# Placere



## Paolo Yogurt

Hello everyone,

what could the best translation be for the following inscription, unearthed in Antibes (in the South of France) near the remnants of the Roman theatre?


> Puer Septentrio qui saltavit et placuit


I wonder, in particular, what the best translation would be for _placere_. My attempt: “The boy (or perhaps “slave”) Septentrio, who danced and was appreciated”.


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## Scholiast

Scholiasta amicis SPD


Paolo Yogurt said:


> who danced and was appreciated


This won't, I'm afraid, quite do. _placuit_ must mean that in some (unspecified) way Septentrio pleased/delighted/entertained/charmed other (equally unspecified) people.
_saltavit et placuit_ might be a sort of hendiadys, 'whose dancing was delightful', but it need not be. It could mean he 'danced, and was charming'.
Is there any more context for this, that is, is this the text in its entirety? Is the date of the inscription known, even approximately?
Σ


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## Paolo Yogurt

Thank you for your reply. I think your hypotheses are more likely than mine; unfortunately, I cannot find any more information about this inscription. Also, there’s no more context than that I provided above, which is very little.


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## Scholiast

salvete iterum!


Paolo Yogurt said:


> there’s no more context than that I provided above, which is very little.


This does not altogether surprise me. It is presumably a funerary inscription, and these are often enigmatically (and epigrammatically) terse (cf. ch. XVII of Dessau's _ILS_). May we know how Paolo Y. came across it?
Σ


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## Paolo Yogurt

Of course you can. I came across it in the entry “Antibo” in the Enciclopedia Italiana (it’s in the third paragraph).


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## Scholiast

Got it! It is in _ILS_ (5258), and in full (preserving the lineation) it reads:

D[is] M[anibus]
Pueri Septentri
onis, annor[um] XII qui
Antipoli in theatro
biduo saltavit et pla
cuit​
Hirschfeld and Dessau think it is from the late 2nd cent. AD.

D[is] M[anibus] is a formulaic heading for a funerary inscription, rather like 'RIP' (either _Requiescat in Pace_ or, in English, 'Rest in Peace', found on tombstones in the UK).

'For the (divine) spirits
Of the [slave-]boy Septentrio, 12 years old, who at Antipolis [Antibes] in the theatre for two days danced and entertained.'

Curiosity is satisfied.

Σ


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## Paolo Yogurt

Very nice. Thank you so much for your effort, curiosity is definitely satisfied.


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## Snodv

Maybe it's too obvious, but no one has mentioned that the boy's name has a meaning too:  the (constellation) Seven Oxen, known to us as the Great Bear or the Big Dipper, and an expression indicating the North.


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## Scholiast

Well observed, Snodv (# 8), of course you are quite right. Caesar (among others) uses the adjective _septentrionalis_ to mean 'northerly'. But I'm not sure that we can make anything further of it to illuminate the circumstances of the boy's sad demise.

I find it touching, though, that at any period of Roman history, slave-owners/masters would sometimes go to the trouble and expense of having headstones inscribed for their chattels.

Σ


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## fdb

I assume it means that the unfortunate child was forced to dance for two whole days and then expired.


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