“Nemo aliquid ualet sine suis": Classical and Medieval Latin Versions of "The Belly and the Members" across Literary Genres

This paper focuses on the unique combination of literary genres that
characterizes the reception of “The Belly and the Members” across Classical and
Medieval Latin sources. Attested in the Collectio Augustana (Aesop. 130 P. [= 132
Hsr.; 160 Ch.]), this apologue is not extant in Phaedrus, but its main motifs feature
in works in other literary genres, such as historiography (Livy; Dionysius of Hali
carnassus), Socratic dialogues (Xenophon’s Memorabilia), anecdotal warfare liter
ature (Polyaenus’ Stratagems), and political biography (Plutarch). Although it is
adapted to the patterns of each genre in which it is resituated, “The Belly and the
Members” is acknowledged, either directly or indirectly, to be Aesopic material.
After traveling across several literary genres, in the Medieval Romulus (RG), “The
Belly and the Members” returns to being a fable on its own terms and (again)
finds its place in a collection of fables.