Remnants of Early Latin

Frederic De Forest Allen

Jan 2005 · Arx Publishing, LLC

About this ebook

Allen's stated purpose for this students' handbook was to assemble "such of the remains of the earliest Latin-primarily inscriptions-as are most important as monuments of the language, with enough explanation to make them fairly intelligible." This reprint of the 1880 edition of Remnants of Early Latin covers the earliest inscriptions and literary remains of Latin during the Republican period (ca. 100 B.C.). A short introduction (pp. 3-13) serves as a grammar of Early Latin, listing about 60 phonetic and inflexional pecularities in which it differs from standard classical Latin, with examples of old Saturnian verse. Part I follows with 150 inscriptions of varying lengths, taken from coins, cups, epitaphs, dedicatory and other inscriptions, with extensive commentaries in the footnotes. Part II collects remains from various literary sources-including old prayers from Cato's De Re Rustica and fragments of the Laws of the Twelve Tables, again with commentary. Also features an index of all early Latin words cited in the text.