An Anthology of Informal Latin, 200 BC–AD 900 : Fifty Texts with Translations and Linguistic Commentary

729 Pages·2016·2.81 MB·English

by  James N. Adams

An Anthology of Informal Latin, 200 BC – AD 900
FiftyTextswithTranslationsandLinguisticCommentary
This book contains over fifty passages of Latin from 200 BC to AD
900, each with translation and linguistic commentary. It is not
intended as an elementary reader (though suitable for university
courses), but as an illustrative history of Latin covering more than
amillennium,with almostevery centuryrepresented.Conventional
histories cite constructions out of context, whereas this work gives
a sense of the period, genre, stylistic aims and idiosyncrasies of
specific passages. ‘Informal’ texts, particularly if they portray talk,
reflect linguistic variety and change better than texts adhering to
classicisingnorms.Someofthetextsareofrecentdiscoveryorlittle
known. Writing tablets are well represented, as are literary and
technical texts down to the early medieval period, when striking
changes appear. The Commentaries identify innovations, discon-
tinuitiesand phenomena of long duration. Readers will learn much
aboutthediversityanddevelopmentofLatin.
J. N. ADAMS CBE FBA is an Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College,
Oxford, an Honorary Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, and an
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester. He is the
author of many booksand articleson the Latinlanguage, including
the trilogy Bilingualism and the Latin Language (Cambridge 2003),
The Regional Diversification of Latin 200 BC – AD 600 (Cambridge
2007) and Social Variation and the Latin Language (Cambridge
2013). He was awarded the Kenyon Medal for Classical Studies of
theBritishAcademyin2009.

AN ANTHOLOGY OF
INFORMAL LATIN,
–
200 BC AD 900
Fifty Texts with Translations and
Linguistic Commentary
J. N. ADAMS
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107039773
©J.N.Adams2016
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2016
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ISBN978 1 107 03977 3Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
CONTENTS
Preface ix
Listofabbreviations x
Introduction 1
TEXTS 5
1 Ennius,EuhemerusIII(Vahlen) 7
2 Plautus,Milesgloriosus5–27 27
3 Plautus,Milesgloriosus416–35 39
4 Cato,Deagricultura33.5–35 61
5 Cato,Deagricultura157.3–7 85
6 OneoftheJohnsHopkinsdefixiones(‘Plotius’),ofrepublican
date(c.100BC?) 107
7 RhetoricaadHerennium4.14:aspecimenofthe‘simplestyle’ 124
8 RhetoricaadHerennium4.16:a‘debased’variantofthe‘simple
style’ 133
9 LetterofMarcusCaeliusRufustoCicero(Cic.Fam.8.15.1–2) 137
10 SomejokesrecordedbyCicero,QuintilianandMacrobius,
mainlyofrepublicandate 146
11 Vitruviusonthelarch(2.9.14–16),oftheAugustanperiod 164
12 FromaletterofAugustus(Suet.Aug.76.2) 193
13 Soldier’sletterofthelatefirstcenturyBC(Augustanperiod)
fromQasrIbrîm,Egypt(P.RainerCent.164,CEL9) 197
14 LetterfromOxyrhynchus,possiblyofAugustandate(Brown1970,
P.Oxy.XLIV.3208) 202
15 LegaldocumentfromthearchiveoftheSulpicii,dated18June
AD37atPuteoli(TPSulp.51) 210
16 SexualversesfromPompeii(CILIV.2360,4008,8229) 221
17 PassagefromaletterofSeneca(Epist.12.1–3) 227
18 Freedman’sspeechfromtheSatyricaofPetronius(37.1–38.2) 237
19 CursetabletfromthesanctuaryofIsisandMaterMagnaatMainz
(Blänsdorf2010a:173–5,textno.8),ofthesecondhalfofthefirst
centuryAD 247
20 LetterfromtheMyosHormosroad(Egypt),endoffirst
century/firstquarterofsecond(Cuvigny2003:II.409,M689) 253
vi Contents
21 LetterofClaudiaSeverafromVindolanda(Tab.Vindol.291),ofthe
earlysecondcentury 256
22 LetterofClaudiusTerentianus(P.Mich.VIII.471,CEL146),ofthe
earlysecondcentury 265
23 LetterfromMonsClaudianus(Egypt),ofthesecondcentury
(O.Claud.367) 285
24 AnotherletterfromtheMyosHormosroad(Egypt),oftheperiod
ofHadrian(Cuvigny2003:II.405,M1107) 289
25 Surveyor’sinscriptionfromAlgeria(CILVIII.2728=18122=ILS
5795),commemoratingtheconstructionofanaqueduct,c.153 293
26 Soldier’sletterfromWâdiFawâkhir(Egypt),possiblyofthe
secondcentury(O.Faw.2,CPL304,CEL74) 307
27 PassiosanctarumPerpetuaeetFelicitatis10,oftheearlythird
century 317
28 TheMageriusmosaic(thirdcentury) 354
29 Pelagonius,Arsueterinaria34(fourthcentury) 367
30 PartsofPelagonius,Arsueterinaria404,fromtwodifferent
manuscripts 376
31 LetterofPublicolatoAugustine(Aug.Epist.46,CSEL34) 380
32 CursetabletfromLondonBridge(HassallandTomlin1987:
360–1no.1) 398
33 CursetabletfromtheHambleEstuary,Hampshire(Tomlin1997:
455no.1) 403
34 CursetabletfromUley,Gloucestershire(HassallandTomlin
1996:440no.1) 409
35 AnothercursetabletfromUley,Gloucestershire(Hassalland
Tomlin1992:311no.5) 413
36 CursetabletfromRatcliffe-on-Soar,Nottinghamshire(Hassall
andTomlin1993:312no.2) 418
37 CursetabletfromLeicester(Tomlin2008,2009:327no.21) 423
38 GospelofJohn(6.51–69)fromtheVetusLatina(Codex
Palatinus,e),andthecorrespondingpassagefromtheVulgate 429
39 Patrick,Confessio42–3(fifthcentury) 445
40 Patrick,Confessio48–9 468
41 FromoneoftheAlbertinitablets(TablettesAlbertiniXIV.1–9),
ofthelatefifthcentury 485
42 TwoversionsofapassagefromthePhysicaPlinii 491
43 TwoversionsofHistoriaApolloniiregisTyri40.1–15 506
44 ItinerariumAntoniniPlacentini36–7,withdifferentversions 533
45 PassagefromtheDialoguesofGregorytheGreat(1.2.2–3) 551
Contents vii
46 Visigothicslatetablet(VelázquezSoriano2004,no.40.II),ofthe
firsthalfoftheseventhcentury 564
47 PassagefromtheVitasanctaeEuphrosynae(17) 572
48 SelectedpassagesfromtheAnnalesregniFrancorum,intwo
versions 583
49 AdescriptionoftheBasilicaofSaint-Denisof799 597
50 Atenth-centurytreatiseonfalconmedicinefromnorthernItaly 607
FinalConclusions 639
Bibliography 658
SubjectIndex 689
IndexVerborum 704

PREFACE
I originally intended to put a selection of texts at the end of my last book
(Adams 2013), but there was not space, certainly for translations and com-
mentariesorfortherangeoftextsinthisvolume.
Ihaveaseverconsultedandlearnedfrommanypeople,toallofwhomIam
extremely grateful: Iveta Adams, Philip Alexander, Jose Miguel Baños, John
Briscoe, Philip Burton, Brian Campbell, Anna Chahoud, James Clackson,
Kathleen Coleman, Wolfgang de Melo, Eleanor Dickey, Katherine
Dunbabin, Trevor Evans, Panagiotis Filos, Patrick Finglass, Michèle Fruyt,
Jan Felix Gaertner, Giovanbattista Galdi, Jane Gardner, Roy Gibson, Christa
Gray,HillaHalla-aho,GerdHaverling,SimonHornblower,BobKaster,David
Langslow,MichaelLapidge,AdamLedgeway,JohnLee,AlexMullen,Marijke
Ottink, Costas Panayotakis, Stelios Panayotakis, Tim Parkin, Mair Parry,
Giuseppe Pezzini, Harm Pinkster (who generously let me see in advance
some parts of his work The Oxford Latin Syntax, which was published after
thepresentbookwassenttothepress),PhilomenProbert,JosephReisdoerfer,
DanutaShanzer,RichardSharpe,WilliamSlater,OlgaSpevak,JohnTrumper,
Nigel Vincent, Tony Woodman and George Woudhuysen. It is not unlikely
thatIhaveforgottensomenames,inwhichcaseIofferapologies(andthanks)
tothosepersonsomitted.
AgainIhavetoacknowledgeagreatdebttoAllSoulsCollege,whichbestows
itsgenerousacademicsupportevenonEmeritusFellows.Ihavecontinuedto
use the incomparable resources of the Oxford libraries. I have also had
a (renewed) attachment to the University of Manchester, and profited from
theUniversityLibraryandalsotheJohnRylandsLibrary.
Finally,IwouldliketogivewarmthankstoMichaelSharp,EmmaCollison
andtheircolleagues atCambridgeUniversity Press forongoingsupport and
efficiency,toIvetaAdamsforsavingthebookfrommanyinconsistenciesand
inadequacies by her exacting copy-editing, and to the very efficient proof
readerAnthonyHippisley.
ABBREVIATIONS
CC CorpusChristianorum,seriesLatina(Turnholt,
1954–).
CEL SeeCugusi(1992),(2002).
CHG E.OderandC.Hoppe,Corpushippiatricorum
Graecorum,2vols.(Leipzig,1924–7).
ChLA A.Bruckner,R.Marichaletal.,ChartaeLatinae
antiquiores(Olten,Lausanneetc.,1954).
CIL CorpusinscriptionumLatinarum(Berlin,
1862–).
CLE F.Bücheler,A.RieseandE.Lommatzsch,
CarminaLatinaepigraphica,3vols.(Leipzig,
1897–1926).
CSEL CorpusscriptorumecclesiasticorumLatinorum
(Vienna,1866).
DMLBS DictionaryofMedievalLatinfromBritish
Sources(Oxford,1975–2013).
FEW W.vonWartburg,Französischesetymologisches
Wörterbuch(Bonn,1928–).
FRH T.J.Cornelletal.,TheFragmentsoftheRoman
Historians,3vols.(Oxford,2013).
GL H.Keil,GrammaticiLatini,8vols.(Leipzig,
1855–80).
ILCV E.Diehl,InscriptionesLatinaeChristianae
ueteres,3vols.(Berlin,1925–31).
ILLRP A.Degrassi,InscriptionesLatinaeliberaerei
publicae,2vols.(I2ndedn1965,II1963).
LEI M.PfisterandW.Schweickard,LEI:
Lessicoetimologicoitaliano(Wiesbaden,1979–).
LSJ H.G.LiddellandR.Scott,AGreek–English
Lexicon(revisedandaugmentedbyH.S.Jones,
witharevisedsupplement)(Oxford,1996).
O.BuNjem R.Marichal,LesostracadeBuNjem(Libya
antiquaSupplement7)(AssrayaalHamra,1992).
O.Claud. SeeBingenetal.(1992),(1997).
O.Faw. O.Guéraud,‘Ostracagrecsetlatinsdel’Wâdi
Fawâkhir’,BIFAO41(1942),141–96.
OCD OxfordClassicalDictionary,2ndedn(Oxford,
1970),3rdedn(Oxford,1996).