Trimalchio at Sousa-on-Sea

Author(s): Graham Anderson

Source: The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 102, No. 1 (Spring, 1981), pp. 50-53
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/294152
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 TRIMALCHIO AT SOUSA-ON-SEA

Petronius' Trimalchio tells us at great length about his East-

ern origins, and the Cena leaves little doubt as to the extent of
his pretensions. Little attention has been paid, however, to the
implications of his Eastern name (Trimalchus = thrice king):1
he should be as much an oriental potentate as a Roman em-
peror.2 I wish to show that Petronius developed this role by
imitating at several points the material of the Alexander Ro-
mance, which includes Alexander's reports of his experiences
in and around the palaces of Darius.3
At Satyricon 27-30 Encolpius and his companions are
suitably impressed by the sequence of exhibits which adorn the
entrance to Trimalchio's house. Each of these should of course
be related to contemporary taste: the arbiter of elegance has
given his butt a treasure-house of authentic first-century Cam-
panian kitsch.4 But Pompeian and other parallels do not pre-
clude a series of ulterior references in the same objects. Above
Trimalchio's doorway is a golden cage containing a pica varia
which greets the entrants: in the palaces of Cyrus and Xerxes
the visitors find ev puacrorc; dpoy(p; dprtvyopo8eiov Xpoao~v

For detailed discussion of the meaning, see S. Priuli, Ascyltus: Note di

onomastica petroniana (Brussels 1975) 35-41; he rightly argues that Petronius
would also have intended the suffix -ion to have some force ('thrice-mighty
kingling'). This accords exactly with the parody discussed below.
2 For the Roman
Imperial role of Trimalchio, see P. G. Walsh, The Roman
Novel: The Satyricon of Petronius and the Golden Ass of Apuleius (Cambridge
1970) 137ff.
3 I quote from M. Feldbusch, Der Brief Alexanders an Aristoteles uiberdie
Wunder Indiens, Svnoptische Edition, Beitrage zur klassischen Philologie 78
(Meisenheim am Glan 1976), with cross-references to W. Kroll, Historia
Alexandri Magni (ps.-Callisthenes), recensio vetusta (Berlin 1926) for the A
version, which I cite when available; and to L. Bergson, Der griechische
Alexanderroman, Rezension f, Studia graeca Stockholmiensia (Stockholm/
Uppsala 1965) for the B version. On the complex history and relationship of
the materials, see R. Merkelbach, Die Quellen des griechischen Alexander-
romans2 (Munich 1977). For the present purpose it is sufficient to establish that
some branch of the tradition was available in some form to Petronius in the
first century A.D.
4 For detailed
commentary on the Realien see now M. S. Smith, Petronii
Arbitri Cena Trimalchionis (Oxford 1975).

American Journal of Philology Vol. 102 Pp. 50-53

0002-9475/81/1021-0050 $01.00 ? 1981 by The Johns Hopkins University Press
 TRIMALCHIO AT SOUSA-ON-SEA 51

KpE/CL#i8VOV, Ev 0c ijv OpVEOV iKov (znEplarepa . Trooo Eaaaav

EppwIveoeivrzoI; plaacieoav.5 Trimalchio's version debases the
sacred bird's function to the level of cheap gimmickry. Encol-
pius goes on to see a series of pictures, including a sequence
depicting the rise of Trimalchio, and his triumphal entry into
Rome. This is not just the host's personal megalomania: in a
room in the Persian palace yeypa7rrair vav,uaxia ij yvauEvrl
SEp0oo.6 Trimalchio too must have his naval exhibits, appar-
ently: Encolpius describes the ends of fasces quasi embolum
navis aeneum on display outside the triclinium.7 The throne at
Sousa, merely alluded to in Ps.-Callisthenes, was surmounted
by a baldacchino or a roof representing the heavens; Trimal-
chio offers another comedown: an astrological chart confronts
the guests entering the dining-room.8
Two scenes juxtaposed in the Alexander-romance throw
fresh light on the incredible first impressions made by Trimal-
chio himself. Visiting the shrine at Lysou Limen Alexander
sees EacoOev 65 Kai 4EoOev dvdaiyvpoi dvuIpidvrec rI/jiOEO)
yey,OupYuEvol, BaKXal, ladpzpol, MoarcIS; av3)otVal Kai
paKxEVooval i6io(pvE(;. 6 6E nrpeafl6rr! MdpCov ezri 6zroovyiko v.
Encolpius witnesses this undignified Bacchic scene translated
into fact in Trimalchio's courtyard, where the old master him-
self is playing ball among the slaves.9 Inside the shrine Alex-
ander goes on to see dvrip neplpePlrl/ 8Evoq ariv66va /aup/ovKivrlv.
Kai Trv iev ,iopqprfvavtro0 OVK Esiov. rv yap 7replKeKaavo1U/evoc.
Trimalchio organises his appearance inside the house in like
manner: pallio ... coccineo adrasum excluserat caput ...
oneratas veste cervices.10
If there is any doubt that the start of the Cena is modelled on
Alexander in Babylon, they should be dispelled by similar re-

5 Sat. 28.9 Miiller; Ps.-Callisthenes 3.28.8 (p. 130 Kroll, p. 142a Feldbusch).
6 Sat. 29.3; Ps.-Callisthenes 3.28.9B (p. 179 Bergson, p. 144b Feldbusch).
7 Sat. 30.1.
8
Ps.-Callisthenes 3.28.10; Sat. 30.4. It is the Syriac version which is most
helpful here: V. Ryssel, Die syrische Uebersetzung des Pseudo-Callisthenes,
Archiv fur das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Litteraturen 90 (1883),
translates 'Und in dem Saale stand ein goldener Sessel; und ein Baldachin
(eigentl. 'eine Art Himmel') war oberhalb desselben'. For a more elaborate
version, see Philostratus' description of a royal room in Babylon, VA 1.25.
9 Sat. 27.1; Ps.-Callisthenes 3.28.5B (p. 175 Bergson, p. 138b Feldbusch).
10 Sat. 32.2; Ps.-Callisthenes 3.28.5B
(p. 175 Bergson, p. 138b Feldbusch).
52 GRAHAM ANDERSON

semblance right at the end of the episode.11 Trimalchio's fu-

neral march is too loud, and calls out the fire brigade, so that
the hero escapes: all has an air of spontaneous invention, espe-
cially in the light of contemporary fire-risks. But a further in-
terpolation in the B version of Ps.-Callisthenes speaks for it-
self: Ev 6S TI) KaTaK1JaO6val jua;i re Kai rd arSpaTrevuaTaCnpO
r Coanp flpovrr flaia atvcbv Kai
Evrcoiav erdi SEdvov gaaivq(pl
KvjudpaAcv 7nAr/Oov; Kai uapi1yo; Kai dA,nlyyo; Kai TrvoTrdvcovKai
KiaOpa; EyeVero. Kai rTO poS OA1OV EKanviero, Wc Eanep KpavvoV
rnoX/oO neao76vTo Ep' r d5. (6) 'HELd ovv oPr/flOgvre5
avecopiraapiev ?K TOt r6nov EKeiVOv. . . Alexander was dislodged
by a volcanic eruption in the middle of the symphonic perfor-
mance; Encolpius by a fire alarm!12
What do these bathotic resemblances amount to? There are
enough of them, framing the Cena on either side, to suggest
that the Alexander-Romance or one of its sources was in-
tended to be recognized as part of the complex literary texture
of the Cena. We need have no doubts about how well known
such a source might have been, or how readily the details
would have been associated with a Roman context: the
exploits of Alexander commanded frequent interest and emu-
lation among Roman emperors.13 The two strands are as-
sociated in the same way a century later when Lucian de-
scribes the experience of a second-century philosophic sponger
who has just penetrated the household of a rich Roman:
his own comment is Bafpuicova ei'qoVaf. Once the guest is es-
tablished, a glance at his host's wife will bring the vengeance
of the King's eye.'4 The implications for Trimalchio's house-

J'There are naturally fewer opportunities for contact in the Cena proper,
but we might suspect at least two details: The centrepiece of one of Trimal-
chio's offerings is a hare winged like Pegasus: Ps.-Callisthenes describes
hKVl/IK?F0OV
ZpVu'OVI. . . egdC'(o ('TftKeIh ETO
/prob poaoqt Vtrep/'v Crai 7rTrEpVlV
0i01ovrT KVIKElov (Sat. 36.2; Ps.-Callisthenes 3.28.11A (p. 130 Kroll, p. 144a
Feldbusch). One of the most vulgar and supposedly 'Roman' touches is the
weighing of Fortunata's trinkets in the dining room; in Ps.-Callisthenes Alex-
ander mentions at the palace at Sousa h-parTsp dap,vpov XcoprCv uLeTpiTad
rplaKoaiovu; e,rKovra, 6v Kai re,leTrpraa/pevl(e'r) TO) UEblzdA eiTvro (Sat. 67.6f;
Ps.-Callisthenes 3.28.9A (p. 130 Kroll, p. 142a Feldbusch).
12Sat. 78.5ff.; Ps.-Callisthenes 3.28.5fB (p. 177 Bergson; p. 140b Feld-
busch).
'3 E.g. Suet. Aug. 18.1, 50, 94.5; Cal. 52; Nero 19.2.
14Mfer(l. Cond. 13; 29.
 TRIMALCHIO AT SO USA-ON-SEA 53

hold are obvious. It is notjust a Neronianvilla or palaceat some

indefinite Campaniantown: it is also a Babylon pavillion at
Sousa-on-Sea, with its pearly king perched uneasily on the
Peacock throne! The parallels should serve to confirm that
Petronius did use some kind of Romance material;this would
at least accord agreeably with Heinze's old case in favour of
imitation of the love-romance.15At the same time it should
suggest that Petronius could make effective use of popular
materialother than Mime. And Encolpius, amid all his other
roles, begins to look like a down-at-heelAlexander.

GRAHAM ANDERSON
KEYNES COLLEGE,
UNIVERSITY OF KENT,
CANTERBURY, KENT, ENGLAND

15'Petronius und der

griechische Roman' Hermes 34 (1889) 494-519 (= Vom
Geist des Romertums 417-439). This thesis still has a hard fight for acceptance,
for example in J. P. Sullivan, Petronius' Satyricon, a literary study (London
1968) 92-98.