Re: CAS And Marcus Aurelius
Posted by:
calonlan (IP Logged)
Date: 8 February, 2007 05:51PM
Highly insightful discovery: Yes, indeed, Clark had read MA - and quite young since he was only in the "A"'s at the Carnegie library - It was a common iteration between us to refer to certain opinions by the phrase - "As Marcus Aurelius said:
'Caballus Merda'" (using the common people's word for Horse - nag, jughead - instead of the nobler "Equus" -- whether old Marcus ever used such a term being entirely apocryphal. Whether Sterling appreciated MA or not I cannot say, but it is likely - MA'a writings were usually introduced in HS Greek, his philosophy in early grade courses in College, and in advanced levels of Greek (all of which were commonly available, and indeed considered a part of the accoutrement of the properly educated man in the late 19th, early 20th century. Clark's memory was, in so far as anyone could tell, infallible and photographic, just short of telling you where on the page of the encyclopedia or translation the relevant thoughts under discussion may have occurred (and sometimes he remembered that - "page 396,
second column, 3rd paragraph etc). Thanks for jarring an old and long dead memory loose.