hermes 149, 2021/1, 122–123 DOI 10.25162/hermes-2021-0010 Konstantine Panegyres Capillos liberos habere (Petron. 38) Non puto illum capillos liberos habere, says one of the diners at Trimalchio’s feast, in reference to an unfortunate bankrupt freedman reclining on a couch nearby. Readers have always wondered what exactly is meant by this. Otto believed that it was prover- bial, but found no parallels. 1 More recent commentators 2 have compared a proverb mentioned by Donatus (ad Ter. Phorm. 661), εἰ δὲ ὤφειλε τὰς χεῖρας, but this would only be relevant if it mentioned hair. McDonough thought that the saying dissipato fno a’ capelli (“an expression used in modern Italy of spendthrifs”) might be close in sense. 3 Despite these eforts, more convincing parallels have not come to light. If searches in the most obvious places 4 have been exhausted without yielding satisfactory re- sults, then it is surely time to cast our eyes elsewhere. Te Italian dialects sometimes bring surprises. Tis is certainly the case here. In the Neapolitan dialect, the verb mpignare means “to give something as a security to those who lend you money”, that is “to pledge”. 5 It is from Italian impegnare. 6 Te verb mpignare is used in a Neapolitan saying recorded by Italian folklorists, s’ha ’mpignato pure li capille (“he has even pledged his hair”). 7 Tis was said about those in debt. A similar saying is also found in the dialect of the city of Molfeta, mbegnésse le capidde de ngape (“to pledge even your own hair”). 8 It is fting that the frst of these parallels comes from the same region in which Petronius’ tale is set, the Bay of Naples. Tere is no doubt that hair was sold for the purpose of making wigs. 9 Tere do not, however, seem to be any Roman sources referring explicitly to debtors selling their own hair as a last resort in cases of bankruptcy. In chronological terms, perhaps the closest historical reference to this phe- nomenon is to be found in the Babylonian Talmud. At Nedarim 9:5 there is a description of a man 1 A. Otto, Die Sprichwörter und sprichwörtlichen Redensarten der Römer, Leipzig 1890, 74. 2 M. S. Smith, Petronii Arbitri Cena Trimalchionis, Oxford 1975, 87; G. Schmeling, A Commentary on the Satyrica of Petronius, Oxford 2011, 148. 3 M. McDonough, Capillos liberos habere: Petronius, Satyricon 38, in: Classical Quarterly 52, 2002, 399–400. 4 Tat is to say, in ancient Greek, Latin, and standard Italian texts. 5 B. Puoti, V ocabolario Domestico napoletano e toscano, Napoli 1841, 281 (“mpegnare e mpignare … dare una cosa per sicurtà a chi ti presti danari, Dare in pegno”). 6 Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca, III, Verona 1806, 371 (“IMPEGNARE. Dare alcuna cosa per sicurtà a chi ti presti danari”). 7 G. Amalfi, [Rec. E. Cocchia, Napoli e il Satyricon], in: Rivista delle tradizione popolari Italiane 1, 1893, 489–490, at 490; E. Cocchi a, Saggi Filologici V. Le forme romantiche nella leteratura Romana dell’Im- pero: Petronio ed Apuleio, Curzio e Claudiano, Naples 1915, 107. Neapolitan also preserves a related saying, m’aggio ’mpignato pure la cammisa (“I have pledged even my shirt”). 8 R. Scardigno, Nuovo lessico molfetese-italiano, Molfeta 1963, 274. Molfetese mbegnésse is also derived from impegnare. 9 See e. g. Ov. Ars 3.165 (emptis capillis); Martial 6.12 (iurat capillos esse, quos emit, suos/Fabulla). This material is under copyright. Any use outside of the narrow boundaries of copyright law is illegal and may be prosecuted. This applies in particular to copies, translations, microfilming as well as storage and processing in electronic systems. © Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2020