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Priscianus Caesariensis (fl. 500 AD), commonly known as Priscian, was a Latin grammarian. He wrote the Institutiones grammaticae ("Grammatical Foundations") on the subject. This work was the standard textbook for the study of Latin during the Middle Ages and provided the raw material for the field of speculative grammar.

The details of Priscian's life are largely unknown. Priscian is of Greek descent, he was born and raised in Caesarea (modern Cherchell, Algeria) the capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis and according to Cassiodorus, he taught Latin at Constantinople (Keil, Gr. Lat. vii. 207). Priscian's minor works include a panegyric to Anastasius (491—518), which helps establish his time period. In addition, the manuscripts of his Institutiones grammaticae contain a subscription to the effect that the work was copied (526, 527) by Flavius Theodorus, a clerk in the imperial secretariat.

Works

Priscian's most famous work, the Institutiones grammaticae, is a systematic exposition of Latin grammar. The dedication to Julian probably indicates the consul and patrician, not the author of a well-known epitome of Justinian's Novellae, who lived somewhat later than Priscian. The grammar is divided into eighteen books, of which the first sixteen deal mainly with sounds, word-formation and inflexions; the last two, which form from a fourth to a third of the whole work, deal with syntax.

Priscian's grammar is based on the earlier works of Herodian and Apollonius. The examples it includes to illustrate the rules preserve numerous fragments from Latin authors which would otherwise have been lost, including Ennius, Pacuvius, Accius, Lucilius, Cato and Varro. But the authors whom he quotes most frequently are Virgil, and, next to him, Terence, Cicero, Plautus; then Lucan, Horace, Juvenal, Sallust, Statius, Ovid, Livy and Persius.

The grammar was quoted by several writers in Britain of the 8th century--Aldhelm, Bede, Alcuin--and was abridged or largely used in the next century by Hrabanus Maurus of Fulda and Servatus Lupus of Ferrières. About a thousand manuscripts exist, all ultimately derived from the copy made by Theodorus. Most copies contain only books i.—xvi. (sometimes called Priscianus major), some include only (with the three books Ad Symmachum) books xvii. and xviii. (Priscianus minor), and a few contain both parts. The earliest manuscripts are of the 9th century though a few fragments are somewhat earlier.

Priscian's minor works include
  • Three treatises dedicated to Symmachus (the father-in-law of Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius): on weights and measures; on the metres of Terence; and the Praeexercitamina, a translation into Latin of Greek rhetorical exercises from Hermogenes.
  • De nomine, pronomine, et verbo ("On noun, pronoun, and verb"), an abridgment of part of his Institutiones for teaching grammar in schools
  • Partitiones xii. versuum Aeneidos principalium: another teaching aid, using question and answer to dissect the first twelve lines of the Aeneid. The metre is discussed first, each verse is scanned, and each word thoroughly and instructively examined.
  • The poem on Anastasius mentioned above, in 312 hexameters with a short iambic introduction
  • A verse translation into 1087 hexameters of Dionysius's Periegesis, or geographical survey of the world.

References

  • Encarta Encyclopedia, 2002.
Floruit (often abbreviated fl. or flor. and sometimes italicized to show it is Latin) refers to a period of time during which a person, school, movement or even species was active or flourishing.
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Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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carries the wine jar home.
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  • : The slave used to carry the wine jar home.
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    Cherchell was an older name for Churchill, Oxfordshire.


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    Motto
    من الشعب و للشعب    (Arabic)
    "From the people and for the people"
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    Caesariensis was the easternmost of these provinces, mainly in present Algeria, with its capital at Caesaria (hence the name Caesariensis
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    Anastasius I
    Byzantine Emperor

    Flavius Anastasius
    Reign 11 April, 491 – 9 July, 518
    Full name Flavius Anastasius
    Titles Consul of the Roman Empire
    Born c.
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    Justinian depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna
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    Full name Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus
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    • Romans, in the family Porcii
    • Cato the Elder or "the Censor" (Marcus Porcius Cato 234BC–149BC), Roman statesman

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    A bust of Virgil, from the entrance to his tomb in Naples, Italy.
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    Occupation: Poet
    Nationality: Roman
    Genres: Epic poetry
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    Cicero around age 60, from an ancient marble bust
    Born: January 3, 106 BC
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    Occupation: Politician, lawyer, orator and philosopher
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