﻿130 THE AGE OF PETKONIUS ARBITER. 



quidquam, c. 76. 3 ; quod sibi debehatur for ei, c. 43. 1 ; quid annonam mordet for mor- 

 deat, c. 44. 1 ; quod nobis epidum daturus est Mammea for nobis daturum esse Mammeam, 

 c. 45. 10; te j)ersuadeam for tibi, c. 46. 2; dixi, quod mustela comedit, c. 46. 4; voca 

 cocum in medio for medium, c. 49. 4 ; videbo te in publicum, c. 58. 4 ; majorem m(tledicas 

 for majori, c. 58. 13, and maledic illam for illi, c. 96. 7 ; Capuae exierat for Capua, 

 c. 62. 1; persuadeo hospitem for hospiti, c. 62. 2; s« aliquid muneris meo vernulae non 

 tulero for «^5^ quid muneris, c. 66. 4 ; ne effluant vimm, c. 71. 11 ; oneravi vinum,* c. 76. 

 3 and 6; tamquam nihil facti, c. 76. 5 ; nolente me . . . exoravit for noletitem me,-f c. 76. 

 10; felix in amicos, c. 77. 1; vides, quod aliis leporem excitavi, c. 131. 7; and hunc 

 adolescentein, quern vides, malo ast)'0 natus est, c. 134. 8. 



After lia-\ing thus separated these instances of grammatical impurity and irregularity, 

 ■whether solecisms or vidgarisms, which have not the authority of another good writer, 

 and which, for this very reason, afford no indication whatever as to the time in which 

 the book was written, we find that the following remain. In quoting the authority of 

 other writers who have used the same grammatical forms, it is by no means my object 

 to defend the correctness of these forms : my sole aim is to ascertain, from a careful 

 examination of these expressions, in connection Ts-ith other circumstances, whether they 

 throw any light, and if so, how much, on the question of the age of Petronius. 



C. 38. 1: "lacte gallinaceum, si quaesieris, invenies"; "lacte" for "lac," but still a 

 neuter. Cf Plant. Menaech. 5. 9. 30: "Neque aqua aquae neque lacte lactis, mihi 

 crede, usquam simUiust, Quam hie tuist tuque huius autem." Non. 8. 483 : " Lacte 

 nominativo casu ab eo, quod est lac. Ennius lib. xi : et si mulier erubuit, ceu lacte et 

 purpura mixta. Hemina Annalium lib. iv: ex Tibcii lacte haurii-e," etc. Charis. 1. 21 

 (p. 78): "Lactis nominativum, alii volimt lac, alii lact, alii lacte, e postrema. Omnino 

 enim nullum nomen muta litera finitur alia nisi s. Itaque eruditiores adjunxerunt t ; et 

 propter genitivum qualitatis facit. Nam tria praeterea iaveniuntur, quae litera eadem 

 finiuntur, caput, git, nepet. Sed his occunit, quod nullum omnino nomen duabus 

 mutis Uteris finiatiu-, ergo lacte siae vitio dicimus. Nam et Cato sic dixit : Et in Italia 

 atras capras lacte album habere." C. 71. 1: "etaeque unum lactem biberunt " ; this 

 form, "lactem," which is a masculine, is not to be confounded with the preceding 

 "lacte." C£ Plant. Bacchid. 5. 2. 18: "quae nee lactem nee lanam habent." Gell. 



• The passage in Virg. Aen. 1. 195, " Vina bonus quae deinde cadis oneraret Acestis," even if it were 

 not poetical, is not parallel. 



+ This must be considered a Grecism ; for it is known that, in Greek, the genitive absolute is sometimes 

 used for the case which the verb requires ; especially is this the case with tlie phrase aKovros iiiov, as Kebke 

 has shown. 



