CATULLUS 68 - Scuola Normale Superiore

points out that “(among others) Graevius, Maittaire, Lachmann and Haupt” write facta, as does Heyse, but
that was before Hale’s discovery of R in 1896 and the subsequent clarification of the stemma codicum; it was
inevitable that earlier editors should give too much attention to the recentiores. Lachmann, for one, took
facta est from one of the pair of MSS on which he based his edition, his codex D (the Berlin MS Diez. B.
Sant. 37 = my 4) – and Ullman (1960: 1052f.) has shown that this MS is a copy of the Riccardianus 606 (my
31), in which facta is first attested. In the 20 th century no editor appears to have written facta.
The later emendations are less convincing. Fröhlich (1849: 263) conjectured praesto, and this was printed in
2005 by Pérez Vega and Ramírez de Verger, but it does not mean the right thing: after petenti we need ‘it has
been made available’ and not ‘it is ready’; Baehrens’ prompta and aperta do not work for the same reason.
Ribbeck (1862: 377) proposed porcta, but the form *porctus (for porrectus) is not attested anywhere else.
Schwabe (1864: 15) suggested parta, but the image of childbirth would be odd, and there is certainly no way
in which Catullus could have manufactured munera Veneris for Manlius.
40 ultro deferrem ultra is found in a handful of the recentiores and was also proposed by Moriz Schmidt
(1880: 785), who explains it as ‘super numerum’, i.e. ‘in addition to what you have asked’. But ultro must be
correct, as ultro deferre is well attested as a set phrase. It normally means ‘to give, grant (something to
somebody) of one’s own accord, without having been asked to do so’, at Cic. Fam. 4.13.2 nec mihi
quicquam tali tempore in mentem uenit optare quod non ultro mihi Caesar detulerit as well as Pl. Ps. 1242
and Men. 689, Cic. Planc. 65, Phil. 2.49, Fam. 13.55.1, probably 13.29.5, and Tusc. 5.104, Lent. ap. Cic.
Fam. 12.15.6, Lucr. 6.1135f., Hor. Sat. 1.4.21f., Liv. 3.53.6 , 5.18.5 (quoted on line 39 petenti) and 5.27.13,
Trog. frg. 38.152 Seel = Iust. 38.5.9, Sen. Cl. 1.9.12, Stat. Theb. 7.156f., Suet. Jul. 17.2, Papin. dig. 13.5.25,
(Liv.) Perioch. 56.12; [Brut. ap. Cic.] ad Brut. 1.17.4, and cfr. Cic. Fam. 13.18.1, Verg. Aen. 3.154f. and
Tac. Ann. 2.43. The phrase is especially common in prose, and occurs regularly in letters. A weaker meaning
‘to give, grant willingly (something to somebody, who has asked for it)’ is attested at Hor. Epist. 1.12.22f.
utere Pompeio Grospho et si quid petet, ultro / defer; nil Grosphus nisi uerum orabit et aequum (pace Fedeli
1997 ad loc.: Horace is instructing Iccius to comply with Grosphus’ requests, not to read the mind of a
stranger).
It is the question how ultro deferrem should be interpreted in the present passage. One can take it to mean ‘I
would give of my own accord, unasked’ – i.e. if Catullus had been in the position to give what Manlius had
asked from him, he would have given it even if Manlius had not asked for it. Alternatively, one can take
ultro to mean ‘readily’, as at Hor. Epist. 1.12.22f. This is suggested by the contrast between ultro and petenti
in this distich, which is also found in Liv. 5.18.5 (quoted on line 39 petenti) and has a less close parallel in
Cic. Fam. 4.13.2 (quoted above).
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