DE ANTIQUIS DICTIONIBUS. 23 
that Petronius has definitions of some terms which he could not have borrowed from 
Gellius, because they are not contained in the work of the latter, and that, as he 
borrowed in these instances from other, perhaps the original sources, he may also have 
done so in those in which apparently he agrees with Gellius. While, then, the opinion 
that this portion of our fragment is nothing but excerpts from Gellius rests upon some 
strong arguments, it is opposed by some not inconsiderable difficulties. But whatever 
the decision of the question, — whether Petronius borrowed directly from Gellius, or 
whether both drew from a common source, above indicated in the several articles, — the 
importance of the fragment of Petronius in establishing, in a few instances, the text of 
Gellius (for instance, the reading Socrates in the article 41, Quin), remains the same. 
Corrected Text. 
1. Nitrum dicitur a nitra provincia ; ubi si in aestate prolixa pluvia terram infuderit, 
rapida vis solis aquam concoquit in petram salis et nivi simillimam sed nihil frigoris vel 
salsi humoris habentem, quae salis more vel caumate durescit vel pluvioso aere liquescit ; 
hoc indigenae ad lavandum utuntur. 
2.,Choirogryllus, animal non majus ericio simile muri vel urso in cavernis petrarum 
habitans, in Italia abundans. 
3. Capparis, herba quae salitur. Plautus in Curculione: voltisne olivas aut pulmen- 
tum aut capparim, et Martialis : Capparin et pum cepas halece natantes. 
_ 4. Epinicia, laus de victoria. * 
. 5. Exedrae thalami seu cellulae seu potida cubilia aut sedes. Cicero de Oratore: in - 
eadem exedra. ` zuo s Ce 
6. Scalptura, quod usitatius sculpturam dicimus; tunc histriaca dicitur; tum qui 
historias vel gesta aliqua exprimunt, histriones. : 
1. Mulsum vinum melle decoctum. Plautus in Asinaria: et cantharo mulsum date. 
8. Peribolus templi est ipsius circumposita munitionum constructio. 
9. Coloquintis agrestis cucurbita et vehementer amara, quae more cucurbitae per 
terram flagella diffundit; foliorum vero et fructus usualis instar cucumeris. Rotunditas 
coloquintis nomen dedit. : 
10. Classica sunt cornua, quae convocandi causa facta erant: et a calando, id est 
vocando, dicta. Virgilius: Classica iamque sonant. 
11. Synaxis concilium vel auditorium vel hora conveniendi dici potest. 
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