Book 18
9
IN an old book, containing the speech of Marcus Cato On Ptolemy against Thermus, were these words: p. 42. 6, Jordan. But if he did everything craftily, everything for the sake of avarice and pelf, such abominable crimes as we have never heard of or read of, he ought to suffer punishment for his acts. . . The question was raised what insecenda meant. Of those who were present at the time there was one who was a dabbler in literature and another who was versed in it; that is to say, one was teaching the subject, the other was learned in it. On the distinction between litterator and litteratus see Suet. Gram. iv. (ii. p. 401 f. L.C.L.). These two disagreed with each other, the grammarian maintaining that insequenda ought to be written: For, said he, insequenda should be written, not insecenda, since insequens means . . . and inseque has come down to us in the sense of 'proceed to say,' and accordingly insequor was written by Ennius in the following verses: Ann. 326 f., Vahlen2, who reads insece. Proceed, O Muse, when Rome with Philip warred, To tell the valorous deeds our leaders wrought.
