﻿150 THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 



The diminutives whicli occur in the work, and most of which are used by the hum- 

 bler personages, although not many, are yet sufficiently numerous to impart a marked 

 character to the language of those who employ them, and corroborate the view that 

 the Satyiicon was written at a time when the peculiarities of the older writers were yet 

 in voo-ue among the jieople. Xo one can read Plautus and other writers of the older 

 times without being struck by their predilection for the use of diminutives, whether 

 nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, — a predilection which even the language of affected imi- 

 tators, such as Apuleius, confirms. 



Trimalchio uses, c. 39. 4, "fericulus"; c. 39. 6, "tauridus"; c. 50. 6, "catilla" (for 

 the more common "catUlos") and "statuncula" (or, as others read, " statuuculas '" or 

 "statunculos"); c. 63.4, "misella"; c. 63. 5, "audaculum"; c. 75. 6, " amasiuncula " ; 

 c. 75. 8, " corcUlum" (for the more common " corculum") ; c. 77. 4, " casula." Henne- 

 ros uses, c. 57. 6, "glcbulas" and "lamelkdas"; c. 58. 2, "offla"; c. 58. 5, "comula"; 

 and c. 58. 8, " sponsiunculam.' Habiuuas uses, c. 65. 10, "misello"; c. 65. 11, "ossi- 

 cula"; c. 66. 2, "lucunculum" ; c. 66. 4, "vemulae"; c. 66. 6, " homuncionem " ; and 

 c. 66. 7, "catillum." Plocrinus uses, c. 64. 3, " adolescentulus " ; Echion, c. 45. '7, 

 " amasiunculos " ; Ganymedes, c. 44. 15, "casulas"; and a guest of Trimalchio, 

 whose name is not mentioned, uses, c. 38. 3, " meliusculae " and "Graeculis." Even 

 the better educated persons frequently employ diminutives. Agamemnon uses, c. 3. 2, 

 " adolescentuli," and c. 46. 2, "casulas"; Quartilla, c. 24. 2, "vernulae"; Oeno- 

 thea, c. 134. 11, "adolescentulus"; Eumolpus, c. 85. 1, " aedicularum" ; c. 111. 5, 

 "casulam" (in the sense of "sepulcrum"); and Encolpius, or Petronius himself, by no 

 means abstains from the use of diminutives; he uses, c. 1. 3, " adolescentulos " and 

 "globulos"; c. 6. 4, c. 7. 4, c. 131. 2 and 6, and c. 138. 3, "anicula"; c. 11. 2, " ami- 

 culo"; c. 28. 6, "libeUus"; c. 29. 8, "aedicula" and "pusUla"; c. 31. 9, "asellus"; 

 c. 40. 3, "sportellae"; c. 40. 5, "alicula"; c. 56. 8, "offla"; c. 64. 6, "catellam"; 

 c. 67. 9, " capsellam aureolam"; c. 70. 8, "coroUis"; c. 96. 1, and c. 136. 4, "ostio- 

 lum"; c. 126. 16, "osculum"; c. 131. 5, "lapUlos"; c. 135. 8. 11, "tigUlo"; c. 136. 

 5, "mensulae"; c. 140. 11, " clostellum " ; c. 140. 15, "locellos." 



Of these diminutives, " adolescentulus " has the authority of Cicero (not to mention 

 the analogous form " adolescentula," which occurs in Plautus and Terence) ; " aedicula," 

 of Plautus and Cicero ; " amiculum," of Festus and Cicero ; " anicida," of Terence and 

 Cicero; "asellus," of Yarro and Cicero; " audaciilus," of Festus (seep. 145); " catil- 

 lum" ("us"), of Columella and Val. Maximus; "corolla," of Plautus, Festus, Proper- 

 tins, and Catullus ; " glebula," of Colmnella and Vitruvius ; " globulus," being by Pe- 

 tronius used in a metaphorical sense, has in its literal signification the authority of Cato 



