Nonius Marcellus was aRomangrammarian of the 4th or 5th century AD. His only surviving work is theDe compendiosa doctrina, a dictionary or encyclopedia in 20 books that shows his interests inantiquarianism andLatin literature fromPlautus toApuleius. Nonius may have come fromAfrica.[1]
Little is known about Nonius. The full title of his work,Noni Marcelli Peripatetici Tubursicensis de Conpendiosa Doctrina ad filium, indicates that he was aPeripatetic philosopher fromThubursicum inNumidia. An inscription at Thubursicum dedicated by a certain "Nonius Marcellus Herculius" in 323 AD indicates that his family was based in that area.[2] Since Nonius does not mention Christianity and calls himself a peripatetic, he seems not to haveconverted.[3]
Nonius quotesAulus Gellius and other 2nd-century compilers, and is himself quoted and praised three times byPriscian in the 5th century, and so must have lived between these dates.[4] According to theCambridge History of Classical Literature, he was probably active in the first half of the 4th century,[5] although some scholars of the 19th and early 20th centuries thought he might have lived later in the 4th or even in the 5th century.[6] More recently it has been argued that Nonius lived in theSeveran period and can be dated to around A.D. 205–20.[7]
TheDe compendiosa doctrina is one of the major sources for lost works of theRoman Republic, including the tragedies ofAccius andPacuvius, thesatires ofLucilius, and thehistory ofSisenna. It consists of words, a short definition, and then quotations of authors using the word.[8] It has been printed under a number of titles, includingDe proprietate latini sermonis andDe varia significatione Verborum. It is one of three major Latin dictionaries preserved from antiquity, along with that ofFestus, which was an epitome ofVerrius Flaccus' workDe verborum significatu, and theEtymologiae ofIsidore of Seville.
The first twelve of Nonius's twenty books are organized grammatically around words or forms of words, and the remaining eight by subject matter such as clothing, weapons, food, etc. Each entry of either type consists of a brief definition and quotations from Republican-era writers, taken from 2nd-century sources, includingAulus Gellius andFronto, rather than the original texts. "His ignorance and inattention," notes theCambridge History of Classical Literature, "diminish but cannot destroy the value of his compilation."[9]
The research ofW. M. Lindsay[10] and later of Strzelecki[11] has shown that Nonius obtained many of hislemmata (entries) and the first citation for each from earlier grammatical texts which are now lost. The remainder of the entries and the extra citations belong to 41 books which he either owned or borrowed from a local library. For each section (either a book or a letter entry within a book), Nonius worked through his 41 lists from 41 volumes in the same order, first to find the lead-citation, and then again in order for additional citations. Based on this methodology, it can be determined whether Nonius is quoting an author first-hand, or from a grammar which was full of errors.[12]
TheDoctrina preserves fragments from earlydramatists,annalists, satirists, and antiquarian writers. In arranging quotations from authors, Nonius always follows the same order, beginning withPlautus and ending withVarro andCato. The grammariansPriscian andFulgentius borrowed largely from his book, and in the 5th century a certainJulius Tryphonianus Sabinus brought out a revised and annotated edition.[13]
TheDoctrina was edited with notes by J. Mercier in 1614 at Paris under the titleDe varia significatione Verborum.[14] The page numbers of the Mercier edition are used as a reference in later editions (e.g. 121 M. means "page 121 of the Mercier edition").
Nonius also wrote a volume of lettersOn the neglect of study, which is lost but to which he refers in theDoctrina.[15]
