Sextus Pompeius Festus, usually known simply as Festus, was a Roman grammarian who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo (Narbonne) in Gaul.
Sextus Pompeius Festus, usually known simply as Festus, was a Roman grammarian who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo (Narbonne) in Gaul.
He made a 20-volume epitome of Verrius Flaccus's voluminous and encyclopedic treatise De verborum significatione . Flaccus had been a celebrated grammarian who flourished in the reign of Augustus. Festus gives the etymology as well as the meaning of many words, and his work throws considerable light on the language, mythology and antiquities of ancient Rome. He made a few alterations, and inserted some critical remarks of his own. He also omitted such ancient Latin words as had long been obsolete; these he apparently discussed in a separate work now lost, entitled Priscorum verborum cum exemplis. Even incomplete, Festus' lexicon reflects at second hand the enormous intellectual effort that had been made in the Augustan Age to put together information on the traditions of the Roman world, which was already in a state of flux and change.
Of Flaccus' work only a few fragments remain; of Festus' epitome, only one damaged, fragmentary manuscript. The remainder, further abridged, survives in a summary made at the close of the 8th century by Paul the Deacon.
The Festus Lexicon Project has summed up Paul's epitome of Festus' De Verborum Significatu as follows:
The text, even in its present mutilated state, is an important source for scholars of Roman history. It is a treasury of historical, grammatical, legal and antiquarian learning, providing sometimes unique evidence for the culture, language, political, social and religious institutions, deities, laws, lost monuments, and topographical traditions of ancient Italy. [1]
The 11th-century Codex Farnesianus at Naples is the sole surviving manuscript of Festus. It was rediscovered in 1436 at Speyer by the Venetian humanist and bishop Pietro Donato. [2] When he found it, half of the manuscript was already missing, so that it only contains the alphabetized entries M-V, and not in perfect condition. During the 15th century it has been scorched by fire and then disassembled by the antiquarian humanist Julius Pomponius Laetus.
Collating these fragmentary abridgments, and republishing them with translations, is a project being coordinated at University College London, with several objectives: to make this information available in usable form, to stimulate debate on Festus and on the Augustan antiquarian tradition upon which he drew, and to enrich and to renew studies on Roman life, about which Festus provides essential information.
Nonius Marcellus was a Roman grammarian of the 4th or 5th century AD. His only surviving work is the De compendiosa doctrina, a dictionary or encyclopedia in 20 books that shows his interests in antiquarianism and Latin literature from Plautus to Apuleius. Nonius may have come from Africa.
Tanaquil was the queen of Rome by marriage to Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth King of Rome.
Marcus Verrius Flaccus was a Roman grammarian and teacher who flourished under Augustus and Tiberius.
André Dacier was a French classical scholar and editor of texts. He began his career with an edition and commentary of Festus' De verborum significatione, and was the first to produce a "readable" text of the 20-book work. His wife was the influential classical scholar and translator, Anne Dacier.
The Caprotinia, or feasts of Juno Caprotina, were ancient Roman festivals which were celebrated on July 7, in favor of the female slaves. During this solemnity, they ran about, beating themselves with their fists and with rods. None but women assisted in the sacrifices offered at this feast.
The gens Quinctilia, also written Quintilia, was a patrician family at ancient Rome, dating from the earliest period of Roman history, and continuing well into imperial times. Despite its great antiquity, the gens never attained much historical importance. The only member who obtained the consulship under the Republic was Sextus Quinctilius in 453 BC. The gens produced numerous praetors and other magistrates, but did not obtain the consulship again for over four hundred years.
The gens Otacilia, originally Octacilia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The gens first rose to prominence during the First Punic War, but afterwards lapsed into obscurity. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Manius Otacilius Crassus, in 263 BC.
De analogia are two lost books of a grammatical work on the Latin language written by Julius Caesar and dedicated to Cicero. Only a few fragments from this important work have survived. Suetonius mentions that Caesar wrote De analogia while he and his army were crossing the Alps.
The gens Cloelia, originally Cluilia, and occasionally written Clouilia or Cloulia, was a patrician family at ancient Rome. The gens was prominent throughout the period of the Republic. The first of the Cloelii to hold the consulship was Quintus Cloelius Siculus, in 498 BC.
Numerius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, usually abbreviated N. The name was never especially common, but was used throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The feminine form is Numeria. The praenomen also gave rise to the patronymic gens Numeria.
Opiter is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used primarily during the early centuries of the Roman Republic. It is not usually abbreviated, but is sometimes found with the abbreviation Opet., apparently based on an archaic spelling of the name. No examples of a feminine form used as a praenomen are known, but from a cognomen it appears to be Opita. The name gave rise to the patronymic gens Opiternia, and perhaps also gens Opetreia.
The gens Sestia was a minor patrician family at ancient Rome. The only member of this gens to obtain the consulship in the time of the Republic was Publius Sestius Capitolinus Vaticanus, in 452 BC.
Caeso Fabius Vibulanus was consul of the Roman republic in 484, 481, and 479 BC. He had earlier held the office of quaestor parricidii in 485 BC in connection with the trial and execution of Spurius Cassius Vecellinus.
The gens Cincia was a plebeian family at Rome. The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Lucius Cincius Alimentus, who was elected praetor in 209 BC.
The gens Cispia was a plebeian family at Rome. Although the gens was supposedly of great antiquity, the Cispii only achieved prominence toward the end of the Republic.
The secespita is a long iron sacrificial knife, made of brass and copper from Cyprus, with a solid and rounded ivory handle, which is secured to the hilt by a ring of silver or gold. The flamens and their wives, the flaminicae, who were priests and priestesses of the Ancient Rome, the virgins and the pontiffs made use of it for sacrifices. This knife derives its name from the Latin verb seco.
The gens Flaminia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. During the first five centuries of Rome, no mention is made of any member of the Flaminia gens. In former times the Flaminii were believed to be only a family of the Quinctia gens; but this opinion arose from a confusion of the Flaminii with the Flaminini, the latter of whom belonged to the ancient patrician Quinctia gens.
De verborum significatione libri XX, also known as the Lexicon of Festus, is an epitome compiled, edited, and annotated by Sextus Pompeius Festus from the encyclopedic works of Verrius Flaccus. Festus' epitome is typically dated to the 2nd century, but the work only survives in an incomplete 11th-century manuscript and copies of its own separate epitome.
The gens Orchia or Orcia was a minor plebeian family at Rome. Few members of this gens held Roman magistracies, of whom the most notable was probably Gaius Orchius, tribune of the plebs in 181 BC, and the author of a sumptuary law, the repeal of which was strongly opposed by Cato the Elder. Other Orchii are known from inscriptions.
Ancient Campania originally indicated the territory of the ancient city of Capua in the Roman period, and later also the plains of the various neighbouring municipalities. It was a very large territory when compared with the other Italic cities of the Roman and pre-Roman period.
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