A Study of the Versification of the African Carmina Latina Epigraphica
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A STUDY OF THE VERSIFICATION OF THE AFRICAN CARMINA LATINA EPIGRAPHICA By LYN MacCROSTIE RAE B.A., The University of British Columbia, 1980 M.A., The University of British Columbia, 1983 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (The Department of Classics) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA August 1991 © Lyn MacCrostie Rae, 1991 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of dSSic*) Cl The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date Off- 1\ f DE-6 (2/88) ABSTRACT This thesis presents a study of the metrics and prosody of the carmina latina epigraphica from the Roman provinces of North Africa, the purpose of which is to test the prevailing but unsubstantiated view that these carmina exhibit especially poor versification, and that in them can be observed a chronological decline in quality of versification. A representative corpus of dated carmina latina epigraphica africana is established, the inscriptions are subjected to an analysis of their metrics and prosody, and conclusions are drawn concerning the nature, extent and chronology of their deviation from classical standards of versification. The corpus of inscriptions has four introductory chapters, which form Part II of the study. The first describes the criteria according to which the texts have been chosen. The second, third and fourth present three premises on which analysis and interpretation of their versification are based; these concern the authorship of the carmina, the educational background of the authors, and the linguistic milieu in which they were composed. The core of the thesis is Part III, which comprises the texts of eighty-six dated carmina, analyses of their versification and commentaries on several features of their composition. Observations are offered regarding: the nature and possible causes of unclassical metric and prosodic phenomena; the extent to which an author deviates from literary norms, and the effect of his errors on a quantitative reading of the poem; a brief assessment of each author's understanding of and competence in the composition of classical quantitative verse; the graphic disposition of the text and its effect on the reader's recognition and recitation of the poetic content. Conclusions drawn from the data compiled in Part III include the following. Unclassical metric features characteristic of the corpus include the combination of different meters in one poem, the composition of hypermetric and hypometric lines and the intermixture of prose with lines of verse. Such phenomena are found in about one-half the texts. Prosodical irregularities fall into two main types: those that can be considered classical (ascribable to an author's application of classical licences); and those that are errors, most of which are attributable to the intrusion of certain unclassical phonological features of an author's everyday speech. Prosodical errors occur in about three-quarters of the texts. Four main observations are offered regarding the distribution of errors in the corpus. The extent to which individual authors adhere to literary norms varies widely; the majority of versifiers, however, have adhered sufficiently well that their works can be read quantitatively without serious hindrance. The presence of metric deviations in a poem carries no chronological significance, for these are fairly evenly - iii - distributed throughout the corpus; a general chronological decline in adherence to classical prosody is discernible from the first century to the fifth, with a reverse in the decline seen in poems dated to the last three centuries of the period. The presence in the corpus of several poems of unsound versification of very early date and of poems of sound versification of very late date proves that the practice of some scholars of dating otherwise undatable carmina according to their quality of versification is unsafe. Pagan authors tend to adhere slightly more closely than their Christian counterparts to classical metrics and prosody. Poems of reasonably sound metrics and prosody tend to be inscribed in such a way as to facilitate the reader's recognition and recitation of their poetic content, while poems of poor quality of versification tend to be inscribed haphazardly. Appendix I provides full scansion of each carmen. Appendix II lists initia carminum. - iv - TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Abbreviations v Acknowledgments vi PART I. INTRODUCTION 1 PART II. PREFACE TO THE CORPUS OF TEXTS 10 Chapter 1. Criteria for the Selection of Texts 10 Chapter 2. Authorship of the Texts 16 Chapter 3. Educational Background of the Authors 23 Chapter 4. Linguistic Milieu 41 PART III. CORPUS OF DATED CARMINA LATINA EPIGRAPHICA AFRICANA 56 PART IV. CONCLUSIONS 237 NOTES 268 BIBLIOGRAPHY 294 APPENDIX I. ANALYSES OF VERSIFICATION 307 APPENDIX II. INITIA CARMINUM 341 - v - TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS AE L'Annee epiqraphique BCTH Bulletin archeoloqique du Comity des Travaux historiques et scientifiques BEG Bulletin dpiqraphique de la Gaule BL Buecheler, F. Carmina Latina Epiqraphica I-II, and Lommatzsch, E. Carmina Latina Epiqraphica III CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum CLEA Carmina Latina Epiqraphica Africana, as collected in Part III of this thesis ICUR DeRossi, I.B. Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores ILA Gsell, St. Inscriptions latines de l'Alqerie ILCV Diehl, E. Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres ILT Merlin, A. Inscriptions latines de la Tunisie IRT Reynolds, J.M. and Ward-Perkins, J.B. The Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania K Keil, H. Grammatici Latini MEFR Melanges d1archdoloqie et d'histoire de l'Ecole francaise de Rome (from 1971, Melanges de l'Ecole franqaise de Rome) PAC Mandouze, A. Prosopographie de l'Afrique chretienne PIR Groag, E., Stein, A., Petersen, L. Prosopoqraphia Imperii Roman i2 PLRE Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R., Morris, J. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire Z Zarker, J. Studies in the Carmina Latina Epiqraphica - vi - ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My interest in the carmina latina epiqraphica was stimulated by a seminar in Latin epigraphy conducted by Professor James Russell, whom I thank for his encouragement to pursue this study and for his assistance in its preparation. I wish also to thank Professors A.A.Barrett, H.G.Edinger, F.R.Hamlin, G.N.Sandy and G.R.Wieland for the helpful comments and suggestions they provided. - 1 - A STUDY OF THE VERSIFICATION OF THE AFRICAN CARMINA LATINA EPIGRAPHICA PART I. INTRODUCTION The Carmina Latina Epiqraphica The Carmina Latina Epiqraphica is the name given to a collection of verse inscriptions that were composed by men and women from all strata of Roman society, both by pagans and by Christians, in funerary and dedicatory commemorations, from the third century BC to the end of antiquity. Of the approximately four thousand two hundred known to date, most use dactylic verse (about 80%), most are funerary (about 80%), and most are pagan (about 60%). Although they have been discovered in all parts of the Roman empire, most come from Italy (about 60%). Some are firmly dated to the third century BC and some to very late times, but the majority are undatable.1 The collection was first assembled by F.Buecheler, Carmina Latina Epiqraphica, 1895 and 1897, supplemented by E.Lommatzsch, 1926. Although the corpus has since nearly doubled in size, no up-to-date edition has been published. The Buecheler-Lommatzsch volumes comprise mainly pagan inscriptions; for Christian inscriptions the primary source is E.Diehl's Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres, 1925, 1927, 1931, supplemented by J.Moreau and H.I.Marrou, 1967. For verse inscriptions discovered after Buecheler-Lommatzsch and Diehl, one must consult the various regional collections and such journals as L'Annee ^piqraphique. One of the most striking features of the verse inscriptions is their versification. The Versification of the Carmina Latina Epiqraphica The carmina exhibit a wide range in quality of - 2 - versification. Although some poems preserve perfectly the shape of the classical hexameter, pentameter and senarius, the meters most commonly used by popular versifiers, most exhibit deviations from classical standards, and some are virtually unscannable. Certain unclassical metric and prosodic features have long been identified as characteristic of the popular epigraphic muse: in metrics, the composition of hypermetric and hypometric lines, the combination of different meters in one carmen, and the intermixture of prose with lines of verse; in prosody, the alteration of classical syllabic quantities, both quantity by nature and quantity by position. Such popularisms have been attributed generally to individual authors' inexpert adherence to, or imperfect recall of, the principles and practices of classical quantitative versification that they had learned in school, and that they had observed in the classical texts that served as their models. For some specific metric popularisms