SCANNING "IULUS": PROSODY, POSITION AND POLITICS IN THE "AENEID"

Author(s): ROBERT COWAN

Source: Vergilius (1959-) , 2009, Vol. 55 (2009), pp. 3-12
Published by: The Vergilian Society

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SCANNING IULUS: PROSODY, POSITION AND
POLITICS IN THE AENEID

ROBERT COWAN

lulus, the alternative name for Aeneas' son Ascanius, has two
metrical or prosodie peculiarities in the Aeneid. Firstly, it is explicitly
etymologically associated both with Ilium, which begins with a vocalic I,
and with Iulius, which begins with consonantal I. Secondly, it occurs
thirty-five times in the poem and in thirty-four of those instances (as in
all but one of the nineteen other occurrences in extant Latin poetry) it is
positioned at the end of the hexameter.1 Only in Aeneas' oath before the
abortive duel of champions with Turnus does it move to earlier in the
line ( Aen . 12.183-6). This note will discuss how these small metrical
peculiarities serve the larger political agenda of the epic.
The first two programmatic mentions of lulus come twenty-two lines
apart in Jupiter's comforting prophecy to Venus, and act together to
bridge the gap between Rome's metropolis of Ilium and the gens Iulia
into which Augustus had been adopted:

at puer Ascanius, cui nunc cognomen lulo

additur, (Ilus erat, dum res stetit Ilia regno/.. {Aen. 1.267-8)

But the boy Ascanius , to whom now the nickname lulus

is added (Ilus he was , while the Ilian state stood in dominion) ...

The etymologizing here is quite explicit on two levels, as Ascanius'

previous nickname of Ilus is linked with the kingdom of Ilium, and then
altered to the present lulus. 2 Moreover, the etymological shift is
explicitly connected with a shift in power. Ascanius and specifically his

1 Verg. Aen . 1.267, 288, 556, 690, 709, 2.563, 674, 677, 682, 710, 723, 4.140,
274, 616, 5.546, 569, 570, 6.364, 790, 7.107, 116, 478, 493, 9.232, 293, 310,
501, 640, 652, 10.524, 534, 11.58, 12.110, 399. All the extant non-Vergilian
instances are also /?os¿-Vergilian and, in many cases, propter Vergiliům : Ov. Ep.
7.75, 83, 137, 153, Met . 14.583, 15.767, F. 4.39, Pont. 2.2.21, 3.4.15, Luc.
3.213, Sil. 8.71, 74, 91, 107, 11.179, 13.863, Mart. 6.3.1, Juv. 8.42, 12.70. The
exception is Terentianus Maurus De Syllabis 532, which is not a hexameter but a
trochaic septenarius and is discussed further below.
O'Hara 1996: 121-23.

Vergilius 55 (2009) 3-12

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 4 Robert Cowan

name become a sort of wea

power: while Troy had power
no more, he must move west
his position as Stammvater o
of Iulius is also marked pro
vocalic I from I in Ilus to Ï
mid-point between Troy and
However, a tension is still e
chain is completed later in Ju

nascetur pulchra Troianus

impérium oceano, famam q
Iulius, a magno demissum

There will be born from f

destined to bound his pow
stars ,
Iulius, a name handed down from great lulus.

The unresolved, and perhaps deliberate, ambiguity as to whether these

lines refer to Julius Caesar or Augustus does not directly affect the

3 On lulus in the Aeneid more generally, see Baker 1980, Manson 1981, Dingel
2001, Merriam 2002.
On the relationship between iota as semivowel [y] and as vowel (especially
when the latter is in synezesis), see Allen 1968: 51-52. On the development of
initial iota to [j] in epigraphic texts, see Threatte 1980: 392-93.
5 The link between lulus and Iulius was further facilitated by the latter' s
rendering into Greek as 'IoúXioç, using iota as the closest approximation to the
Latin consonantal I. 'IouXioç is extremely rare in Greek verse, no doubt partly
because only a form in the nominative or accusative followed by a vowel can
avoid creating a cretic. It occurs only in a handful of very late epigrams. At AP
2.1.92 (Christodorus) Kaiaap 8' 'eyyùç eXa|iTTev 'loúXioç, òs ttotč řPu)|ir|v,
where the iota could conceivably be consonantal, or far more probably (to give
the third foot trochaic caesura - there would otherwise be none in the third or
fourth feet) short, but certainly not long. At App. Anth. 2.227.2 (adesp.),
'IoúXioç 'AvTiyévr|ç |ivrj|i' eTTÓT]ae TÓôe, it must be consonantal. For the
Greek use of a vowel (or diphthong) to render a Latin consonant, cf. the use of
omicron upsilon in e.g. OuaXépioç.

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 Scanning lulus 5

question of the name, though the ins

Vergil (and indeed Jupiter) makes th
than before, "signposting" it, framin
stating unambiguously that the nam
from great lulus.7 However, the very
the distinction between them. Iulius
consonantal I, and so that there m
about this, Vergil positions it at
followed by a long and a short,
quantity.8 On one level, this complet
to short vowel to consonant, Ilus to
that, in contrast to the emphatic an
Iulius , lulo is positioned at line end.
etymological link between them pul
the initial of lulo as a consonantal I,
nomen to produce a fifth foot spon
As Cooper shows, Vergil not infrequ
albeit generally not at the start of a
pulling in the other direction and en
bacchiac. First, the rarity of spondei
usual cadence of the Vergilian he
nomen lulo as dactyl spondee;10 then
Greek iouXoç;11 thirdly the recent,

6 On the identity of this Caesar Iulius ,

1990: 155-63 and 1994 (arguing for stud
1994 (for unambiguous identification as
Caesar is meant (and a useful survey of
7 O'Hara 1996: 121-3.
8 Contrast Juv. 2.70-71 {non sumet dam
where the fourth foot could conceivably
in short vocalic I, instead of a spondee
consonantal I. Of course, Juvenal here h
but this incidental result of his indiffer
Vergil studiedly avoids.
Cooper 1952: 58-60. On Vergil's practice
sample, see Greenberg 1981.
10 There are only twenty- four sponde
(Duckworth 1964: 24) of which the first
11 It is interesting, and perhaps signifi
among the examples which Terentianus

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6 Robert Cowan

at line 267; and finally, the co

fourth foot on the second sy
reader to preserve that coincid
spondee.12 lulus is thus not m
Iulius, but one which prosodic
Trojan and the Roman.13 Ver
word at line end throughout th
It is harder to account for V
of thirty-five, from this p
undeniably a marked and sig
positioning of other names ten

respectively, Hellenizing vocalic

7). This may reflect the problema
general and perhaps specifically i
12 I am indebted to Vergilius ' ano
Silius' allusion to these lines (a c
6.826-35) when Scipio sees Cae
interesting creative comment
asserts his interpretation that it i
interweaving word order and ety
and Caesar , may be playing a sim
14 1.709 {mirantur dona Aeneae ,
case, since consonantal I would
the close verbal, syntactic, and
might encourage an expectation
tur before consonantal I as befor
caesura, with the strong fourth
lessen the aural expectation of th
15 It may be significant that Ver
poets using the common noun
"woodlouse" (the precise identific
the singular and, more often, pl
11.319, a hapax), Callimachus {
3.519), Aratus (957), Eratosthe
3.186), but not in Theocritus (1
almost always in forms which
Hollis), whereas sixteen (almost h
or accusative singular, giving a t

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 Scanning lulus 7

indifference,16 so that this combin

exception draws attention to itse
frequently in the poem, such as
luppiter (and its oblique cases in Iou
in various sedes throughout the line
names restricts their possible positio
of longs and Venus ' of shorts (es
away from the final two feet, but they
the line. By contrast, lulus , whi
bacchiac (with positional lengthenin
trochee (with synaloepha of oblique
the line.17 Indeed, the only substa
that one accepts the desire for pros
it come after the second, naturally
be left short or lengthened dependi
other extreme, where Vergil maint
a name within the line, it remains a
occurrences of Achates and all nineteen of Camilla are at line end,
without exception. A closer parallel, though with a smaller sample,
would be Iarbas , which also has an initial (probably) vocalic I, and
occurs at line end on all three of its appearances. It is clear, therefore,
that Vergil is not only capable either of always positioning a name in the
same sedes or of placing it in various different locations throughout the
line, but that this is his practice; a solitary departure from an otherwise
consistent position in thirty-four instances (thirty-three of which precede
the exception, the most recent coming just seventy-five lines earlier) is
thus a notable exception to usual practice in more ways than one. As with
all formal features, the establishment of a pattern to cultivate expectation
renders any departure from that pattern marked and demanding of
interpretation.
The exception itself comes before the abortive duel of champions
between Aeneas and Turnus to decide the war between the Trojans and
Latins. First Aeneas and then Latinus swear solemn oaths setting out

16 By this I mean indifference about regularly positioning a name in a particular

sedes throughout the poem. This is not in any way to deny artistry and design in
the positioning of a name (or any other word) in any individual line.
17 This assumes the usual prosody beginning with vocalic I. Of course, if
scanned with consonantal I, a spondee, trochee or single long could be
produced.

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 8 Robert Cowan

what they undertake will happ

Aeneas' declaration of what w
follows:

cesserit Ausonio si fors uict

conuenit Euandri uictos disc
cedet lulus agris, nec post a
Aeneadae referent ferroue

If by chance victory should

it is agreed that the defeated
from the land lulus will yie
warring
Aeneadae bear back or with iron this kingdom provoke.

On one level, the shift of lulus from his usual metrical position is
mimetic of his (hypothetical) shift from the fields of Latium. The reader
has become accustomed to finding lulus in a particular sedes throughout
the poem and the mild shock of finding his name near the start of the
line19 parallels and reinforces the startling effect of Aeneas' mention of
the possibility that lulus might leave the fields of Latium where,
throughout the poem, one has been led to expect that he will end up. The
fact that the respective movements are away from the end of the line and
away from the end of the teleological epic plot might lead the reader to
wonder whether this parallel is also a significant one.
Aeneas' vow of what will happen if by chance victory comes to
Turnus conjures a counterfactual scenario in which the Trojans leave
Latium and Rome is never foundeid.20 In the preceding lines, as the

18 On Aeneas' oath: Zeitlin 1965: 339-42, Ratkowitsch 1983, Callaway 1994:

41-8, Hickson-Hahn 1997: 144-48.
19 1 am not more specific, since the prosodie ambiguity argued for earlier, though
having no very pointed effect here, nevertheless has the same potential as in the
thirty-four other instances, so that cedet lulus could scan dactyl trochee or
spondee trochee; in fact, being earlier in the line removes one mild obstacle to
scanning with a consonantal I, since a spondeiazon is not created.
20 On counterfactual scenarios in the Aeneid, see Nesselrath 1992: 74-84,
Suerbaum 1998, esp. 370-71 on the oath. A similar counterfactual scenario, that
Paris might kill Menelaus and keep Helen, is presented in the main Homeric

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 Scanning lulus 9

Trojans approach the altar, the conn

their Roman future is made more
more obviously prophetic passages
stirpis origo ( Aen . 12.166), the l
(,4e«. 12. 168). That future is partial
avowal of what would happen if he
goes on to pray for the other sce
integration of the peoples and the f
goal to which not only the content o
generic predisposition towards t
heading.22 The poem's movement tow
frequently signalled in the poem, no
"ends", in marked contrast to Juno'
not a large step from here to read lu
of the line as on one level symbolic o
The end of the line is, in more t
location. Lateiner has shown how
frequently position words related
"mimetically" at the end of the line
conflict of accent and ictus is resolv
the endlessly flexible Vergilian hexa
varied sense pauses, a climax is exp
that expectation through enjambmen
positioning at line-end is mimeti
embodiment of Aeneas' goal and the
position is thus doubly mimetic, no
words, so that his yielding from his
from Latium' s fields, but of his (hy
embodiment of the epic telos to bei

intertext, Agamemnon's oath before the duel, at II. 3.281-3. On the

counterfactual potentials of this episode, see Postlethwaite 1985: 2.
1 12.187-94, esp. 187-8: sin nostrum adnuerit nobis uictoria Martern ' (utpotius
reor et potius di numine firment)...
22 On the teleological nature of epic form in the Aeneid , see Quint 1993: esp. 1-
46, Hardie 1993: esp. 1-19, Kennedy 1997, Armstrong 2002: esp. 328 and 336-
40.

23 On Jupiter and ends, see esp. Feeney 1991: 137-46, Fowler 1997: 260-61.
24 Lateiner 1990: 212-14. He notes, for example, (213 nl5) that eleven of the
twenty-two Vergilian occurrences of supremus are at line-end.

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 10 Robert Cowan

joining the other young men o

history.25 It might also be noted
183 and 185, beginning respectiv
"yields" from the line-end and h
"befall" him and appropriates
However, this counterfactual s
12.399 lulus may be lamenting A
his teleological position at line-e
line, book, and epic, (as well as a
the telos for Turnus is not uietoria but umbras.

BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD

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Of course, unlike Euryalus, Pallas, Lausus, Camilla, and (eventually) Turnus,

lulus would not die, but he would similarly fail to procreate and found a
dynasty. For this motif, see Reed 2007: 31-43, 55-72.

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12 Robert Cowan

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