On two expressions for the new moon in latin

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Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

On two expressions for the new moon in latin

Maria N. Kazanskaya

The article examines two expressions for the new moon in Latin, luna silens and luna sicca (or sitiens). Despite the unusual imagery behind the choice of these epithets, the expressions appear in unremarkable, technical contexts (mostly, in works on agriculture by Cato, Columella, Pliny the Elder) and denote this particular phase of the lunar cycle without any indication that the metaphors were perceived by speakers. The paper aims at explaining this paradox. It is shown that neither of these expressions was based on superstitions or popular lore. They reflected, in fact, an attempt to present the phase of the lunar cycle when the moon is invisible in contrast to other visible phases, which are easier to identify. Thus, luna silens was created by opposition to luna crescens “the waxing moon”, as denoting the moment before active, visible growth will begin. Luna sicca, on the other hand, was created by opposition to luna plena, “the full moon”, where the moon would be imagined as a vessel, gradually filled to its fullness by white light. Finally, luna sitiens was an expression, synonymic to luna sicca, created by analogy with luna silens. While these expressions were used as terms without any artistic effect, Augustan poets seem to have recognized their poetic potential and, on some occasions, put it to use (in particular, Verg. Aen. 2, 255 and Prop. 2, 17, 15).

Keywords: new moon, luna silens, luna sicca (sitiens), Cato, Pliny the Elder, Columella, agricultural lore, Vergil, Propertius.

new moon latin

Latin has several expressions for the new moon, i.e. the day that opens the new lunar phase when the Moon is not visible due to it having the same ecliptic longitude as the Sun:1 paradoxically, luna nova was not one of them, as the term seems to have been used for the “new moon” in a broader sense, designating the first days of a lunar month.* An earlier version of this article was presented at the 47th International Philological Research Confer-ence, organized by St. Petersburg State University (March 21-22, 2018). I would like to thank the audience for the discussion of my paper, and in particular, D. V Keyer for his generous and insightful comments and suggestions. Throughout this article the term “new moon” will be used in this narrow, terminological sense of the moon in conjunction with the sun, and not in the more popular usage that designates the first days of the lunar cycle as the “new moon”. Thus, Tavenner 1918, 80; cf. novae lunae in Hor. Cam. 3, 19, 9 (with Nisbet, Rudd 2004, 234 ad loc., who compare the expression with Greek voupr|v(a which can be used to designate the beginning of the month. While this parallel is certainly pertinent, there is a slight difference that distinguishes voupr|v(a in Greek: the term was originally used for the first day of the lunar month considered a holy day, linked to religious celebrations and practices (cf. Mikalson 1972). Thus, there is a transfer of meaning from the astro-nomical designation of the new moon to the day of the month (cf. Thuc. 2, 28, 1 where the historian stresses

Two expressions, interlunium or luna intermenstrua, were clearly of astronomic origins, referring to the notion of transition from one lunar cycle to another. The idea behind two remaining expressions, luna silens, literally “the silent moon”, and luna sicca or luna sitiens, “the dry/thirsty moon”, is much less obvious and requires a separate examination. If taken literally, neither the verb sileo, silere nor the adjective siccus are an intuitive choice to qualify the moon, and the resulting expressions, if viewed through the lens of classical Latin, would appear strikingly metaphoric. However, what renders them all the more enigmatic is the fact that both luna silens and luna sicca (sitiens) are attested principally in technical, unpoetic texts, both being more popular with Roman agricultural writers than the more straightforward luna intermenstrua or interlunium? Moreover, the contexts suggest that for average Latin speakers luna silens and luna sicca (sitiens) were the neutral designation of the particular day of the lunar cycle, while the metaphoric nature of the two epithets seems to have gone largely unnoticed.4 This article proposes to explain the origins of the two expressions and to analyze some poetic contexts in which they are used for artistic effect.

Before examining the two designations of the new moon, it is worth making an overview of the denominations of lunar phases; these expressions are fairly well attested, especially, as in agricultural lore different phases were considered appropriate for different agricultural tasks.5 The name for the waxing moon in Roman writers is luna crescens (sometimes allowing for periphrastic expressions such as cum luna incrementum capit).that he is talking about the vou|rr|via in the astronomical sense); however, due to the religious dimension, vou|rr|via is still applied to one day only, contrary to the expression luna nova which can be applied to several

days. For examples of luna intermenstrua and interlunium in agricultural contexts, see Cato, Agr. 37, 4; Plin. HN. 17, 215; 18, 158; 18, 322; 18, 158; etc. This is particularly evident when the expression appears in combinations like luna silenti post meri-diem (Cato, Agr. 40, 1; cf. below). For the fullest overview of the evidence, see the excellent article by Tavenner (1918). Columella, Rust.2, 10, 12; for the discussion of this expression, see n. 12. For luna plena, see, e.g., Plin. HN. 14, 134; 17, 215; 18, 322; Colum. De arb. 15; for plenilunium, Columella, Rust.11, 2, 85; Plin. HN. 16, 194; etc. In poetry, the phase of the full moon could also be indi-cated by applying the epithet plenus to features of the moon: cf., plenos extinxit Cynthia vultus “the moon extinguished her full face” (Petron. Sat. 122, line 130); bis quinosplena cum fronte resumeret orbes / Cynthia, “when the moon regained for the tenth time the orb with the fullness of her brow” (Stat. Theb. 1, 576-577). E. g., Cato, Agr. 37, 4; Plin. HN. 18, 322; Vitr. 9, 2, 3; etc. For luna decrescens, cf. Columella, Rust.11, 2, 11; 11, 2, 52; Cato, Agr. 31, 2; Plin. HN. 17, 146; 18, 321; etc. For luna senescens, cf. Varro, Rust. 37, 1 and 3; Gell. NA 20, 8, 4 (with the possibility of periphrasis cum senescit luna, cf. Varro, Rust. 1, 64, 1). A less specific kind of expressions for the waning moon were based on the comparative minor, minus: thus, cum luna minuitur (Pallad. 10, 12); and Horace's minorem ad lunam (Sat. 2, 8, 31-32), as Kuijper 1966 has shown, must also refer to the waning moon. The full moon was called plena luna (more seldom, by a univerbalised term, pleniluni- um).7 The first and last quarter-moon was called dimidia luna or luna dimidiata,8 and the waning moon could be designated as luna decrescens, luna senescens, luna minuens or by some kind of periphrasis.9 Even a cursory glance at these terms is sufficient to discover a tendency to designate opposite moon phases by antonymic expressions. This is especially evident in the case of luna decrescens / senescens / minuens as opposed to luna crescens, where the coexistence of three terms based on two distinct metaphors shows beyond doubt that luna crescens was the original term, while luna decrescens / senescens / minuens were created either by simple negation or, by antonym, in opposition to two meanings, literal and metaphorical, of crescere, “grow in size, grow physically” and “grow to adulthood, age”. As we shall show, a similar process seems to have been at work in the case of luna silens and luna sitiens (sicca).

Luna silens

In the preserved texts, the expression luna silens appears almost exclusively in the ablative, the variation of the ending showing that the epithet could be interpreted either as an adjective (in which case the expression becomes an ablative in its temporal function, si- lenti luna), or as a participle forming an ablative absolute construction, luna silente.10 The verb silere in this expression seems to have never been replaced by a synonym11, so that we are dealing with a fixed term. The majority of contexts where luna silenti appears concern advice on sowing, planting or manuring, together with indications of the best season and weather (especially, as regards the winds) for these farming procedures, e.g.:

Alteram quartam partem (scil. stercoris) in pratum reservato idque, cum maxime opus erit, ubi favonius flabit, evehito luna silenti (Cato, Agr. 29).

“Keep the other quarter (of manure) for the field and, when it is most needed, bring it out on the day of the new moon, when west wind blows.”

Per ver haec fieri oportet: <...> in locis crassis et umectis ulmos, ficos, poma, oleas seri oportet: ficos, oleas, mala, pira, vites inseri oportet luna silenti post meridiem sine vento austro (ibid. 40, 1).

“In spring the following should be done: in places that are rich and moist, elms, figs, apple-trees, olive-trees should be planted; figs, olive-trees, apple-trees, pear-trees, vines should be planted on the day of the new moon, in the afternoon, when there is no south wind.”

Prata primo vere stercerato luna silenti: quae inrigiva non erunt, ubi favonius flare coeperit (ibid. 50).

“Fields should be manured in the beginning of spring on the day of the new moon: for they will not be well-watered, once the west wind starts to blow.”

Silente luna fabam vellito ante lucem, deinde cum in area exaruerit, confestim, prius quam luna in- crementum capiat, excussam refrigeratamque in granarium conferto. (Columella, Rust. 2, 10, 12).

“Gather the beans during the new moon before sunrise; then, after they have dried on the threshing-floor, at once, before the moon gains <noticeable> growth, It is very probable that the expression silenti luna was the original form, while the ablative absolute was a reinterpretation (this will be discussed in a separate article). A. Ernout in his edition of Pliny reconstructed an expression for the new moon in which silenti would be replaced by tacenti (Ernout 1962, 27-28): Ungues resecari nundinis Romanis <luna> tacenti atque a digito indice multorum persuasione religiosum est, “Cutting nails on the Roman nundinae (market-days) during (the new moon?), and commencing from the forefinger, is considered a bad sign in the opinion of many people” (Plin. HN. 28, 28). The transmitted text is certainly obscure, and it is difficult to understand tacenti as it stands. However, there is no external evidence that tacere could be substituted for silere in the designation of the new moon; moreover, the application of the superstition would be uncharacteristically limited, if the recommenda-tion to avoid cutting nails were restricted to days when the nundinae coincide with the new moon. The expression prius quam luna incrementum capiat is sometimes understood as indicating of the beginning of the waxing moon phase, which necessarily makes the scholars interpret the expression silente

luna as referring to the waning moon, not only to the new moon: thus, “Here it is apparent that the dark of the moon is thought of as the remnant of the waning moon; and that if the moon should begin to in-crease before the harvest was garnered, the beans would not dry successfully” (Tavenner 1918, 70, quoted with approval by Cram 1936, 258). This goes contrary to the specific use of the expression silenti luna to denote the day between two lunar cycles when the moon is invisible. It seems much better to understand the expression prius quam luna incrementum capiat as referring to a stage of the waxing phase, when the moon's incrementum clearly seen. Unfortunately, I was unable to ascertain how long it takes for beans to dry; intuitively, during a dry summer several days under the sun might suffice, so that the moon would not even have to reach the dimidia luna stage. Alternatively, D. V. Keyer has suggested to me that the words prius quam luna incrementum capiat might be a gloss on silente luna that was accidentally incorporated into the main text, rendering Columella's instructions practically unfeasible (he considers that the beans would have to dry for a longer period of time), and hence Palladius' correction to luna minuente in his rendering of the same advice (Pall. 7, 3, 2). However, as the expression incrementum capere is rare, I would prefer to keep Columella's text as it is and to understand incrementum as noticeable growth: Columella's lack of precision in this case could be explained by varying delays for the process depending on how dry or moist the season is. stock them in the granary, having beaten them out and cooled them.”

<...> hoc (scil. vicia, passioli, pabulum) silente luna seri iubent (Plin. HN. 18, 314).

“They advise that these (i.e. vetch-peas, calavance, fodder plants) should be sown in the new moon”.

Pliny formulates the general principle of observance of this phase of lunar cycle with regard to agricultural tasks in the following manner:

Inter omnes vero convenit utilissime in coitu eius sterni, quem diem alii interlunii, alii silentis lunae appellant (Plin. HN. 16, 190).

“However, of all days, timber is to be felled with most advantage when the sun and moon come together, on the day that is called by some the midmoon day, and others call the day of the silent moon”

These contexts show that for Latin speakers the expression luna silenti (silente) was a neutral indication of the lunar phase that could even be combined with an indication of the time of day, amounting in paradoxical expressions of the type luna silenti post meridiem (Cato, Agr. 40, 1) This paradoxical usage is often remarked on by scholars: Shackleton Bailey 1947, 90; Heyworth 2007, 187 n. 51. See OLD 1968, 1761, s.v. silens, -ntis.. However, the choice of the verb silere is not self-evident, as the transition from the idea of being silent to the notion of not giving light makes for a fairly bold metaphor. In fact, lemmas in dictionaries have a difficulty of finding an appropriate category for the expression: OLD is a case in point, as it makes a separate entry for luna silenti.14 There have been diverse attempts to explain the use of silere in luna silenti. Works on Roman religion unsurprisingly associate the epithet silens with the allegorical representation of the moon as a deity (moreover, associated with Hecate); Thus, Lunais 1979, 335; Green 2007, 134. Tavenner 1918, 81-82 was certainly right when he insisted that agricultural lore (i.e. the system of practical observations and beliefs according to which a Roman farmer scheduled his activities) should be distinguished from religious beliefs and practices. however, the technical nature of the texts and absence of explicit religious connotations or any stylistic features that usually accompany allegoresis is a serious drawback to accepting this explanation. Another approach linked the use of silere to its association with other forces of nature, in particular, with the winds: That the semantic development was thus reconstructed is evident from the lemma in Georges 1886, Bd. II, 2390-2391, s.v. sileo, partic. silens (b). For this usage of silere, cf. verumtamen praestat eligere sationi

silentis vel certeplacidi spiritus diem, “however, for sowing it is best to choose a day of no wind, or a gentle one” (Columella, Rust. 3, 19, 3); [...] diem quoque tepidum silentemque a ventis eligat “let him choose a warm and windless day” (Columella, Rust. 4, 29, 5). It was also popular in poetry: ibi omnessilent venti... “there all winds are silent..” (Plin. Epist. 2, 17, 7); unde hiemes ventique silent “thence tempests and winds are silent” (Stat. Ach. 1, 54); silet umidus aer “moist air is silent” (Ov. Met. 7. 187); aequora tuta silent, “the safe sea is silent” (Verg. Aen. 1, 164); cur adhuc undae silent? “why are waves still silent?” (Sen. Phaedr. 954). the parallel, however, does not seem appropriate, as the choice of silere is not unexpected when speaking of a natural phenomenon which, in its stronger manifestations is associated with sound. Finally, Ernout and Meillet in their discussion of the use and etymology of the verb silere, indicate (implicitly rather than explicitly) that luna silenti might have originated with the use of silere in the vegetal sphere. See Ernout-Meillet 1967, 625 who mention the expression luna silenti between the uses of silere for forces of nature and its use for plants and vegetative growth; cf. also Kazanskaya (forthcoming). Indeed, an overview of agricultural contexts in which the verb silere appears shows a number of contexts connected to growth (especially of vegetation), to indicate the moment that immediately precedes active, visible growth -- the moment when the plant has all the potential for bringing forth new branches and stems, is ready for it but no signs of growth are as yet apparent: The lemma in OLD 1968, 1761, s.v. sileo, groups very different usages under the last meaning “5 To be inactive, be quiet. b (of processes, actions, etc. not to function, be quiescent. c (of plants, etc.) to be dor-mant; (of eggs) to show no sign of activity, i.e. not to hatch”: the problem is that the lemma does not distin-guish between the use of the verb for artistic effect and terminological use where no such effect is apparent. Cf. Lunais 1979, 337 who remarks: « Dans ces deux cas (scil. Cic. Mil. 10 and Tac. Hist. 3, 47 -- M. K.) ; l'image se comprend delle-meme ; le franqais peut la garder sans la deformer. Il en va tout autrement de la lune `silencieuse' ».

quae (scil. sarmenta et calamenta) sicco tamen solo legenda sunt, ne lutosa humus inculcata maiorem fossori laborem praebeat, quiprotinus adhuc silentibus vineis inducendus est (Columella, Rust.4, 27, 1).

“These (scil. prigs and deadwood) should be gathered while the ground is dry, so that the trampling of muddy earth does not render the task more difficult for the digger, who should be sent for at once, while the vines are still dormant”.

<...> eoque debemus intellegere nullam partem anni excipi, si sit sarmenti silentis facultas (ibid. 4, 29, 1).

“And for that we must understand that no part of the year should be an exception, should there be any capacity for growth of prigs (i. e. in plants that are as yet dormant).”

In these passages the verb is applied to perennial plants so that the idea behind the expression silentibus vineis is contrasted with antequam germinent (4, 27, 1), as well as that behind sarmenti silentis with sine germine (4, 29, 1). It should be noted specifically that the verb silere in the sense of expectation of active growth tends to be used in the present participle, focusing on the dormant state; it can also be applied to eggs that have not yet hatched:

<...> nam post unum et vicesimum diem silentia oua carent animalibus (ibid. 8, 5, 15). D. V Keyer suggests that the usage of silere in silentia ova may in fact have been the primary meta-phor, and that thence the verb was transferred to the vegetative sphere. Unfortunately, the expressions are not sufficiently well attested (silentia ova occurs only once) to decide which of them was primary and which was secondary. “For eggs that are not hatched after twenty-one days have no living creature in them.”

The usage of silere to designate the period immediately preceding growth, when all the potential for growing is in place but the process has not yet begun, corresponds exactly to the meaning that we were looking for in luna silenti: the choice of silere for the periphrasis was at once accurate and technical, as it characterized the astronomical phenomenon (the period when the moon is not visible) by means of the antonym to crescere that described its positive counterpart (the period when the moon grows). The metaphor behind silere thus equated the lunar cycle to the cycle of vegetative growth, which, given the persistency of beliefs in the connection between the growth of the moon and the growth of plants, hair, young animals, Among plants, animals and other entities whose development was linked by the Romans to the growing phase of the moon, sources mention lentils (Pallad. 3, 4), reeds (Plin. HN. 17, 108); trees in general (Columella, Rust. 5, 11, 2; De arb. 29, 1; Cato, Agr. 40, 1), eggs (Plin. HN. 18, 322, cf. Columella, Rust. 8, 5, 9 -- the logic behind Columella's advice is aptly explained by Tavenner 1918, 77-78), hair and wool (Varro, Rust. 1, 37), oysters and other mollusks (Cic. Div. 2, 33-34), etc. The general principle guiding farmers' choice of the lunar phase was laid down by Palladius: omnia quae seruntur crescente luna et diebus tepidis suntserenda “all cultures that are sown should be sown during the waxing moon and on warm days” (Pallad. 1, 6, 12). For a thorough discussion of this belief, see Tavenner 1918, passim; cf. Riess 1893, col. 39-40 and Roscher 1890, 61-67. made the expression luna silenti all the more natural and acceptable. It should be stressed however that this connection was secondary.

Luna sicca (sitiens)

The expressions luna sicca “during the dry moon” and luna sitiente “during the thirsty moon” seem to have been less current than luna silenti. As in the case of luna silenti, the epithet is clearly metaphorical, but the dictionaries offer no clue as to which meaning of siccus and sitiens the expression is grounded on. OLD ignores the expressions luna sicca and luna sitiens (see OLD 1968, 1754-1755, s.v. siccus; 1774, s.v. sitiens). In Roman sources, Pliny the Elder is the only one to use it, and it is also from him that we learn of the existence of an analogous expression, luna sitiente:

<...>fimum inicere terraeplurimum refert favonioflante ac luna sitiente. idpleriqueprave intelle- gunt a favonii ortu faciendum ac Februario mense tantum, cum id pleraque sata <et> aliis postu- lent mensibus. quocumque tempore facere libeat, curandum, ut ab occasu aequinoctiali flante vento fiat lunaque decrescente ac sicca. mirum in modum augetur ubertas effectusque eius observatione tali (Plin. HN. 17, 57).

“It pays best to manure the ground when the west wind is blowing and the moon is thirsty. The majority wrongly take it that this should be done when the west wind sets in and only in the month of February, whereas most crops need manuring in other months as well. Manuscripts of Pliny give aliis, and the conjunction et was added by H. Rackham in his Loeb edi-tion. This is a fortunate addition from the point of view of style and content: <et> aliis mensibus nicely bal-ances Februario mense tantum; and a number of crops are indeed regularly given additional, albeit lighter, manuring during the months of their growth. Whatever the season when it is done, one must take care to do it when the wind blows from due west (i.e. west as the point of sunset on the equinoxes -- M. K.) and when the moon is waning or dry. Observing <this rule> increases fertility and the effectiveness of the procedure.”

Given that the expression is not otherwise attested, and that Pliny is here closely following Cato (Agr. 29, 1, passage cited above), it does not come as a surprise that there have been attempts at correcting the text. Ferdinandus Pintianus (Latin name of the Spanish humanist Hernan Nunez de Toledo y Guzman), based on a comparison with Cato's discussion of manuring the fields, surmised that the expression luna sitiente must be equivalent to luna silenti, and concluded from it that in Pliny sitiente should be modified to silenti.²³ Pintianus in Hermolaus Barbarus et al. 1668, 333 (on Plin. HN. 17, 57): “scribendum silente non sitiente ex Catone ipso, cap. 29”; cf. ibid. p. 351 (on Plin. HN. 17, 112).

²⁴ Cf. Detlefsen 1992 (1868), 66 ; Ian-Mayhoff 1892, 81; Andre 1964, 39; Rackham 1950, 40; Konig 1994, 44.

²⁵ Cato, Agr. 41, 2 and 40, 1; cf. Andre 1964, 147 n. 1 (on § 112). Although the equivalence is certainly correct, editors of Natural History are right to reject his correction,24 as it gives preference to the lectio facilior over the interesting rarer variant. The second example of luna sitiente occurs in the same book of Naturalis historia, and in this case as well the transmitted text provoked certain doubts:

Inseri autem praecipit pira ac mala per ver et post solstitium diebus L <et> post vindemiam, oleas autem et ficos per ver tantum, luna sitiente, [hoc est sicca] praeterea post meridiem ac sine vento austro (17, 112).

“[Cato] advises that the pear and apple trees be grafted during the spring, and fifty days after midsummer and after the vintage, whereas the olive and fig trees only in the spring, when the moon is thirsty [i.e. dry], moreover, in the afternoon and not when a south wind is blowing.”

Once again, Pliny follows Cato (in this case, referring to him by name), conflating two distinct passages from De agricultural5 The second part of the advice takes up Cato's luna silenti post meridiem sine uento austro, “during the silent moon, in the afternoon, without south wind” (Cato, Agr. 40, 1). And while Pliny's luna sitiente clearly rephrases Cato's luna silenti, Detlefsen suggested bracketing the parenthesis hoc est sicca as an explanatory gloss that had in all likelihood been interpolated from the earlier passage from the same book of Natural History (17, 57) where luna sicca and luna sitiente had appeared in close proximity.²⁶ Detlefsen 1992 (1868), 76: “uncis inclusi”; Detlefsen's doubts regarding the authenticity of the pa-renthesis are shared by Rackham 1950, 78 and Konig 1994, 78 who actually omit hoc est sicca from the main text, as well as by Ian-Mayhoff 1892, 97 and Andre 1964, 58 who follow Detlefsen in bracketing the phrase. On the other hand, Lunais 1979, 329 accepts the parenthesis as genuine, even using it as proof that for Pliny the expressions luna sicca and sitiens were equivalent: “Il est evident que luna sicca, la lune seche, est lequivalent de luna sitiente et sexplique de la meme maniere. Pline ecrit d'ailleurs un peu plus loin (XVII, 112) luna sitiente (hoc est sicca)”.

Despite doubts occasionally expressed over the correctness of the transmitted text in these passages, there can be little doubt that the expressions luna sitiente and luna sicca existed and were used as doublets for luna silenti. Unfortunately, their rareness does not allow us to determine whether Pliny's avoidance of luna silenti reflected a change in Latin usage (i.e. that contemporary Latin speakers viewed it as an archaism), or the expression was still current in Pliny's day, so that his preference for luna sitiente (sicca) was idiosyn- cratic²⁷ Lunais 1979, 330 notes that the use of luna sitiente is restricted to two books of the Naturalis His- toria: “Constatons simplement cette etrangete, sans lui chercher d'autres raisons peut-etre qu'un certain engouement tres passager pour cette expression (scil. luna sitiente -- M. K.) de la part de Pline au moment ou il redigeait les livres XVII et XVIII de son ouvrage”.. Some stylistic difference between the two expressions cannot, of course, be ruled out (e.g. that one appeared slightly more archaic than the other), just as it is impossible to rule out that inhabitants of different regions of Italy did not yield a slight preference for one or the other term. It is, however, possible to explain the choice of the epithets sicca and sitiens and to establish a relative chronology for the expressions.

If one takes as the starting point the idea that the new moon (phase of the lunar cycle when the moon was not visible) was difficult to describe per se and that the easiest way to denote it was through an antonym of a visible, easily identifiable phase of the lunar cycle, it is easy to guess that the expression luna sicca was derived in contrast with the full moon, luna plena. The expression luna plena suggests that the moon orb was imagined as a vessel that is progressively filled up by some white liquid: the epithet siccus in this context is the closest antonym, suggesting not only emptiness (adjectives such as inaninis or vacuus would express that notion as well) but also the gradual drying up of the white light that had once filled the orb, as well as the certainty that eventually it will be filled up once more. For siccus of vessels, OLD 1968, 1755 (s.v. siccus 6b) cites two examples: Horace's stetit urna paulum / sicca “for a little while the jar stood empty” (Hor. Carm. 3, 11, 22-23) and, from the corpus Tibullianum, quem vestrum pocula sicca iuvant? “Which of you likes empty cups?” ([Tib.] 3, 6, 18). Naturally, the cognate siccare could be used of draining a vessel: siccat inaequalis calices conviva solutus / legibus insanis “every guest drains his cup, be it small or big (literally, cups of uneven size), not bound by insane laws” (Hor. Serm. 2, 6, 68-69); siccatoque avide poculo negat sibi umquam acidius fuisse “and having avidly drained the cup he declares that never had he tasted anything sourer” (Petron. Sat. 92); cf. bina diesiccant ovis ubera “they drain twice a day the udder of the sheep” (Verg. Buc. 2, 42), etc. There is in fact one context which illustrates very clearly this idea. In Lucius' prayer to the moon, the goddess' rays are qualified as “wet”:

<...> ista luce feminea conlustrans cuncta moenia et udis ignibus nutriens laeta semina et solis ambagibus dispensans incerta lumina, quoquo nomine, quoquo ritu, quaqua facie te fas est invocare (Apul. Met. 11, 2, 3).

“You, who light up with your womanly light every city, and nourish with your wet fires joyous seeds, and dispense your fluctuating beams according to the motion of the Sun, by whatever name, by whatever rite, in whatever guise it is permitted to invoke you...”

M. Zimmermann, when discussing this passage, focuses on physical theories underlying the idea of the connection between the moon and moistness, and hence to vegetal growth See Zimmermann 2012, 6-7, in particular: “Apuleius may have enjoyed wrapping his allusions to the above theories about the moistening effluences of the moon into one striking oxymoronic phrase” (ibid. 7).. However, it seems even more probable that Apuleius was combining in this passage natural theories with popular lore, which called the phase when the moon was invisible the “dry” (sicca) moon, while the rays of the full moon could, by contrast, be characterized as “wet” -- especially as Apuleius had stated specifically that on that night the moon was full and extraordinarily bright (Met. 11, 1, 1).

It is very probable that the terms luna sicca (describing the phase of the new moon as the exact opposite of the full moon) and luna silenti (describing it by contrast with the phase of the growing moon) coexisted for a fairly long time and were used interchangeably by the Latin speakers. While there is no proof that one is more archaic than the other, chances are that luna sicca was created at a slightly later stage, as it seems to reflect a systemic view of the lunar cycle and a search for symmetry in the terminology for opposing phases of the moon, with plena luna opposed to sicca luna, just as luna crescens is opposed to luna decrescens (it is worth noticing that earlier agricultural writers show a marked preference for the expression luna silenti). As for the doublet luna sitiente, there can be little doubt that it was a secondary, analogical creation under the influence of luna silenti, combining the imagery of luna sicca with the syntactical construction of the latter expression. Finally, the idea behind the epithets sicca and sitiens and the representation of the new moon as the “dry” or “thirsting” found additional support in the Roman lore, in particular, in the belief that the growth was linked to the quantity of dew that falls during the night. See Roscher 1890, 49-55; Tavenner 1918, 68. According to a very specific superstition, Thessalian witches had the power to bring down with their incantations a particular kind of poison (virus lunare, also described as venenum or spuma lunaris) from the moon and gather it as foam from the dewy grass (Lucan. 6, 506 and 669; Stat. Theb. 2, 284-285; Val. Flacc. 6, 447); I thank D. V. Keyer for calling my attention to this belief. The connection between the moon and the dew is so well established that it has misled some modern scholars into reconstructing the folk belief as the main cause for the expression luna sicca: cf. Shackleton Bailey 1947, 90 in his examination of the use of sicca... luna in Prop. 2, 17, 15, remarks after mentioning several passages where the waning moon is linked to tasks that demand dry conditions, “it is natural to sup-pose that [.] sicca luna implies a dry atmosphere”.

Allusions to luna silens and luna sicca in Roman poetry

We hope to have shown that the two designations of the new moon, luna silens and luna sicca (sitiens), were invented in opposition to different phases of the lunar cycle -- the waxing moon and the full moon: in both cases, the search for the opposite expression was the guiding principle for creating the expression, so that the epithets silens and sicca are nothing more than antonyms of crescens and plena (respectively), and the appearance of the two expressions in agricultural texts show that for Latin speakers they were technical terms and did not carry particular poetic associations. However, Roman poets did not fail to notice the poetic potential of luna silens and luna sicca (sitiens), and Augustan poetry offers two passages where this potential is put to use -- Verg. Aen. 2, 255 and Prop. 2, 17, 15. The remarkable fact is that in both passages, which have attracted a fair amount of attention from modern scholars, a reference to the agricultural term, suggested at some point, is rejected by the majority of commentators; as Vergil and Propertius allude to two different expressions and the contexts are not interconnected, the two passages are never considered in parallel: however, given the similarity in the approach of the two poets, a comparison seems to be worth the effort.

In Aen. 2, 250ff. Aeneas recounts the details of the Achaeans' ruse, stressing that the enemy had awaited nightfall before taking action, both inside and outside Troy:

et iam Argiva phalanx instructis navibus ibat a Tenedo tacitae per amica silentia lunae litora nota petens, flammas cum regia puppis extulerat, fatisque deum defensus iniquis inclusos utero Danaos etpinea furtim laxat claustra Sinon...

(Aen. 2, 254-259).

“And already the Argive phalanx was advancing on ships arranged in battle order from Tenedos

thorough the benevolent silence of the quiet moon, seeking the well-known shores, when the

flagship (literally, the royal deck) raised the flames into the air, and Sinon, protected by unjust fates of the gods, releases Danaans, locked in the [Trojan horse's] womb, and removes surreptitiously the pine bolts.”

Verse 255 has been discussed by scholars and commentators since antiquity. The darkness and, to a lesser degree, the silence of the night that protected the Greeks had been stressed by Aeneas in previous verses (250-253); it would not then be out of place to emphasize once more the silence in which the fleet advanced: however, the wording of v. 255 with its almost tautological tacitae silentia lunae is peculiar. Already for ancient commentators the exact meaning of the line was not evident, and different interpretations were offered. Thus, Donatus, arguing with unnamed predecessors who considered the line a vitium scribentis, understood it as an indication that the first part of the night was moonless, whereas the moon came out later, and that it was then that the Greeks acted. Cf. Donat. Ad Aen. 2, 255: Multi vitium putant scribentis, ut qui dixit `et ruit Oceano nox involvens umbra magna terramque pollumque Myrmidonumque dolos' hic diceret `tacitae per silentia lunae'. Nullum in hoc vitium est si quidem nonnullae noctes habent primas partes tenebrosas, sequentes vero luna super- veniente inlustris. Tale ergo noctis tempus elegerant Graeci quod tenebras haberet oportunas complendis insidiis et somni quietem daret et dehinc aliquid luminis e radiis lunae, et sine periculo vel errore venirent a Tenedo ad civitatis excidium. (“Many consider it to be an authorial error, that the same poet who said `and the night falls, enveloping in her great shadow the earth and the heavens, and the Myrmidon ruses' (2, 251-255) now says `through the silence of the quiet moon'. There is no error in this, as some nights are dark in the first part and illuminated in the later parts, when the moon comes out. This was the moment of the night that the Greeks chose, because it has darkness that is useful for accomplishing treachery and gives still-ness of sleep, and later on some light from the moonbeams, so that they could arrive without risk nor error from Tenedos for the destruction of the people”). Servius proposed two interpretations: tacitae silentia lunae was either used for artistic effect (this is also the interpretation preferred by Servius Danielis), or as an allusion to the Platonic conception of the music of the spheres. Thus, Servius, when discussing the expression, notes, Ad Aen. 2, 255: tacitae lunae: aut more po- etico noctem significat aut physicam rationem dixit, nam circuli septem sunt, Saturni, Iovis, Martis, Solis, Veneris, Mercurii, Lunae. et primus, hoc est Saturni, vehementer sonat, reliqui secundum ordinem minus, sicut audimus in cithara. (“Quiet moon: either he thus poetically denotes the night, or explains the physical reasons. For there are seven circles, that of Saturnus, of Jupiter, of Mars, of the Sun, of Venus, of Mercury, of the Moon. And the first <of these>, i.e. Saturnus' circle, has deep sound, while the others less so, according to their order, just as we perceive in the case of the cithara.”) The first scholar to insist that tacitae silentia lunae could not fail to provoke the association with the expression luna silens was Angelo Politiano who followed Donatus in understanding the periphrasis as an indication that the moon was invisible for a part of the night; Politiano (1489, cap. 100) cites the use of luna silens in agricultural writers, and goes on to recon-struct from Vergil's description that the moon was alternatively visible and invisible on the night that Troy fell: “Nondum igitur luna lucebat, cum illi a Tenedo sub vesperam navigabant. Sed lucere tum coepit, cum iam urbem occupaverant. Non igitur aut sera fuerit, aut pernox luna, tum nec lunae quidem omnino coitus, sed tempus arbitror potius quandiu illa non luceret”. this suggestion was promptly dismissed by several scholars, including Scaliger, on the basis of the early epic tradition that Troy fell during the full moon. For the overview of first responses to Politiano's interpretation, see the clear and succinct summary in Grafton, Swerdlow 1986, 212-213. Since then scholars have been divided in their approach, with some accepting Politiano's idea, but the majority following Scaliger in rejecting the resemblance of tacitae silentia lunae to the agricultural term as accidental and irrelevant to the understanding of Vergil's passage35: this alternative interpretation sees in tacitae silentia lunae a simple indication that the night was a still, silent one, and presupposes that luna is largely equivalent to nox (as a sort of metonymy).36

Politiano's interpretation does in fact have one major weakness (and one that surprisingly does not seem to have been explicitly pointed out by his critics), namely, that the term luna silens is never used indifferently for any night without moonlight -- it designates a specific phase of the lunar phase when the moon cannot be seen, regardless of whether the night sky is clear or not. This usage would seem to severely debilitate Poli- tiano's idea that the periphrasis tacitae silentia lunae alluded to the fact that on the night that Troy fell the moon was not pernox.37 However, the expression tacitae silentia lunae is too pointed (to the point of becoming tautological) to be accidental; indeed, Statius, when reusing Vergil's phrase in his Thebaid, eliminated the pleonasm (per Arcturum mediaeque silentia lunae, Stat. Theb. 2, 58). In Vergil, deliberate juxtaposition of silentium and tacitus renders the association with luna silens unescapable; and the idea that luna could be used as a metonymy for nox does not gain unequivocal support from texts.38

A look at ancient sources on the fall of Troy suggests a certain solution as to the effect sought by Vergil in v. 255. Ancient scholars seem to have debated whether or not Troy was captured on a moonlit night. This problem seems to have arisen with a line from the Ilias parva, which indicated that the moon was shining brightly on that night: vh^ pev epv peadTp, \apnpp á' ºïºòºÌº aekpvp “it was midnight, and bright was the moon rising” (fr. 9 Bernabe)39. This line attracted attention of ancient scholars, who used it to deduce, with the help of astronomical observations, on which day of the year Troy was taken -- an outline of the two positions of the issue by Callisthenes (ca. 360-327 BCE) is preserved in a scholium to Euripides' Hecube:

KaAAiaGsvriq sv â Twv 'EAAr|viKwv ourwq "ypdqiei- “edXw pev q Tpoia ©apYqArwvoq privoq, wq

psv Tiveq Twv [aropiKwv, ¿â laTapsvou, wq áå o Tqv piKpav 'IXid6a, n 90(vovToq. 6iop((ei yap E. g., Austin 1964, 119-120 (on Aen. 2, 255) and Horsfall (2008, 226) with references follow Scaliger in rejecting Politiano's idea of Vergil evoking the term for the new moon; on the other hand, Marouzeau 1933, Cram 1936, Grafton, Swerdlow 1986, Barigazzi 1990 accept Politiano's general idea, corroborating or refining it each in his own way. The idea that lunae stands for noctis goes back to ancient commentators of Vergil, appearing in Ser- vius as one of the two possible explanations of tacitae lunae (aut morepoetico noctem significat, aut..., Serv. Comm. in Aen. 2, 255 Thilo, Hagen). In modern scholarship this can be stated with varying degrees of ex-plicitness: see Conington 1863, 133 (ad Aen. 2, 255), Heinze 1903, 24 n. 1, Cram 1936, 254 and 258 (with ref-erences); Barigazzi 1990, 228 is rightly and explicitly skeptical of the idea. Indeed, in a recent article Giardina 2006 went so far as to propose correcting lunae into noctis in v. 255; this correction is unnecessary and is not followed by editors (cf. Horsfall 2008, 227; Conte 2009, 42 makes no mention of it in his apparatus, ad loc.). “[...] potius accipimus tacitae lunae silentia lunam ipsam quam vocant silentem, hoc est minime tum quidem lucentem, ut latere insidiae magis possent, pulchra nimirum et eleganti tralatione ad auribus ad oculos” (Politiano 1489, cap. 100). The point that luna silenti is only used for a precise phase of the lunar cycle appears in argumentation, whether they be in favour or against Politiano's interpretation of this pas-sage, only rarely (Marouzeau 1933 did note the term's application to the lunar cycle, but suggested that Virgil evoked it with a degree of poetic license, to speak of the moon temporarily disappearing behind clouds). There are no traces of such usage in OLD 1968, 1050, s.v. luna. In an independent search for ex-amples of luna for nox in Latin poetry, we were able to find no good examples with the exception of Statius' mediaeque silentia lunae (Stat. Theb. 2, 58) which is clearly modelled on Vergil (Aen. 2, 255). This fragment is preserved in three sources with minor adjustments of language: Clem. Alex. Strom. 1, 21, 104, 1; schol. in Eur. Hec. 910; schol. in Lycophr. Alex. 344. We quote the text as reconstructed by Ber- nabe in his edition.

auxo^ t^v aXwoiv ôààêøó ou|iPfvai tore x^v KaxaXr|yiv, ^viKa “vu^ |i£v sr|v |³åîîã|, Xagnpa á' ÅëÅòåËËå oeXr|vr|”. |ieoovuKTioi; 6s povov xg 6óá6ã| 90(vovto^ avaxEXXei, ev àËËã| á' ou” (Schol. in Eur. Hec. 910).

“Callisthenes in the second book of his Hellenica writes thus: `Troy was taken during the month of Thargelion, according to some historians, on the twelfth day when the moon was waxing, but according to the author of the Little Iliad on the eighth day when the moon was waning. For he determines the capture when he later says that the city was taken when `it was midnight, and bright was the moon rising' (fr. 9 Bernabe). For it rises at midnight only on the eighth day of the waning moon, and on no other day.”

This testimony is remarkable in that it shows that the date of the fall of Troy was discussed in pre-Alexandrian times: the scholium goes on to state that Callisthenes' position was opposed by Lysimachus. However, there can be little doubt that the discussion was taken over by Hellenistic scholarship, and Vergil, with his thorough knowledge not only of the Greek epic tradition but also of Alexandrian studies and discussions of Homer, would most certainly have been aware of the issue: moreover, in this case we can be certain that he would have specifically looked into the matter, when working on Aeneas' account of the fall of Troy, as the presence or absence of moonlight is important for the perception, and even for the development, of events of that night The fact that Vergil deliberately shifts his emphasis from moonlight to darkness throughout the account of the events of that night, was rightly stressed by Heinze 1903, 24-25; cf. Barigazzi 1990, 237: „L'oscurita della notte e un fatto obiettivo e non si puo pretendere che il poeta, intento a trarre dal buio effetti particolari, precisi o sfumi ogni volta le gradayioni fra le tenebre e le luci”.. Modern commentaries to Vergil cite a series of passages from the second book of the Aeneis pertaining to the question of moonlight: thus, Vergil stresses the darkness of the night in v. 250-251 (ruit Oceano nox / involvens umbra magna terramque polumque), v. 360 (nox atra), v. 397 (nox caeca), v. 420 (obscura nocte), but pointedly mentions moonlight in v. 340 (oblati per lunam). It is evident from this list that in some cases Vergil preferred to stress either the glimmer of light or the darkness of the night (which, incidentally, would have been congruent with the subjectivity of Aeneas' account). However, in v. 255 the choice of words seems to suggest that Vergil was alluding to the scholarly debate on the presence or absence of moonlight Thus, also Cram 1936, 258-259; Grafton, Swerdlow 1986, 218; cf. Barigazzi 1990, 235. Cf. Severyns 1926, 301 who characterizes the parallel as “une ressemblance trop vague pour quon en puisse tirer argument”.. Vergil clearly imagined the night as moonlit, and the association with the term luna silenti was introduced in order to show that he was aware of the issue and to subtly emphasize his own position. In the absence of the context of fr. 9 Bernabe, it is difficult to establish whether Vergil's wording in Aen. 2, 255 would have made his readers think specifically of the Ilias parva.42 However, for a reader unaware of the discussion regarding the day of the month on which Troy was captured, the expression tacitae per amica silentia lunae would appear as a kind of poetic exaggeration that likened the moon to a silent witness standing by the Achaeans' ruse. Cf. Horsfall 2008, 226 (ad Aen. 2, 255): “in [Vergil] the moon's silence belongs to a general tendency to `humanise' nature [...] and here that silence may also suggest her connivance, as a kind of celestial ac-complice, at Greek trickery”.

Another passage from Augustan poetry seems to offer an instance of similar play with the astronomical term. In 2, 17 Propertius uses the expression sicca... luna in the description of his unhappiness since he has fallen out of favour with Cynthia:

durius in terris nihil est quod vivat amante, 9 nec, modo si sapias, quod minus esse velis. quem modo felicem Invidia maerente ferebant, nunc decimo admittor vix ego quoque die, 12

nec licet in triviis sicca requiescere luna 15

aut per rimosas mittere verba fores

(Prop. 2, 17, 9-12; 15-16)

“There is no human nor beast that lives a harder life than the lover, and none that you would wish less to be. I, who only a while ago was considered blessed, as Envy gnashed her teeth, now scarcely gain access <to my beloved> once in ten days; nor am I permitted to lie on streets, when the moon is dry, or to direct my words through the cracks in her door”. The transposition of v. 15-16 was first proposed by Lachmann 1973 (1816), 164. For a long time, the majority of editors were convinced by Lachmann's arguments and accepted the transposition; however, Cairns 1975 has argued that the order of lines as they appear in manuscripts may be retained.