Richard F. Thomas

Callimachus, the Victoria Berenices, and Roman Poetry

It is now five years since P. J. Parsons published the Lille Callimachus, and the dust appears to have settled. The appearance of these fragments, which greatly increase our knowledge of the opening of the third book of the Aetia , has been followed by no great critical reaction. Apart from the attractive suggestion of E. Livrea that the ‘Mousetrap’ (fr. 177 Pf.) may belong within the story of Heracles and Molorchus, the episode has had somewhat limited impact. This is against the usual trend of over-reaction to the publication of new literary texts (witness the Cologne Archilochus and the new Gallus), and is in part a tribute to the thoroughness and clarity with which Parsons presented the fragments.

Infundibulum of the common origin of fourth lumbar arteries and median sacral artery

We describe an infundibulum of a common origin of the fourth lumbar arteries and the median sacral artery. To the best of our knowledge there has been no such published case thus far and its natural course is unknown, in view of its novelty. Infundibular dilatations in intracranial arteries have been described to progress in size and potentially rupture. Therefore, we recommended follow‐up imaging, as part of the management, to ensure stability of the infundibulum.

Congenital anomalies of the aortic arch

Congenital anomalies of the aortic arch include diverse subgroups of malformations that may be clinically silent or may present with severe respiratory or esophageal symptoms especially when associated with complete vascular rings. These anomalies may be isolated or may be associated with other congenital heart diseases. Volume rendered computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) help in preoperative surgical planning by providing information about the complex relationship of aortic arch and its branches to the trachea and esophagus. Three dimensional capabilities of both computed tomography angiography (CTA) and MRA are helpful in determining evidence of tracheal or esophageal compression or other high-risk features in patients with a complete vascular ring.

'Death', Doxography, and the 'Termerian Evil' (Philodemus, Epigr. 27 Page = A. P. 11.30)

The text of this poem, already corrupt in the Palatine, has had a turbulent history over the last two centuries. Here is Pages version, the translation in Gow–Page, and my own somewhat expanded apparatus: I who in time past was good for five or nine times, now, Aphrodite, hardly manage once from early night to sunrise. The thing itself, – already often only at half-strength, – is gradually dying. Thats the last straw. Old age, old age, what will you do later when you come to me, if even now I am as languid as this.

Cinna, Calvus, and the Ciris

Among other things, R. O. A. M. Lynes recent edition and commentary of the Ciris (Cambridge, 1978) has established the general method of composition followed by this pseudo-neoteric poet: he demonstrably lifted wholesale and applied to his own poem words, phrases, lines, and even entire sequences from the works of the neoterics and the poets of the following generation. Accordingly, one of the poems chief attributes is that it serves as a means for recovering the general content, and at times the actual wording, of earlier, more important poetry. This paper offers some additional areas in the Ciris where such influence may exist. I confine myself to Cinna and Calvus, whose poetry may justly be considered the missing two-thirds of the neoteric movement.