The Clausula in Aiiniiiaiius MarccUiims. 199 



Now these fovir cadences are precisely the cadences of the ac- 

 centual clausula. The cadence A is not employed by Ammianus, 

 to be sure, but it is used to a greater or less extent b}- many other 

 writers. And that Ammianus' form IV does not appear is owing 

 to Cyprian's avoidance of the metrical clausula 4. These dis- 

 crepancies represent individual peculiarities in the usage of Ammianus 

 and of Cyprian, which are of little moment in comparison with the 

 fact that in Cyprian we find a great preponderance (74 per cent) 

 of Ammianus' ordinary cadences t, II and III. 



Thus the accentual cadences are alread}' present in the metrical 

 clausulae. Consequently, in course of time, as the Latin ear be- 

 came dulled to quantit}^, it was chiefly the accentual cadence that 

 was felt. Through lengthening under accent, facit iniiistiim became 

 the equivalent oi fecit iniustum ; through indifterence to vowel-length 

 in unstressed syllables uosci confiugit was not differentiated from 

 nosse confiugit. On the other hand a clausula like nnniquam pie 

 fecit, which has the sanie quantitative rhythm as inipie fecit, 

 produced a dift'erent effect because it had not the same accent- 

 rhythm. For the same reason the resolved forms esse videaiur and 

 aninia poscentes were dissociated from the pure form nosse con- 

 fingit, and the clausula semper innocui was no longer identified 

 with semper in node, but with semper innoxii. 



In this way originated the accentual clausulae. Ammianus' four 

 forms represented the four unresolved metrical forms, and they 

 retain a clear indication of their models in the fact that the first 

 unaccented syllable does not make position and that the second 

 does make it. Almost all sensitiveness to quantit}' is gone in him 

 except for this crude distinction. 



The only other writer in the accentual clausula who has been 

 subjected to investigation is Sedulius.^ He makes frequent use of 

 the cadences I, II and III and a very sparing use of the cadence 

 (^ r>j \ r^ r^ r^ r\j . This latter clausula, being the accentual equival- 

 ent of a resolved form of the metrical clausula (^. ^ j ^^^^i) 

 should logically have gone out of use, as did the accent scheme 



of the other resolution -^ _ .--I ^ ^=^, but it is conserved, as we 



have said, by Sedulius and many others. Its retention seems to 

 be solely due to the fact that its metrical prototype was the 

 Ciceronian esse videatur clausula which is recommended b}' all 

 grammarians in chorus from Quintilian on. Although in . this re- 



* These words were written in 1908. Ow^ing to an unfortunate coni- 

 bination of circumstances I am unable to turn to account several dissei'- 

 tations which have appeai'ed since then. 



