Latinists out there? Passage translation needed.

[cogito]

With all the current discussion about translation of recent works, I figured I would take advantage of the exposure and see if there are any Latinists here on the forum that can translate this:

"Magas
Regis hujus historiam ac numos solita eruditione ac perspicacia conscripsit literatae Galliae insigne quondam decus Belleyus, cum nobilem amethystum ex museo Ducis Aurelianensis promulgaret, cui insculptum caput Magae imberbe diadematum, et cornu Ammonis munitum subjecta epigraphe MAGAS, et silphio faciei adstituto (B.L.T. XXXVI. Hist. p.18). Ejus historiam sic paucis habeto.
Fuit filius Philippi cujuspiam Macedonis ignobili loco nati, et Berenices, alteris nuptiis Ptolemaeo Soteri junctae. Hic Soter subjiciendae sibi Cyrenaicae intentus, cui primum Thimbro Harpali pecuniis adjutus, deinde Ophellas libertatem ademerant, Magam privignum illi primum expeditioni, deinde cum res e voto cessisset, regioni captae praefecit. Cum diu in officio permansisset, regni ips cupidus a fratre uterino Philadelpho Ptolemaeo deficit, ac praeparato utrinque magnis animis bello tandem in pacis conditiones itur. Mortuus est, cum Cyrenaicam ipsos annos L. rexisset, V. C. 498. A. X. 256.
Ex uxore Apame Antiochi I. Soteris filia genuit Berenicen Ptolemaeo III. Evergetae nuptam.

Numi:
Non hic repeto numos aeneos cum capite Berenices, quae fuit Ptolemaei I. Soteris uxor, et Magae nostri mater, aut cum capite Ptolemaei II. Philadelphi, quos vide in utriusque moneta, quosque in Cyrenaica et a Maga signatos, ex adstituto monogrammate MAG, intelligi dixi.
Caput regis diadematum. BASILEUS MAGA. Caput mulibre diadematum dependentibus cincinnis. AE II, (Pellerin.)
Cujus sit caput regium partis anticae, examinandum. Satis apparet, creditum Pellerinio, esse caput Magae. Verum collate gemma supra citata, quae certum hujus regis caput sistit, per diversissima oris lineamenta viri eruditi sententiae diffidere cogit. Idem Pellerinius caput aversae esse uxoris Apames existimat. Sed neque istud adridet. Enimvero capita, quae sunt in numo praesente, adeo sunt similia capitibus, quae offerunt numi aenei inscripti BASILEUS PTOLEMAIOY., quos in moneta Ptolemaei I., quod huie a plerisque tribui solent, recitavi, ut, qui ea contendere volet, inficiari non posit, esse in utrisque eadem. At in his caput anticae esse nequit regis Magae, cujus, ut dixi, diversam effigiem offert amethystus; neque esse potest Ptolemaei I., nam tum caput aversae esset ejus uxoris Berenices, sed hujus numus certus multo diversum et vultum et capitis cultum offert. Reliquum est, ut in utriusque his numis caput anticae tribuamus Ptolemaeo Philadelpho, caput aversae ejus uxori Arsinoe, dicamusque eos omnes in Cyrenaica a Maga signatos, inserta vero Philadelphi et uxoris capita, quod pro Philadelpho Cyrenaicam administriaverat, atque etsi subinde defecit, regisque nomen palam usurpavit, ut vel praesens numus docet, fieri tamen poterat, ut se una regem, una ab Aegypti regibus pendere profiteretur, eodem modo, quo Evagoras olim Cyprius pariturum se Artaxerxi Mnemoni dixit, sed ut regem regi. Et vero numos, de quibus ago, non fuisse signatos in Aegypto, etsi epigraphen BASILEUS PTOLEMAIOY. praeferant, inde facile patet, quod nonnisi postrema Ptolemaeorum aetate numis aeneis in Aegypto cusis regum reginarumque capita sunt illata, his aureae et argenteae monetae reservatis. Ergo signati sunt in Cyrenaica, praeeunte hoc Magae numo, illis, se epigraphen demas, simillimo.
Vera Magae effigies ex amethysto, cujus supra memini, capta arietis cornu tempori adstitutum offert, adsumpto nimirum Iovis Ammonis cultu, cujus templum in contermina Marmarica stetit. Simili cultu etiam Ptolemaeum Apionem mox videdimus."

Not to worry on the copyright front, as this passage comes from Eckhel printed in 1823. Let me know if something doesn't look correct in the Latin passage as I had to type it out from a rough photocopy. I tried to be as careful as I could be but the printed font was light in areas.

$30 restitution via Paypal to the first person to translate the passage fully.

Thanks!
Jeff

[curtislclay]

MAGAS

Belley, at the time one of France's brightest literary lights, treated the history and coinage of this king with his accustomed erudition and perspicacity, when he published the noble amethyst in the collection of the Duke d'Orleans that bears a diademed, unbearded portrait of Magas, wearing the horn of Zeus Ammon, with the inscription MAGAC and an added silphium plant.

What we know about Magas' life may be summarized as follows. He was the son of a humbly born Macedonian man named Philip and of Berenice, who in her second marriage was the wife of Ptolemy Soter. This Soter, desiring to conquer Cyrenaica, control of which had been seized first by Thimbro, with financial support from Harpalus, and then by Ophellas, send an expedition into the region under his stepson Magas, and then when Magas was successful, made him the governor of the reconquered territory. After Magas had ruled the region for some time, he grew tired of the yoke and revolted against his half-brother Ptolemy Philadelphus, with whom however, after vigorous preparations for war had been made on both sides, he ultimately made peace. Magas died in 256 BC, after having ruled Cyrenaica for a full fifty years. He and his wife Apamea, the daughter of Antiochus I Soter, had a daughter Berenice, who later became the wife of Ptolemy III Euergetes.

COINS

I shall not here repeat the bronze coins with a portrait of Berenice, who was the wife of Ptolemy I Soter and the mother of our Magas, or those with the portrait of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, which the reader may find in their respective coinages, and which as I said were apparently struck by Magas in Cyrenaica, since they bear the monogram MAG.

Diademed head of a king / BACILEWC MAGA, diademed female head with hanging locks. AE II, Pellerin.
What king is depicted on the obverse of this coin? Pellerin thought there could be little doubt that it was Magas. But a comparison with the gemstone cited above, which certainly bears a portrait of that king, raises doubts about Pellerin's opinion, since Magas' features there are markedly different. On the reverse of the coin Pellerin saw a portrait of Magas' wife Apamea. But that too seems unlikely, since both of the portraits on this coin are so similar to those on the bronze coins inscribed BACILEWC PTOLEMAIOY, which I have described in the coinage of Ptolemy I since they are usually attributed to him, that anyone who cares to compare them will be forced to admit that both coins portray the same two people. But the obverse portrait on these bronzes cannot be that of King Magas, since the facial features do not match those of Magas on the amethyst, as we just saw; nor can the portrait be that of Ptolemy I, since in that case the woman on the reverse would have to be his wife Berenice, yet the facial features and coiffure of that portrait vary greatly from those of Berenice on a coin that can be certainly attributed to her. The only remaining solution is to see the male portraits on both of these coins as representing Ptolemy Philadelphus, the female portraits as representing his wife Arsinoe, and to assume that Magas struck both of these types in Cyrenaica, using the portraits of Philadelphus and his wife because it was for Philadelphus that he was administering Cyrenaica. For even if Magas rebelled against Philadelphus and publicly assumed the title of king, as the legend BACILEWC MAGA on the first coin indeed shows, still it would be possible to both call yourself king, and to admit your subordination to the kings of Egypt, in the same way that Evagoras of Cyprus would later agree to submit to the authority of Artaxerxes Mnemon, but only as one king to another. Indeed, that the coins under discussion, despite their legend BACILEWC PTOLEMAIOY, could not have been struck in Egypt, is also clear from the fact that portraits of the reigning kings and queens did not appear on bronze coins struck in Egypt until the very end of the Ptolemaic period, having earlier been restricted to their gold and silver coins. So the bronze coin of Ptolemy in question must have been struck in Cyrenaica, as is suggested by the coin of Magas, which except for its legend is very similar.

On the amethyst described above, a ram's horn was added to Magas' portrait, clearly deriving from the portrait of Jupiter Ammon, whose temple was located in the adjoining district of Marmarica. We will soon be encountering a portrait of Ptolemy Apion with the same attribute.

[cogito]

Curtis,

Thank you...don't tease. Stopped right before the good stuff. ;) You're half-way to a fine dining lunch on my nickel.

I found Eckhel and Bentinck in the Duke rare book collection.

The pertinent text to the Bentinck collection (1787) was interesting, which is as follows (rough translation from French):

“Tete imberbe de Magas, ceinte du diademe.
Tete d’Apamee en cheveux boucles. BASILEUS MAGA
La meme. Inscr. presqu’effacee.”

Beardless head of Magas, girded diadem.
Head of Apamee in hair loops.
b.3

The same.
The same. Inscription almost invisible.
b.1

Marginal notations:
b.3 references “large bronze”
b.1 references “small bronze”

I found a copy of Pellerin Rois on abebooks, but they want major bucks and weren't friendly enough to allow me to remunerate for a scan of plate VI, pg. 53. Belley Mem. de l'acad. has yet to be found (XXXVI, pg. 18, pl. fig 2.). Same goes for Mionnet (VI, pg. 567, no. 127) and Num. des rois (pl. XC, 1, pg. 171).

Warm regards,
Jeff

[cogito]

Keep an eye on your HJB email, Curtis. Reward awaits! :D

Cheers,
Jeff

[curtislclay]

When Hydatius generously praised my translation on another list, I decided to read it through again to admire just how good it was, and promptly discovered an error in the long fourth paragraph, which I have now corrected!

Eckhel points out the similarity of the portraits on BOTH sides of the BACILEWC PTOLEMAIOY and BACILEWC MAGA coins, not just of the female portraits, as I originally said.

[cogito]

Curtis,

You could have said Eckhel thinks the portrait of Berenike looks like Rick James and I would have believed you. :D I'm still in awe of your Latin translation skills.

BTW - A Pellerin plate illustration of MAGA was found! Will update you later via direct email.

Thanks again,
Jeff