti; 170–183 (on barischer’ Sprachen), with quote on p. 160. Krebs). 10 Lucian, Jup. Trag. 13.

12 polyglota; the authors preferred the word- illum solum mortalium certum est XXII ing multarum linguarum gnarus/peritus11. linguis locutum, nec e subiectis gentibus The Pontian King Mithradates the ullum hominem per interpretem appellatum ab eo annis LVI, quibus regnavit. Great (134–63 bce) still figures in the lists (Plinius Maior, Nat. Hist. 25.6–7) of famous polyglots in history12. The clas- sic account of his multilingual skills ap- Gellius is even more explicit on Mith- pears in Pliny the Elder: radates’ linguistic talent, stressing the fact that his mastery was on the native speak- Mithridates, duarum et viginti gentium ers’ level (gentilis referring to being a rex, totidem linguis iura dixit, pro contione compatriot): singulas sine interprete adfatus. (Plinius Maior, Nat. Hist. 7.88) Mithridates autem, Ponti atque Bithyniae rex inclutus, qui a Cn. Pompeio bello Tellingly, Mithradates is mentioned in superatus est, duarum et viginti gentium14, a chapter dedicated to the marvels of hu- quas sub dicione habuit, linguas percalluit man memory13: the Persian king Cyrus earumque omnium gentium viris haut could remember the names of all his sol- umquam per interpretem conlocutus est, sed ut quemque ab eo appellari usus fuit, diers, Cineas managed to memorise the proinde lingua et oratione ipsius non minus names of all Roman senators and knights scite, quam si gentilis eius esset, locutus one day after his arrival in Rome, Lucius est. Scipio even knew the names of all Roman (Gellius, NA 17.17.2)15 citizens, while a certain Charmadas was As time goes by, the legend and the able to recite each single book volume exaggeration increase, so as to reach the which was brought to him from the library. number of fifty languages mentioned in the In another passage (book 25 on Medi- late antique De viris illustribus. cine), Pliny mentions Mithradates as the greatest king of his time. He praises him Mithridates rex Ponti oriundus a septem especially for his knowledge of poison, Persis, magna vi animi et corporis, ut antidotes, and medicine – notices on this sexiuges equos regeret quinquaginta science were found by Pompey in Mithra- gentium ore loqueretur. dates’ private library after his final defeat. (ps. Aurelius Victor, De vir. illust. 76.1) Mastery of languages is mentioned here as one of the skills which enabled the king just to trust in himself, and to prevent cun- 14 This is the reading from the codices deteriores, ning schemes from his enemies: taken over by most modern editors, on the basis of the accounts in Pliny and Quintilian. However, most Gellius codices read viginti quinque. 11 The word does not appear in any Latin dictionary, 15 See also Valerius Maximus, Fact. et dict. mem. neither for Antiquity nor for the Middle Ages. The only 8.7.ext.16: Cuius utriusque industriae laudem duo reges Neo-Latin lexicon which is prepared to accept polyglota partiti sunt, Cyrus omnium militum suorum nomina, as a neologism is J. Mir, C. Calvano, Nuovo vocabolario Mitridates duarum et xx gentium, quae sub regno eius della lingua latina (Milan, 1986). erant, linguas ediscendo, ille, ut sine monitore exercitum 12 Rochette (1993) 223–224. salutaret, hic, ut eos, quibus imperabat, sine interprete 13 As does Quintilian, Inst. Or. 11.2.50 (also men- adloqui posset; – the chapter is on all sorts of virtuous tioning the number of 22 languages). industria of famous men.

13 Uncertainty and a sort of deliberate quinque diuisam genera per omnes partes vagueness about the exact numbers of ac numeros penitus cognosceret. Quae res languages known is a constant feature of maximum ei sociorum amorem conciliauit, qua quis eorum lingua apud tribunal illius studies on polyglots throughout the ages. postulauerat, eadem decreta reddenti. As such, we do not need to bother whether (Valerius Maximus, Fact. et dict. mem Mithradates knew 22, 25 or 50 languages. 8.7.6) Trying to list these languages does not make sense, as the ancient authors them- While present-day readers might ob- 16 selves never bothered to do so . It may ject that versatility in Greek dialects is not be noteworthy, however, that to ancient quite the same as multilinguism, things authors the region of Pontus was almost are not as clear-cut as they appear at first 17 proverbially multilingual . sight. Both the Latin sermo and the Greek Immediately next after Mithradates διάλεκτος can have the meaning of ‘lan- and just before Cyrus (knowing the names guage’ or ‘dialect’. Ionic, Attic, Doric, Ae- of all his soldiers), Quintilian mentions the olic and Koinè are most probably meant triumvir Licinius Crassus as a wonder of by the five forms of Greek. The authors human memory: acknowledged differences, while mostly vel Crassus ille dives, qui cum Asiae they agreed with the idea that all were part praeesset quinque Graeci sermonis of one Greek language18. differentias sic tenuit ut qua quisque apud eum lingua postulasset eadem ius sibi The same fluid use of the notions of redditum ferret. dialect and language appears in the only (Quintilianus, Inst. Or. 11.2.50) account of the third polyglot, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra (69–30 bce): Valerius Maximus, again in his chapter on virtuous industria, also mentions Cras- ἡδονὴ δὲ καὶ φθεγγομένης ἐπῆν τῷ ἤχῳ· καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν ὥσπερ ὄργανόν τι πολύχορδον sus’ versatility in Greek dialects, pointing εὐπετῶς τρέπουσα καθ’ ἣν βούλοιτο to the popularity he gained with it. διάλεκτον, ὀλίγοις παντάπασι δι’ ἑρμηνέως ἐνετύγχανε βαρβάροις, τοῖς δὲ πλείστοις Iam P. Crassus, cum in Asiam ad αὐτὴ δι’ αὑτῆς ἀπεδίδου τὰς ἀποκρίσεις, Aristonicum regem debellandum consul οἷον Αἰθίοψι Τρωγλοδύταις Ἑβραίοις uenisset, tanta cura Graecae linguae notitiam animo conprehendit, ut eam in 18 Davies (1987); Gera (2004) 45; 53; 180 and 201. Quintilianus, Inst. or. 8.3.59 refers to the mixta ex uaria 16 Quite remarkably, Mayor (2010) 254 tries to do ratione linguarum oratio when mentioning the mixing so. Note that the elaborate ancient accounts on Mithra- of various Greek dialects; Inst. or. 12.10.34 states that dates – as Appianus, Bell. Mithr. 112 or Strabo, Geogr. the Greek authors possess a greater wealth in language: 10.4.10 – do not even mention his polyglotism. illis non verborum modo sed linguarum etiam inter se 17 Plinius Maior, NH 6.15: quondam adeo clara, ut differentium copia est. Quite remarkably, the Aeolic dia- Timosthenes in eam CCC nationes dissimilibus linguis lect of Lesbos was sometimes viewed as a ‘barbaric lan- descendere prodiderit; et postea a nostris CXXX in- guage’, see Werner (1991). Other ancient theories even terpretibus negotia gesta ibi (on the Pontian region of linked Latin with Aeolian, thereby stating that Romans Colchis). Strabo 11.2.16 mentions seventy languages did not speak a real barbaric language, as there was a for the region. Also Albania was considered a multilin- connection with Greek. See Dionysius of Halicarnassus, gual area, 26 dialects according to Strabo in the same Ant. Rom. 1.90.1 and Van Hal (2009) 153 for further passage. See Rochette (1996) 77 and 80. references.

14 Ἄραψι Σύροις Μήδοις Παρθυαίοις. pects that it was her eloquence and litera­ πολλῶν δὲ λέγεται καὶ ἄλλων ἐκμαθεῖν cy which made her apt to converse with γλώττας, τῶν πρὸ αὐτῆς βασιλέων οὐδὲ nearly every ambassador without needing τὴν Αἰγυπτίαν ἀνασχομένων παραλαβεῖν an interpreter. At least, her knowledge of διάλεκτον, ἐνίων δὲ καὶ τὸ μακεδονίζειν ἐκλιπόντων. classical Greek, Latin, and Gothic is ex- (Plutarchus, Ant. 27.4) plicitly praised as excellent:

Apart from the seven enumerated Hanc enim dignissime omnia regna ‘barbaric’ languages19, she is said to have venerantur, quam videre reverentia est, loquentem audire miraculum. Qua enim known ‘many’ others, while it is under- lingua non probatur esse doctissima? stood as self-evident that, unlike the former Atticae facundiae claritate diserta est: Ptolemaic kings, she also mastered Egyp- Romani eloquii pompa resplendet: nativi tian and had not forgotten the Macedo- sermonis ubertate gloriatur: excellit nian pronunciation of the . cunctos in propriis, cum sit aequaliter Here, the word διάλεκτον is used for the ubique mirabilis. Nam si vernaculam Egyptian language, while μακεδονίζειν re- linguam bene nosse prudentis est, quid fers to the Macedonian way of pronounc- de tali sapientia poterit aestimari, quae ing Greek. tot genera eloquii inoffensa exercitatione custodit? Hinc venit diversis nationibus Language skills of the Palmyrene necessarium magnumque praesidium, queen Zenobia (240–275) are treated in quod apud aures prudentissimae dominae detail by her biographers in the Historia nullus eget interprete. Non enim aut legatus Augusta. While she spoke and correspond- moram aut interpellans aliquam sustinet ed in her Syriac mother-tongue, she urged de mediatoris tarditate iacturam, quando her sons to learn to speak Latin which she uterque et genuinis verbis auditur et knew herself, though surely not to a grade patriotica responsione componitur. of perfection. Her knowledge of Greek and (Cassiodorus, Var. 11.1.6–7) Egyptian was said to be excellent20. The descriptions of these five ancient Finally, Cassiodorus’ extensive lauda- polyglots show some remarkably simi- tio of the Ostrogothic queen Amalasuin- lar patterns. All mention communication tha (c. 494–534/5) somehow ressembles skills (speaking and understanding) at a the praise of Cleopatra, although one sus- high degree of perfection. Since all deal with statesmen and women, the political 19 An interpreter for the Troglodyte language is in- deed known from a papyrus (UPZ II 227). See Rochette advantages (esteem and popularity) of (1996) 80. polyglottery are emphasised (most expli­ 20 SHA, Trig. Tyr. 30.20: Filios Latine loqui citly in the case of Mithradates). For those iusserat, ita ut Graece vel difficile vel raro loquerentur. Ipsa Latini sermonis non usque quoque gnara, sed ut interested in the practical side of the mat- loqueretur pudore cohibita; loquebatur et Aegyptiace ter, it may be worth pointing out that a po- ad perfectum modum. Historiae Alexandrinae atque orientalis ita perita, ut eam epitomasse dicatur; litical conversation is not exactly the same Latinam autem Graece legerat; SHA, Aurel. 27.6: Hanc as an everyday chat, as it can be well pre- epistulam Nicomachus se transtulisse in Graecum ex pared by the person who is addressed and lingua Syrorum dicit ab ipsa Zenobia dictatam. Nam illa superior Aureliani Graeca missa est. perhaps not that freely responded to by the

15 party doing the request. Tellingly, four of believe Marcus Aurelius’ educator Fronto, the five cases are about non-Romans, three his pupil was perfectly able to understand even deal with renowend enemies of the Parthian and Celtiberian –which, together Roman Empire. And even more signifi- with Latin and Greek, would make him cantly, three examples deal with women, proficient in four languages25. The often while the ‘opposite sex’ is often not men- unreliable Historia Augusta mentions an tioned by ancient authors in their discourse inscription for Emperor Gordian III in five on erudition and schooling. languages, so that “everyone” would get Other examples come to the mind. Plu- the message26. Late antique itineraria oc- tarch mentions a mythic person near the casionally mention people with versatility Persian Gulf, who was able to speak “many in many languages27. According to the tes- languages”, but used Doric Greek in a po- timony of Jerome, the Christian Greek au- etic way when conversing with the Spartan thor Epiphanius of Salamis had mastered Cleombrotes21. When he fled to the Per- five languages: Greek, Syriac, Hebrew, sian king, the Athenian statesman Themis- Coptic, and to some extent Latin28. tocles was forced to learn Persian in one year’s time: he did so to great perfection, maticeque loqui); Trist. 3.14.47–50 (Threicio Scythi- as he was able to have a private conversa- coque fere circumsonor ore, et uideor Geticis scribere tion with the Persian king22. As will be ex- posse modis. Crede mihi, timeo ne sint inmixta Latinis/ plained in the next paragraph, knowledge inque meis scriptis Pontica uerba legas); Pont. 4.13.19– 20 (A! pudet et Getico scripsi sermone libellum/ struc- of three languages cannot have been that taque sunt nostris barbara uerba modis). Regardless of exceptional at all. The explicit mention of the fact whether one is prepared to accept the truth of the “three hearts” of the Roman poet En- Ovid’s exile, the Tristia contain a goldmine of informa- tion on language acquisition. See Trist. 3.11.9–10 (no nius might therefore be connected with the communication possible with gens fera); Trist. 3.12.37– fact that, next to conversational fluency, he 40 (contact with Greek or Latin speaking seamen and merchants is rare); Trist. 4.1.89–94 (nobody over there practised poetry in Latin, Greek, and Os- is capable of understanding Ovid’s Latin poetry); Trist. can – the expression of love for ‘his’ Os- 5.2.67–68 (some Greek sounds in Getic, no Latin ones); can language is exceptional23. During his Trist. 5.7.51–64 (no knowledge of Latin, some traces of Greek in Getic); Trist. 5.10.33–38 (Ovid is a barbarus exile, Ovid claims to have learned to speak and resorts to gestures to make himself understood); both the Getic and the Sarmatian languag- Trist. 5.12.55–56 (a place full of barbarous sounds and es; nothing survives of the poetry he as- hostility). See Rochette X and Van Hal X for extensive 24 literature on this subject. serts to have written in Getic . If we are to 25 Fronto, Ad M. Antoninum Imp. Epist 4.2.3 (1248 van den Hout): Namque tu Parthos etiam et Hiberos sua 21 Plutarchus, De def. orac. 421b: γλώσσαις δὲ lingua patrem tuum laudantis pro summis oratoribus πολλαῖς ἤσκητο χρῆσθαι, πρὸς δ’ ἐμὲ τὸ πλεῖστον audias. ἐδώριζεν οὐ πόρρω μελῶν. 26 SHA, Gord. 34.2: Gordiano sepulchrum milites 22 Plutarchus, Them. 28–29; Diodorus Siculus apud Circesium castrum fecerunt in finibus Persidis, 11.57.5; Cornelius Nepos, Them. 10. titulum huius modi addentes et Graecis et Latinis et 23 Gellius 17.17.1: Quintus Ennius tria corda ha- Persicis et Iudaicis et Aegyptiacis litteris, ut ab omnibus bere se dicebat, quod loqui Graece et Osce et Latine legerentur sciret. 27 Itin. Anton. Plac. 37: monasterium (...) in quo 24 Ovidius, Trist. 5.7.55–56 (Ille ego Romanus uates sunt tres abbates, scientes linguas, hoc est Latinas et (ignoscite, Musae)/ Sarmatico cogor plurima more loqui. Graecas, Syriacas et Aegyptiacas et Bessas, vel multi En pudet et fateor, iam desuetudine longa/ uix subeunt interpretes singularum linguarum. With Bessas Persian ipsi uerba Latina mihi); Trist. 5.12.57–58 (Ipse mihi is meant. uideor iam dedidicisse Latine:/ nam didici Getice Sar- 28 Hieronymus, Adv. Ruf. 2.22. In Adv. Ruf. 3.6

16 4. The multilingual context Ages: Basque, Welsh or Berber. Bilingua­ of the Roman Empire lism and trilingualism must have thrived. Hence the observation by Saint Augustine It would take at least a volume to elabo- on people acquiring three or four langua­ges rate upon the variety of languages spoken thanks to the presence of a teacher or by in the Roman Empire29. To put it in Mac- merely living with native speakers32. The Mullen’s words: “Greco-Latin indicates a educated class of Rome often knew Latin mixed culture in which, to the very end, and Greek (while in the East, the knowl- a majority of the population must have edge of Latin was more restricted, though spoken neither Latin nor Greek in their necessary for officials)33. Already in Plau- homes, whatever they spoke of necessity tus’ Poenulus, the cunning use of various in the courts and market-places”30. Celtic tongues by a Poenian is used for humoris- was used in Spain, Galatia, Gallia, and tic aims34. The use of Greek and Egyptian Northern Italy31; like Thracian, Phrygian, (and Latin to a lesser extent) is very well Dacian or Lydian it left spare traces in the attested in the papyrological records in the epigraphic record. At least four langua­ province of Egypt35. Next to and ges are known to have gained importance in late Antiquity with the rise of ‘local’ churches: Syriac, Coptic, Punic and Celtic. 32 Cf. Augustine quoted in the beginning of this pa- To this, one may add Armenian and Per- per. See also Schol. Hor. serm. 1.10.30: Dicit autem bi- linguem, quia et Graeci et Latini apud Canusium habi- sian, which were of considerable impor- tant et utuntur utroque sermone (referring to Greek and tance as international languages in the late Latin); Isidorus, Orig. 15.1.63: Hos Varro trilingues ancient period. Other local tongues must esse ait, quod et Graece loquantur et Latine et Gallice (on the Phocaeenses who founded the colony of Mas- have existed, to emerge only in the Middle silia). 33 The statement by second-century physician Ga- len, claiming that a person who knew two languages Epiphanius is called πεnνάγλωσσος. Rufinus had ridicu- was considered a miracle, should most likely be inter- lised Epiphanius’ multilingual skills. See Denecker, Par- preted as ironic. Surely, Galen wants to praise the Greek toens, Swiggers,Van Hal (2012) 433–434 for the details tongue. See Galen, De differentia pulsuum 2.5 (8.586 of this controversy. Kühn): ἐγὼ γὰρ οὕτω πολλὰς ἐκμανθάνειν οὐ δύναμαι 29 The works cited in the bibliography, not the least διαλέκτους, ἵν’ ἀνδράσιν εἰς τοσοῦτον πολυγλώττοις the series of articles by Rochette, will offer their read- ἕπωμαι. δίγλωττος γάρ τις ἐλέγετο πάλαι, καὶ θαῦμα ers a real treasury of works on languages and language τοῦτο ἦν, ἄνθρωπος εἷς ἀκριβῶν διαλέκτους δύο· σὺ δὲ diversity in the Roman Empire. A very rich volume is ἡμᾶς ἀξιοῖς πολλὰς ἐκμαθεῖν, δέον αὐτὸν ἐκμανθάνειν Neumann, Untermann (1980), while the Cambridge En- μίαν, οὕτω μὲν ἰδίαν, οὕτω δὲ κοινὴν ἅπασιν, οὕτω δ’ cyclopedia of the World’s Ancient Languages (Woodard εὔγλωττον, οὕτω δ’ ἀνθρωπικήν. ἐγὼ γὰρ οὕτω πολλὰς 2004) offers overviews on the linguistic details for each ἐκμανθάνειν οὐ δύναμαι διαλέκτους, ἵν’ ἀνδράσιν of the languages known. Refreshing new approaches εἰς τοσοῦτον πολυγλώττοις ἕπωμαι. δίγλωττος γάρ with due attention to Late Antiquity appear in Mullen, τις ἐλέγετο πάλαι, καὶ θαῦμα τοῦτο ἦν, ἄνθρωπος εἷς James (2012). ἀκριβῶν διαλέκτους δύο· σὺ δὲ ἡμᾶς ἀξιοῖς πολλὰς 30 MacMullen (1990) 32. This volume contains ἐκμαθεῖν, δέον αὐτὸν ἐκμανθάνειν μίαν, οὕτω μὲν reeditions of papers by MacMullen which are to be ἰδίαν, οὕτω δὲ κοινὴν ἅπασιν, οὕτω δ’ εὔγλωττον, οὕτω counted as classics for the present subject (Provincial δ’ ἀνθρωπικήν. In what follows, the speech of barba- Languages in the Roman Empire originally published in rians is compared to... sounds of animals. See Van Hal 1966; Notes on Romanization in 1984). (2009) 147. 31 Hieronymus, In Galat. 2.3 acknowledged the 34 Plautus, Poen. 995–1028 (esp. v. 112–113: Et is similarity between Galatian and the language of Treves; omnis linguas scit, sed dissimulat sciens se scire: Poe- Plinius Maior, Nat. Hist. 3.13 observes ta linguistic con- nus plane est). See Rochette (1993) 544–545. nection between the Celts of Baetica and Lusitania. 35 Rochette (1994); Papaconstantinou (2010).

17 Hebrew (at that time a language of Scrip- communication: it was as if each village, ture and liturgy) most Jews in the City of sometimes even individual families, spoke Rome probably knew Greek and Latin to their own tongue36. which they resorted for their grave inscrip- Ancient historians widely agree that tions. Numerous famous authors of Greek about 80 % of the population of the Em- or Latin must have been acquainted with pire lived in the countryside, although at least one local language: Apuleius and this does not exclude interaction with the Augustine (Punic and Berber), Lucian, cities. The City of Rome sent out and re- Ammianus Marcellinus, Libanius, John ceived quite a number of emigrants, but Chrysostom, Theodoret (Syriac, the latter over the Empire, most rural people hardly surely reared in this language), Seneca the ever left their villages. Calling upon “the Elder (Celtiberian), to name but a few. aid of the mind’s eye”, MacMullen has As to literacy, the discussion about the pictured a one-room dwelling somewhere exact numbers of speakers of local lan- in the ancient Mediterranean countryside. In this house, with only one table, a Roman guages or about those who were acquain­ soldier is billeted for the winter. The own- ted with Greek and / or Latin is a matter ers, a man and his wife, pay their tribute to for mere guess-work. Here, a comparative the authorities, but do not feel the faintest research and a sound sense of empathy attraction towards the soldier’s language, might bring ancient historians a little bit costume or culture. They do not commu- further. nicate, and when problems arise, the coup­ Anthropologists have studied so-called le turn to a man of their own people. The multilingual areas in India, tribes in Black husband and wife probably were just lucky Africa, and to a lesser extent in the Balkan if the soldier left in spring, leaving their regions. Here people ‘pick up’ an amaz- home (and young daughter) in peace37. ing range of languages (five or more is not We might in fact imagine quite a large part an exception). Language acquisition hap- of the population living this sort of ‘pas- pens entirely informally, just by human sive’ or ‘negative’ resistance. How many contacts. Mostly, the use of a language there were is just impossible to say (there is restricted to a particular domain of life were, of course, degrees of assimilation, (e.g., talking to women from another vil- accculturation, and resistance). But there lage when taking water at a common well). might have been many more than the li­ Pidgin languages facilitate the interaction. terary sources pretend there were. The role For these reasons, anthropologists dis- played by language in this process is even tinguish between the of more difficult to calculate or estimate. In such regions and the study of languages Italy, Gaul, and Spain, up to the year 800, as performed by polyglots. In 1860, about common people seem to have been capa- 3 % of the population were able to prop- ble of understanding at least a simple form erly use and understand Tuscan Italian, the language of the new state. Reports by 36 Erard (2012) 21 (Africa); 188–189; 191–205; eighteenth-century parish priests in France 207–209 (India); Burke (1993) 78 (Italian); Robb (2007) 68–87 (language diversity in France). over and over again lament difficulties in 37 MacMullen (1990) 65.

18 of Latin38. Sermons presuppose a glimpse level42. The nearly exclusive knowledge of of this Romanitas, though this evidence Punic and the subsequent communication does not tell us anything about everyday problems as well as rhetorical proficiency communication or the ability of interacting­ in this language are mentioned more than with people from regions outside one’s once43. The same is true for Armenian44 own village. and Syriac45. As a young man (adules- cens), the later emperor Maximinus Thrax 5. Ancient authors on multilingual asked Emperor Septimius Severus in his encounters own Thracian language (patria lingua) whether he would be allowed to partici- In the mental universum of the Greek and Latin authors (at best representing a small percentage of the total population39), all 42 The anecdote is worth to be quoted in full: Apu- communication seems to have happened leius, Met. 9.39: Nam quidam procerus et, ut indicabat habitus atque habitudo, miles e legione, factus nobis in one of the two classical languages. As obvius, superbo atque adroganti sermone percontatur, such, encounters with people ignorant of quorsum vacuum duceret asinum? At meus, adhuc mae- rore permixtus et alias Latini sermonis ignarus, tacitus Latin or Greek (the first meaning of the praeteribat. Nec miles ille familiarem cohibere quivit word barbaros is well known) are docu- insolentiam, sed indignatus silentio eius ut convicio, viti mented quite rarely40. quam tenebat obtundens eum dorso meo proturbat. Tunc hortulanus subplicue respondit sermonis ignorantia se Tacitus reports on a local peasant from quid ille disceret scire non posse. Ergo igitur Graece Termes (now Lerma, in Spain). He was subiciens miles: “Vbi” inquit “ducis asinum istum?”. Respondit hortulanus petere se civitatem proximam. tortured after having killed Lucius Piso, 43 Polybius 1.80.5 (most of the army understand Pu- the praetor of the province, but cried out in nic); Apuleius, Apol. 98: loquitur numquam nise Punice his mother tongue (sermone patrio) that he et si adhuc a matre graecissat; enim Latine loqui neque vult neque potest. Augustinus, Serm. 167.4 (translating was being interrogated in vain as he would a Punic proverb, because not everyone in the audience never reveal his accomplices41. In the knows Punic); Ps.-Aurelius Victor, Epit. 20.7 (Septi- mius Severus is said to have been Punica eloquentia Greek setting of Apuleius’ Metamorpho- promptior, though his knowledge of Greek was excel- ses, we read about an unpleasant encounter lent). 44 between a soldier and a peasant ignorant Procopius, Bell. 7.26: ἦν δέ τις ξὺν τῷ Ἰωάννῃ Γιλάκιος ὄνομα, Ἀρμένιος γένος, ὀλίγων τινῶν of Latin. When the soldier, after having at- Ἀρμενίων ἄρχων. οὗτος ὁ Γιλάκιος οὔτε ἑλληνίζειν tacked the poor gardener, turns to Greek ἠπίστατο οὔτε Λατίνην ἢ Γοτθικὴν ἢ ἄλλην τινὰ ἢ Ἀρμενίαν μόνην ἀφεῖναι φωνήν. τούτῳ δὴ Γότθοι (and the peasant indicates his ignorance of ἐντυχόντες τινὲς ἐπυνθάνοντο ὅστις ποτὲ εἴη. Again, it that language), we can easily imagine this could only have been by very basic conversations that conversation to have been on a very basic the Goths found out who he was. 45 Jerome, Epist. 7.1.2: nunc cum uestris litteris fa- bulor, illas amplexor, illae mecum loquuntur, illae hic tantum Latine sciunt. Hic enim aut barbarus semiser- 38 The main thesis of the very recommendable book mo discendus est aut tacendum est. Living in the Syrian by Banniard (1992). desert of Calchis in 376, Jerome was not able to con- 39 See the excellent and though provoking book versate with locals, despite his knowledge of Aramaic by Knapp (2011), suggesting that perhaps 99 % of the (and Hebrew). Marcus Diaconus, Vita Porphyr. 66-68 population are hardly mentioned in the sources. (mother and child in Gaza, only speaking Syriac); S. Sil- 40 For those willing to struggle with the Latin, much viae peregrinatio 47 (CSEL 39.13) villagers in 385 near is to be found in Snellman (1914–1919). Jerusalem speak Syriac and a little bit of Greek, but the 41 Tacitus, Ann. 4.45. bishop insists on Greek in liturgy.

19 pate in a soldiers’ wrestling contest46. Mer- ries and pilgrimages, a basic knowledge of chants dealing with foreign people must Latin as a lingua franca was most helpful have acquired some language skills too. to pilgrims from the West adventuring into On his way to Arabia, the freedman An- the Holy Land49. nius Plocamus was driven off by a storm, Roman jurists, by the bye, acknowl- and after fifteen days he arrived at the port edge the multilingual context. Ulpian of Hippuros in Sri Lanka. He learned the states that fideicommissa might be devised language in six months and was able to re- in any tongue (as long as there is mutual port to the king about the Roman emperor understanding, for instance thanks to an Claudius and the empire47. In what I con- interpreter): not only in Latin or Greek, but sider one of the most beautiful fragments also in Punic or Celtic or Syriac50. on language encounters, the fifth-century author Priscus of Panion reports his en- 6. Why did polyglots not matter? counter with a man whom he supposed, While the Roman empire undoubtedly was by the way he was dressed, to be a Scy­ a multilingual environment where quite a thian. To his amazement, the man spoke in few inhabitants were versatile in several Greek (we get to know that Scythians were languages out of bare necessity, we are more likely to learn Hunnic, Gothic or La­ left with the impression that those whom tin). But the man turned out to be a Greek we call polyglots are largely absent in the merchant: he had gone to Viminacium sources. There are no reports on persons (nowadays Kostolac in Serbia), married learning languages for the sheer joy of a wealthy woman and adopted a Scythian studying and knowing other cultures; no appearance48. In the late ancient itinera­ emperors, kings, aristocrats, politicians, diplomats, gentlemen or hommes savants 46 Iordanes, Get. 83. He is described as a semibar- barus adulescens. who take pride in their lore of languages 47 Plinius Maior, Nat. Hist. 6.84: XV die Hippuros portum eius invectus, hospitali regis clementia sex men- sum tempore inbutus adloquio percunctanti postea nar- 49 Itin. Silv. 47.3–4. Services were said in Greek, ravit Romanos et Caesarem. but translated into Syriac at the very moment. But there 48 Priscus, fr. 8: Διατρίβοντι δέ μοι καὶ περιπάτους was consolation for those who only understood Latin: ποιουμένῳ πρὸ τοῦ περιβόλου τῶν οἰκημάτων Sane quicumque hic Latini sunt, id est qui nec Siriste προσελθών τις, ὃν βάρβαρον ἐκ τῆς Σκυθικῆς ᾠήθην nec Graece noverunt, ne contristentur, et ipsis exponi- εἶναι στολῆς, Ἑλληνικῇ ἀσπάζεταί με φωνῇ, χαῖρε tur eis, quia sunt alii fratres et sorores Graecolatini, qui προσειπών, ὥστε με θαυμάζειν ὅτι γε δὴ ἑλληνίζει Latine exponunt eis. Σκύθης ἀνήρ. ξύγκλυδες γὰρ ὄντες πρὸς τῇ σφετέρᾳ 50 Dig. 32.11 pr.: Fideicommissa quocumque ser- βαρβάρῳ γλώσσῃ ζηλοῦσιν ἢ τὴν Οὔννων ἢ τὴν Γότθων mone relinqui possunt, non solum Latina vel Graeca, ἢ καὶ τὴν Αὐσονίων, ὅσοις αὐτῶν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους sed etiam Punica vel Gallicana vel alterius cuius- ἐπιμιξία· καὶ οὐ ῥᾳδίως τις σφῶν ἑλληνίζει τῇ φωνῇ, cumque gentis; Dig. 45.1.1.6: Eadem an alia lingua re- πλὴν ὧν ἀπήγαγον αἰχμαλώτων ἀπὸ τῆς Θρᾳκίας καὶ spondeatur, nihil interest. Proinde si quis Latine interro- Ἰλλυρίδος παράλου (...) ἀντασπασάμενος δὲ ἀνηρώτων gaverit, respondeatur ei Graece, dummodo congruenter τίς ὢν καὶ πόθεν ἐς τὴν βάρβαρον παρῆλθε γῆν καὶ βίον respondeatur, obligatio constituta est: idem per con- ἀναιρεῖται Σκυθικόν. ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο ὅ τι βουλόμενος trarium. sed utrum hoc usque ad Graecum sermonem ταῦτα γνῶναι ἐσπούδακα. ἐγὼ δὲ ἔφην αἰτίαν tantum protrahimus an vero et ad alium, poenum forte πολυπραγμοσύνης εἶναι μοι τὴν Ἑλλήνων φωνήν. τότε vel Assyrium vel cuius alterius linguae, dubitari potest. δὴ γελάσας ἔλεγε Γραικὸς μὲν εἶναι τὸ γένος, κατ’ Et scriptura Sabini, sed et verum patitur, ut omnis sermo ἐμπορίαν δὲ εἰς τὸ Βιμινάκιον ἐληλυθέναι τὴν πρὸς contineat verborum obligationem, ita tamen, ut uterque τῷ Ἴστρῳ ποταμῷ Μυσῶν πόλιν. πλεῖστον δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ alterius linguam intellegat sive per se sive per verum διατρῖψαι χρόνον καὶ γυναῖκα γήμασθαι ζάπλουτον. interpretem.

20 as they appear from the fifteenth century considerably gaining in importance with on in Renaissance and Early Modern Eu- the emergence of the national states in the rope51. At least from the times of Helle­ nineteenth-century Europe. There are lan- nism on (though Greek colonisation start- guage censuses and the legislation that may ed already as early as the ninth century follow them that have become political is- bce), travels and conquests led to frequent sues, which do not always have clear-cut contacts with heteroglot populations as solutions; some may also be complicated far away as India. However, these multi- by the hard-to-define difference between cultural encounters never had the same a language and a dialect (cf. the facetious impact on language consciousness as the definition of a language as a dialect with discovery of hundreds of Indian tongues an army and a navy and subsequent legis- in the New World had from the fifteenth lation). While the ancients never brought century on. Tellingly, Alexander the Great a system into the variety of human speech favoured the idea of instructing the Greek that existed around them – as witnessed language to 30,000 children from all con- by their rather indistinct use of words for quered regions. Once they had grown “language” and “dialect”, at least in the up, they could take leading positions in a Greek language – they of course distin- new unified Greek empire52. Just like in guished among languages. But, unlike in ancient Egypt, Ugarit or the Chinese em- the Modern Age where divisions among pire, monolingualism seems to have been languages are admittedly not always that a characteristic of the literary elites of clear-cut, this knowledge was never really Ancient Greece53. Roman elites (like the valued54. Persian Achaemenids) were bilingual. The One could claim that most of the lan- very few polyglots that are mentioned are guages in the Empire did not have a writ- mainly non-Romans (even enemies of the ten tradition, as is true for the about forty Roman order), women and outsiders. Their languages which are estimated to have ex- skills are sometimes connected to a prodi- isted in Italy during the times of the Ro- gious capacity for memorisation or, in the man Republic. When these tongues appear case of Mithradates, with the secret lore of as such, it is in rare epigraphic documents producing antidotes. At the very best, their which probably only reveal a very stan­ oral proficiency in dealing with submitted people is praised. 54 A former speaker of Serbo-Croatian might now This mere observation cries out for an easily count himself as a true polyglot, claiming know- ledge of Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and even Monte- explanation. True, the question of multi- negrin – all of which are mutually intelligible. Cf. the lingualism might well be a modern one, question of minority languages and dialects: Ethno- logue. Languages of the World and UNESCO World Atlas of the World‘s Languages in Danger will count 51 See Burke (2004) 111–140, a beatiful chapter on as many as 38 languages for Italy, or nine for Belgium the ‘mixing of languages’. (Emiliano-Romagnolo Lombardian, Picardian, Walloon 52 Plutarchus, Alex. 47.6. Needless to say, the ‘truth’ to name just a few examples for both countries). See of this anecdote matters less than the message behind it. Burke (1993) 66–88 on language and identity (with See Rochette (1996) 78. p. 85 on dialect with army, navy and airforce); Burke 53 Of course, also these cultures resorted to inter- (2004) 15–42 and 61–88 for insightful comments on the preters when necessary. See Rochette (1996) 76 for fur- discovery of languages and vernaculars in competition ther references. in Early Modern Europe.

21 dardised or schematised use of a language. from the second century bce on, Roman Since things belonging to the oral tradi- elites found their distinctive element in the tion are seldom mentioned in the literary Hellenistic culture which they highly ad- sources, it is normal that knowledge of mired. By then, the considerable military such languages does not appear in the re- power which had given them control over cords. Again, this begs the question why the whole Mediterranean, gave way to yet these languages went underground in the another sense of ‘us Romans’ against the literary record, only to revive in the late others. In the beginning of the first century ancient period, at least in cases like Syriac bce, Latin became a language of oratory, and Coptic. historiography, and philosophy. At least in Others have pointed to the ethnocentric the West, the conquered elites embraced and imperialistic attitude of Greeks and the new way of life, which included com- Romans, the pejorative interpretation of fortable housing and architecture, road- the concept of barbaros, the linking of eth- work infrastructure, new economic oppor- nicity with language, and the metaphysi- tunities, a stable legal system, a promise of cal presumption that foreign languages safety and security. Presenting themselves are mere collections of names. In this con- as Romans surely implied the use of Latin. text, learning a new language was mainly It was a price most of them were willing to viewed as counting foreign words55. pay, and it is highly questionable whether Comparative history helps to sharpen they would have considered it as giving up our view on the matter. As Peter Burke their ‘identity’. Local traditions and lan- convincingly demonstrated, the rise of guages persisted to some extent. But aris- standardised Tuscan Italian was not a re- tocrats did not need to take pride in multi- sult of the Risorgimento movement. As lingual skills. Latin and Greek suited their early as the sixteenth century, courtesans purpose perfectly. Syagrius, the ‘Solon’ of all over Italy used Tuscan next to their re- the Burgundian court who knew the Bur- gional language. According to Burke, it is gundian language that well that the ‘bar- this rise of transregional consciousness in barians’ feared to use their own tongue in the higher classes, which needs to be ex- his presence, is considered a rather funny plained, not the question why Tuscan out- exception56. Arbogastes, a Frankish leader ranked, for instance, Neapolitan. Appar- residing in Treves, practiced “real Latin ently, these aristocrats cherished common as from the Tiber”. No doubt, his example ideals – found in literature, art, architec- was to be followed57. ture and the way of life – which enabled them to distinguish themselves from ‘oth- 56 Sidonius Apollinaris, Epist. 5.5.3: Aestimari minime potest, quanto mihi ceterisque sit risui, quotiens ers’, ‘us Italians’ against the rest. At least audio, quod te praesente formidet linguae suae facere barbarus barbarismum. adstupet tibi epistulas interpre- 55 Literature on these three subjects is extensive. tanti curva Germanorum senectus et negotiis mutuis ar- Campos Daroca (1992) and Munson (2005) are books bitrum te disceptatoremque desumit (...) Et quamquam which nuance Herodotus‘ ethnocentric approach to- aeque corporibus ac sensu rigidi sint indolatilesque, wards the barbaroi and their languages. Cf. also the dis- amplectuntur in te pariter et discunt sermonem patrium, cussion on (proto)racism in Antiquity by Isaac (2004). cor Latinum. Van Hal (2009) 148–151 offers an excellent overview 57 Sidonius Apollinaris, Epist. 4.17.1: Tertia ur- as well as biographical guidance. banitas, qua te ineptire facetissime allegas et Quirinalis

22 7. Christianity and Change? ceitedness. Greeks should not boast about having invented their language thanks to The issue of Early Christianity and lan- their own brilliant minds60. God will hear guages inevitably brings us to the vexed and understand prayers in any language61. question ‘ what changes did Christianity However, to Saint Augustine, the diversity bring?’ Indeed, the new Christian religion of languages is an issue that causes men had its origin in an Aramaic language to prefer the company of their dogs rather context. Christianity was embedded in than to be with fellow humans with whom the Jewish tradition. While Jesus spoke no communication whatsoever is possi- in Aramaic and surely knew Hebrew, His ble62. All this also begs the question of an message was mainly spread in Greek, the ‘ideal’ language which would ensure uni- lingua franca of the East of the Empire. versal communication63. As Christian communities existed in Rome The ninth book of the Origines by Isi- from the first century on, Latin became the dore of Sevilla is entirely devoted to lan- other important language for dissemina­ guage-related issues and therefore entitled ting the new religion. In late Antiquity, De linguis gentium. To him, there can be no Coptic and Syriac became the languages doubt that Hebrew was the primeval lan- of local churches with their own liturgical, guage, before the fall of the Babel tower64. theological and cultural traditions, while About two hundred years before, Jerome outside the Empire Armenian and Ethiopic also gained the same status. 60 In the Jewish tradition about the tower Cyrillus, Contra Jul. 4.135–136; Glaphyra in Pent. Gen. 2.44; Contra Jul. 7.234. See Van Rooy of Babel, language diversity was linked (2013). to divine punishment58. But on the feast 61 Origenes, Contra Cels. 8.27–31; 37. 62 Augustinus, Civ. 19.7: In quo primum linguarum of Pentecost, the apostles experienced diuersitas hominem alienat ab homine. Nam si duo sibi- 59 polyglossia – a positive language ex- met inuicem fiant obuiam neque praeterire, sed simul perience of speaking in ‘all’ tongues, on esse aliqua necessitate cogantur, quorum neuter lin- guam nouit alterius: facilius sibi muta animalia, etiam which the patristic writers commented diuersi generis, quam illi, cum sint homines ambo, so- again and again (like Augustine’s Sermo ciantur. Quando enim quae sentiunt inter se communi- 162/A quoted in the beginning of this pa- care non possunt, propter solam diuersitatem linguae nihil prodest ad consociandos homines tanta similitudo per). Language diversity is sometimes naturae, ita ut libentius homo sit cum cane suo quam interpreted as a means created by God to cum homine alieno. In what follows, Augustine offers secure humankind against pride and con- an interesting analysis on the argument that at least the Roman Empire made an end to this diversity by impos- ing its language (and making interpreters almost super- impletus fonte facundiae potor Mosellae Tiberim ructas, fluous). This was only done by much bloodshed. sic barbarorum familiaris, quod tamen nescius barba- 63 Eco (1993) is a classic on the search for the per- rismorum, par ducibus antiquis lingua manuque, sed fect universal language. On the tradition of gestures, quorum dextera solebat non stilum minus tractare quam omnium hominum communis sermo according to Quin- gladium. tilianus, Inst. or. 11.3.87, see Rochette (1995) 11. Lu- 58 Gen. 11.1–9. See Borst (1957–1963) for an im- cian, Salt. 64 is telling an anecdote on the universality portant study. of body language by a dancer at the court of Nero. 59 Act. 2.1–13. In the twentieth century, hearing 64 Isidorus of Sevilla, Orig. 9.1.1: Nam priusquam confession in all languages and even responding in each superbia turris illius in diversos signorum sonos huma- person’s language is one of the miracles attributed to nam divideret societatem, una omnium nationum lingua Padre Pio. See Godefroy (2013) 38. fuit quae Hebrea vocatur.

23 had explicitly highlighted his multilingual rather ancient views on polyglots, strike us competence which gave him authority as a as different. The rarity of the pheno­menon translator of the Scriptures and in exegeti- in a society in which multilingualism was cal interpretation: “Will you, a bilingual a current feature forces us to think about yourself, mock me, a trilingual?”65. Sure- vital issues such as the valuation of lan- ly, this was an intellectual climate which guage and communication, ethnocentric- could favour multilingualism or polyglot- ity and imperialism, as well as the link tery – the study of early Christian writers between character and language. Com- on the origin, diversity and classification parative cultural history opens windows to of languages is a project which is in its first monolingualism in other ancient empires, phase66. while studying the rise of Tuscan Italian in the Renaissance period informs us about 8. Conclusions the intrinsic link between class conscious- This paper was started as a search for ness and the valuation of language. polyglots in Antiquity. A recent book on This paper on anecdotical evidence has extraordinary language learners states that turned out to bea study on social and cul- polyglots do things with language that the tural history. When Schliemann proudly people who speak them natively would advertised his knowledge of 22 languages, never do. They have an ability to rapidly he was presumably thinking about Mith- analyse a language, a prodigious memory, radates who up to now stands as an icon an apparent ability to mimic speech sounds of polygottery. Yet it is not only the lan- which are not native to them, and an abi­ guages studied that make the difference lity to switch from one language to anoth- between Schliemann and Mithradates. er without letting them interfere with one Scholarly esteem and admiration was the another. These abilities, which can be en- last thing Mithradates could have expected hanced by the sacrifice of spending much by displaying his skills. Although by their time, are often considered unique. There- language skills both he and Schliemann fore, polyglots become part of cabinets of managed to gain the aura of a legend, they curiosities. In a way, they are treated as lived in different and separate worlds, two freaks67. worlds very much apart. Quite unsurprisingly, I was able to find some ‘remarkable’ instances of polyglot- Acknowledgements tery in the ancient sources. Obviously, In more than one way, this paper has its some similarities can be observed. But for origins in academic stays in Vilnius and more than one reason, ancient polyglots, or Lissabon / Coimbra. I would like to thank my Lithuanian colleagues Audronė 65 Hieronymus, Adv. Rufin. 2.22: me trilinguem Kučinskienė and Nijolė Juchnevičienė, bilinguis ipse ridebis. See Rebenich (1993) on Jerome; Denecker, Partoens, Swiggers, Van Hal (2012) 433– thanks to whom it became clear to me that 434, also for the translation of the fragment. polyglot aspirations for learning Lithuani- 66 See the most promising project by Denecker, Par- toens, Swiggers,Van Hal (2012). an would be an almost impossible goal for 67 Erard (2012) 62–63. me to aim for. Their great hospitality was

24 much appreciated. Many thanks also go to English, which he provided by correcting my most hospitable Portuguese colleagues this text. Paula Barata Dias and Francisco Oliveira: In order to keep the polyglot experi- de diversitate linguarum will hopefully ence, I have refrained from offering trans- become a shared project. lations of the Greek and Latin fragments. Guy Tops in many ways improved my The bibliography offers guidance for fur- English. Twenty years ago he initiated me ther reading – I hope to have done justice into the Gothic language. I am most grate- to the diverse research traditions, in diffe­ ful for his lessons in written (academic) rent languages, of course.

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POLIGLOTAI SENOVĖS ROMOJE: SOCIOKULTŪRINĖS ISTORIJOS REKONSTRUKCIJA REMIANTIS ANEKDOTAIS Christian Laes Santrauka Straipsnio autorius, remdamasis kruopščia antikinių mi kaip keistuoliai. Liudijimų apie poliglotus yra iš- šaltinių analize, tiria daugiakalbystės reiškinį Anti- likę ir antikiniuose šaltiniuose. Galima pastebėti ne- koje. Poliglotams būdinga neįprasta kalbos vartose- mažai panašumų tarp poliglotų vertinimo Antikoje ir na, besiskirianti nuo gimtakalbių vartosenos (gebėji- šiais laikais, bet yra ir principinių skirtumų: palyginti mas greitai analizuoti kalbą, pamėgdžioti svetimos mažas šio reiškinio paplitimas visuomenėje, kurioje kalbos garsus, greitai persiorientuoti nuo vienos kal- daugiakalbystė buvo įprastas dalykas, kelia tokius bos prie kitos, itin gera atmintis) traukia žmonių dė- klausimus, kaip antai kalbos ir jos komunikacinės mesį. Nors šie gebėjimai gali būti išugdomi, dažnai funkcijos vertinimas, etnocentrizmo ir imperializmo jie laikyti unikaliais, todėl poliglotai neretai vertina- santykis, asmenybės ir kalbos sąsajos.

Gauta 2013-11-01 Autoriaus adresas: Priimta publikuoti 2013-11-22 Dept. of History, Grote Kauwenberg 18 (D 320) University of Antwerp B 2000 Antwerpen Dept. of Languages and Literature Pleinlaan 2 (B 5-445) Free University of Brussels, B 1050 Brussel E-mail: [email protected]

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