Tuesday, February 21, 2023

 

Loose Mortar

Michael Psellus, Chronographia 6.9 (1042; tr. E.R.A. Sewter):
Most men are convinced that the nations around us have made their sudden incursions against our borders, these wild unexpected inroads, for the first time in our day, but I myself hold a different view. I believe the house is doomed when the mortar that binds its bricks together becomes loose, and, although the start of the trouble passed unnoticed by the majority, there is no doubt that it developed and gathered strength from that first cause. In fact, the gathering of the clouds in those days presaged the mighty deluge we are suffering today.

τοῖς μὲν οὖν πολλοῖς, δοκεῖ νῦν πρῶτον τὰ πέριξ ἡμῶν ἔθνη ἐπὶ τὰ Ῥωμαίων κεχύσθαι ὅρια, ἀθρόον καὶ παρ’ ἐλπίδας ἐπεισκωμάσαντα. ἐμοὶ δὲ τότε τὸ δωμάτιον καταλέλυται, ὁπηνίκα καὶ οἱ περισφίγγοντες τοῦτο δεσμοὶ διαλύονται. εἰ δὲ οἱ πολλοὶ μὴ ᾐσθάνοντο τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ κακοῦ, ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνό γε ἐκ τῆς πρώτης ἐκείνης ὑποθέσεως ἐπεφύετο καὶ συνίστατο καὶ ἡ τηνικαῦτα τῶν νεφῶν συνδρομὴ, τὸν μέγαν νῦν προκατεσκεύακεν ὑετόν.

δωμάτιον codd.: σωμάτιον Reinsch
Diether Roderich Reinsch ad loc.:
Das überlieferte δωμάτιον ist sinnlos, es handelt sich hier um die auch von Psellos oft verwendete Metapher vom Staatskörper, nicht von einem Staatszimmer. Es werden mehrere Stellen für die Junktur δεσμοὶ τοῦ σώματος angeführt. Vgl. dazu noch Chronogr. IV 51,3‒4 (sc. τὸ νόσημα) εἰς αὐτὴν τὴν λύσιν ἀπήντησεν τοῦ δεσμοῦ. Zur Verkleinerungsform σωμάτιον für den kranken, armen und geschundenen Körper vgl. die Belege bei LSJ.



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