The Clausula in Amniia/ins Marcellinus. 187 



In the main the common types owe their frequency, the un- 

 common types their infrequency, to conditions involved in the 

 nature of the language. 



QUANTITY. 



The tables which stand at the end of this dissertation record the 

 scansion of the clausulae comprised in my collection of sentence- 

 endings.^ In the face of the returns which they present one would 

 be impelled at first glance to deny that Ammianus observed quantity 

 at all. No form, nor even any type, bears evidence of consistent 

 treatment. On the contrar}-, each form shows examples of almost 

 every possible variation in metre : in I we find 1 1 different scansions 

 out of 16 possible to the form, in II 20 out of 32, in III 27 out of 

 32 and in IV 18 out of 64, in only 31 cases. These facts undoubt- 

 edly point to neglect of quantity.^ Yet it would be a mistake to 

 infer from them that Ammianus neglected it altogether. The tables 

 themselves supply evidence enough to controvert such an assump- 

 tion in the predominance of the scansion — ^ ^=^ in form I and 



in the fact that this form has its third syllable long in 834 out of 

 870 cases. 



The attitude of Ammianus in regard to quantity may be precised 

 in these terms— in accented syllables he is entirely indifferent to it, 

 and in unaccented syllables he observes only quantit} due to position.-^ 

 Let us first take up the proof of the statement that he disregards 

 quantity in accented syllables. 



^ Since Ammianus does not elide, syllables standing in hiatus are 

 credited with their natural length in these tables (e. g. maritnm adscisci^ 

 exemplo adversani). In conformity, moreover, to the usage of contemporary 

 poets I have marked final o short in moneo, magnitudo, moneudo and 

 the like, final c short in fere, etc. The tables have not been carefully 

 revised, because they signify so little. Consequently I cannot vouch for 

 their absolute accuracy, but the amount of error in them cannot be 

 material on account of the care expended in compiling them. 



- There is no foundation upon which to base any hypothesis that 

 Ammianus observed quantity solely in responsion. On this point the 

 reader can easily satisfy himself : I shall refer only to the passage quoted 

 on page 203 where the responsion is more obvious than in any other passage 

 in the Histories. There the clausula fere trecentis corresponds to tempus 

 extretimm^ and ingressits adiiltain (a hexameter-tag !) to bellorum aerumnas. 



* The latter statement, strictly taken, is not quite true. But his pref- 

 erence for a syllable long by nature over a short syllable, or vice versa, 

 was so slight and so inconsistently exercised as to be virtually neg- 

 ligible. 



