The Clausula in AuDiiiaiius Marcclliinis. 19 3 



This point understood, the language of the table needs no further 

 interpretation.^ And its testimony is extremely clear. We find that 

 when the first unaccented syllable is followed by caesura it makes 

 position in less than 3 per cent of the cases in form I, less than 

 5 per cent of those in form II and less than 6 per cent of those in 

 form III. As for form IV there are only 5 cases among the sen- 

 tence-endings, one of which lengthens the syllable by position. The 

 material is so small that we must bring in further testimony. Among 

 the clausulae from Book XXI I note that of 9 cases of IV with y 

 caesura position is made in onl}^ one; and in the 17 cases of IV ;' 

 cited on page 182 there are only 3 in which the syllable in question 

 is lengthened. Consequently in this form as well as in the others 

 Ammianus' inclination to avoid position manifests itself. 



It is plain, therefore, that when the first unaccented syllable came 

 before a caesura, Ammianus did not like to lengthen it by position. 

 But he had no scruples against allowing it to be long by nature, 

 for it is thus long in 30 per cent of its occurrences. This proportion 

 leaves no room for assuming the slightest preference on his part 

 for a short syllable, since we may ascribe the predominance of 

 shorts to the fact that almost all finite verb-forms have a short final 

 syllable. 2 



We may note further that Ammianus was very little troubled by 

 hiatus, for it occurs in 11 per cent of the clausulae. 



Let us turn now to a consideration of the state of affairs in the 

 second unaccented syllable. The tendency here is not to avoid 

 position, but to secure it. It is not displayed in all forms, but only 

 in I and II, and is not quite universal within these limits. 



In I j3 there is no inclination at all to lengthen the second unac- 

 cented syllable, which is short in 12 of the 24 cases. 



In I y and II ;' the tendenc}' comes to the surface. Here the 

 syllable follows the caesura, and is in the one case the first syllable 

 of a penultimate trisyllable (nosse confingit) and in the other the 

 first syllable of an antepenultimate tetrasyllable (semper innocui). 

 Examination shows that in I ;' the syllable is long by position in 



1 The fact that to the ear of Ammianus a syllable terminating in a 

 vowel does not make position before a word beginning with 2 consonants 

 {venire praecepit) is in accordance with the prevailing practice of the 

 poets and we need not dwell upon it. 



' The proportion is approximately the same in all forms : in 1 it is 

 3G per cent, in II 27 per cent, in IH 42 per cent. This is as close an 

 agreement as we could reasonably expect. 



