- A recitation gave only the penultimate draft of a work in progress.
Pliny, for example, is explicit about the role of booksafterthe recitation:
‘‘And so, if any of those who were present [at my recitation] care to read
these same things, he will understand that I have changed or eliminated
some things, perhaps in keeping with his judgment, even though he said
nothing to me.’’^83 The role of the recitation, says Pliny, is to get criticism
from men of taste before releasing his book.^84 In numerous passages he
makes plain a standard sequence of events: there is studying, then writing,
followed by a shakedown recitation; after that, circulating drafts to
friends, followed by correction, all of which culminates in a written,
public book.
85
Again, the evidence is clear. The polished final thoughts
of the poet circulated only in books.
- The performances usually consisted only of bits and pieces of a full
work. Cicero mentions reading aloud at dinner only a single time in his
entire correspondence, and his description has important implications for
understanding the way books were used for these entertainments. Cicero
is sending Atticus a revised draft version of hisDe Gloria, which he
describes in two letters.
‘‘De Gloria’’ misi tibi. custodies igitur, ut soles, sed notentur eclogae duae
quas Salvius bonos auditores nactus in convivio dumtaxat legat. mihi valde
placent, mallem tibi. (16.2.6¼412 SB)(‘‘I am sending you my ‘On Glory.’ You will keep it safe, as you always do,^86
but make sure to mark the two selections for Salvius to read, but only to
kind listeners at a banquet. They please me enormously; I’d rather they
pleased you.)sed tamen idemóýíôƪìÆmisi ad te retractatius et quidemIæåÝôıðïíipsum
crebris locis inculcatum et refectum. hunc tu tralatum in macrocollum lege(c) though he has the books he has read down cold, when it comes time to recite them to
another, he turns back to the published text.
- 5.3.10 11: ‘‘Atque adeo si cui forte eorum qui interfuerunt curae fuerit eadem illa
legere, intelleget me quaedam aut commutasse aut praeterisse, fortasse etiam ex suo iudicio,
quamvis ipse nihil dixerit mihi.’’ Cf. Severus in Martial 2.6 discussed above. - Pliny 5.12, 7.17, 8.21: so, too, OvidPont. 2.4.13 18, 4.2.35 38. Cf. Cic.Off. 1.147.
See Dupont 1997, Roller 1998, 290 8. - For example, 1.5.2:recitaret et publicaret(two distinct stages), 1.8, 2.5, 3.10, 3.13,
3.15 (Pliny has heard the poetry recited, but he cannot give a final judgment till he has read
the book), 4.5, 4.7, 4.20, 5.3, 5.5 (Fannius was at work on a fourth volume, encouraged by
how many people were reading the first three), 5.12, 5.17, 7.4 (his verses composed, recited
to friends, written out, copied, thenreadby others and even set to music by Greeks), 7.17
(spelled out, step by step), 7.20, 8.3, 8.4, 8.7, 8.15, 8.19, 8.21, 9.1, 9.13, 9.18, 9.20, 9.26,
9.28, 9.34, 9.35, 9.38. Ovid’s difficulties in exile show the same sequence (Trist.
3.14.37 52): first comes reading, then writing, then a trial recitation. - In other words, keep it from being made public, as Atticus had failed to do before
(Att. 13.21a.1 327 SB); see Shackleton Bailey 1965 70, ad loc.
208 Books and Texts