82 Colorado College Studies. 



ViROSA, G. 1, 58, dicta ab eo, quod est virus; alii fortia ac- 



cipiunt a viribus. 

 ViTULA, Bug. 3, 30, a viridiore aetate dicta. 



A. 1, 533. Graeci hoves Irahih's, nos vitulos diciimis. 

 VoLANDO, A. 6, 198, alii 'volando' ambulando dicunt: vola 



enim dicitur media pars pedis sive manus. 



cf. Non. Marc. p. 32, 31 M., involare est inruere, insilire, 

 aut a volatu aut a vola, id est media manu, dictum. 



PROPER NAMES. 



No part of a language allows freer play to popular etymol- 

 ogizing than its proper names, for no j)art of a language is 

 more difficult to explain. Servius himself appreciated in 

 some measure the difficulty of this part of his task. On Aen. 

 7, 678, he says that it is not surprising that many conflicting 

 explanations are offered for ancient Italian names, 'nam an- 

 tiquitas ipsa creavit errorem'. On Aen. 1, 273, Daniel's Ser- 

 vius quotes a great many explanations of the name 'Roma'. 

 These are prefaced by the remark: scd deorigine ct conditore 

 urbis diversa a diversis traduntur. Accordingly, many such 

 words as Argiletum (Aen. 8, 345); Aventinus (Aen. 7, 657); 

 Palatinus (Aen. 8, 51) are provided with several etymologies 

 each. 



No attempt is here made to pronounce upon all Servius' 

 explanations of proper names, but the following brief list will 

 show most of the jDhases of popular etymologizing which are 

 to be expected in an ancient commentary upon words of this 

 class. "False etymologies are of themselves the fruitful 

 causes of myths" (Sayce, Science of Language, Vol. II, p. 

 259). "The eponymous heroes from whom tribes and nations 

 have been supposed to derive their names owe their existence 

 to the same popular etymologizing etc." [^Ihid.p. 247.^ In 

 our commentary myths are recounted ad nauseam, and the 

 hero eponymous appears on almost every page. Sometimes 

 these ancient tales are rejected as fabulous, and rational ex- 

 planations inserted to rej)lace them. Thus Servius explains 



