Sextus Pompeius Festus, De verborum significatu [The Lexicon of Festus]

Fay Glinister (University College London)

Ed. by William John Dominik, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Domains

Language & Linguistics

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 200

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

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Introduction

Sextus Pompeius Festus is the author of a Latin lexicon of the Roman imperial period, known as De Verborum Significationibus (On the Meaning of Words: Macrobius, Sat. 3.8.9), and based on an earlier work by Verrius Flaccus (55 BCE-CE 20), tutor to Augustus’ grandsons. Its etymologies and grammatical explanations of unusual or archaic words are richly detailed, and it contains often unique information on the history and legends, language and literature, political, social and religious institutions, laws, monuments and topographical traditions of ancient Rome and Italy. The text draws on late Republican antiquarian writers, and preserves numerous fragments of early Latin authors, above all Ennius, Plautus and Cato the Elder.

Sextus Pompeius Festus is the author of a Latin…

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1052 words

Citation: Glinister, Fay. "De verborum significatu". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 December 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33494, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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