Latin and debauchery. The Latin text of Marchena’s Fragmentum Petronii traslated by Díaz (1968) in his edition of The Satyricon

Abstract

The Fragmentum Petronii (F.P.), composed by the Abate Marchena and published in 1800, raises interesting philological and literary questions, some of which have not been sufficiently pointed out, such as the differences between the Latin text and the French version of the fragment. Despite this, the French version is usually used as a starting point when the F.P. is translated into a modern language. Only a few Latinists have chosen the Latin text to be translated directly, as is the case of Manuel Cecilio Díaz y Díaz in his edition of the Satiricón (Díaz 1968). In this work we will consider both Díaz’s version and his own edition of the Latin text, where some lapsus calami can be found. Our analysis will be made in the light of other documents considered by Díaz, such as the previous editions of the F.P. and the commentary by Menéndez Pelayo, to which we will add the French version by Baillard for the Nisard collection.