Gemmae Latinae

One of the worlds early modern Latin texts open up for us is, unsurprisingly, the world of education.  A vivid account of studying Greek with one of the leading Hellenists of the day (in this case, the sixteenth century), for instance, is preserved in a speech given in Leiden by the Dutch poet and scholar Daniel Heinsius/Heins (1580-1655).  Heinsius tells us that he had been sent by daddy dearest (ab optimo parente) to Leiden to continue his study of law but quickly fell under the spell of Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609), historian, textual critic, and emender of eras extraordinaire,¹ who was first his idol, then his teacher and friend. 

If you go to Leiden, you might see a sign (“Scaliger lived here”) telling you that Scaliger (who, fittingly, seems to have calqued his name into Hebrew)² knew more languages than anyone else in Europe:

That may be true; he had certainly studied a number of Semitic languages (Hebrew, Arabic, Ethiopic, Aramaic) as well as Persian. Heinsius, who studied with Scaliger in the last decade of his life, contrasts Scaliger’s physical weakness with his energetic teaching. He also recalls his own extreme reactions to Scaligerian praise and criticism:

Itaque ipse, cum affecta iam aetate esset, nihil quo amorem eius nobis commendaret, praetermittere.  Interdum ipse versibus quos scriberet praeire; interdum aliquid ex Martiale aut alio auctore, quod uterque graece redderemus, proponere ut contentione ista acriores stimulos et quasi faces gloriae ac fomites, amore laudis inflammato (talem enim me sciebat) subderet.  Saepe memini me singulari gaudio ac incredibili perfusum, saepe lacrymantem domum concessisse.  Saepe insomnem transegisse noctem, meditantem quae postridie probare illi vellem; saepe, cum deesset lumen, stylo enotasse aut calamo ad lunam quae conceperam.  Memini, semperque meminero, cum ab eo quodam tempore latina quaedam in sermonem doricum convertere ac conversa exhibere iussus essem, ego autem aliud egissem, negligentiam ab eo meam graviter notari.  Quae res tum effecit, ut inedia dierum aliquot, deiectus animo ac moestus, poenam a me ipse exigerem.

And so, although (Joseph Justus Scaliger) was at an advanced age, he never left out (i.e. of his teaching) anything by which he could ensure that I would love it (i.e. Greek) (lit. ‘commend to us love for it’).  Sometimes (interdum), he would recite lines of poetry of his own composition; other times (interdum), he would suggest a passage from Martial³ or another (ancient) author for us both to render in Greek in order to, through this kind of competition, place beneath (me) sharper spurs (acriores stimulos) and, so to speak, the firebrands and tinder of glory,⁴ my love for praise (for he knew I was that kind of person) having been kindled.  I remember that I was often filled with extraordinary and unbelievable joy and often I went home in tears.  Often I would spend the (next) night sleepless, thinking over (meditantem) what I hoped would meet with his approval the next day; often, when there was no source of light (lumen) available, I would jot down what I had come up with by moonlight, with a pen or pencil.  I remember, and will always remember, that once, having been asked at some point by him (i.e. Scaliger) to translate some Latin material into the Doric language (sermonem)⁵ and to show my translation (to him), I did something else, and my carelessness earned a harsh reprimand from him.  As a result, depressed and dispirited, I punished myself by not eating for several days.

Source: Daniel Heinsius, Oratio de prolapsis graecarum literarum studiis et ad ea adhortatio

1. His most famous work is probably the De emendatione temporum on premodern chronological systems. ↩︎
2. Sulam is Hebrew for “ladder” (Latin and Italian scala; the family prided itself on a probably fictitious descent from the noble Italian della Scala family), so “Scaliger” on this sign becomes Sulami. ↩︎
3. 1st-century C.E. Roman author of epigrams – short (2 to about 40 lines each) and witty, often snarky. ↩︎
4. Each part of the mixed (equine-igneous) metaphor is classical. ↩︎
5. He must mean the Doric dialect of ancient Greek. ↩︎