01 - The Latin -to Imperatives in Late Republican Epistolography

Title: The Latin -to Imperatives in Late Republican Epistolography

Abstract:

This paper will explore the use of the imperative in -to (see Risselada (1993:122-138) for a thorough discussion) in the corpus of Ciceronian correspondence, adopting an approach suggested by Joseph and Wallace (1992), and looking at the individual authors of the corpus as "real people", in their social contexts. Adams᾽ examination of a letter from Caelius to Cicero shows that in several respects, the language of Cicero᾽s correspondents differs from Cicero᾽s own more restrictive use of Latin (2016:137-145). This paper will consequently show to what extent we can use the language of Cicero and his correspondents to find out about language use and language change in the final years of the Republic.

While Barrios-Lech᾽s 2017 study of the imperative in -to in Plautus and Terence found that it appears to be stylistically neutral (in conformity with earlier insights from Gratwick (1993:140) and de Melo (2006:270)), it seems to become quite marked in the imperial age. Further, Barrios-Lech found a statistically significant diminution in its usage between Plautus in the third century BCE and Terence in the second century BCE (2017:488). While the forms seem to have ceased being part of common speech, the -to imperatives are a central feature of legal language, and as such, make up part of Cicero᾽s mock-legal passage in De legibus, at 2.19ff. When used by literary authors, scholars often assume that this creates a solemn effect (Pinkster (2015:517); Rosén (1999:116-117); cf. also Decorte (2015:99-110)). Adams has also shown that usage of the -to imperative became a generic marker for didactic works, and that it was an important feature in late antique instructions (Adams (1995:652-653); cf. also Gibson (1998)).

However, little attention has been devoted to the usage of -to imperatives in Latin epistolography. Even ignoring the common appearance of scito(te), which cannot be contrasted with a present imperative, Cicero is a frequent user of forms in -to, particularly in the letters written to Atticus. By examining the use of -to imperatives (in comparison to the use of simple imperatives) by different individuals in the late Republican corpora of Cicero᾽s correspondence, I will show that where the forms in ­-to do appear, this tends to be in close relationships, and by individuals that revolved in specific social circles.

The majority of Cicero᾽s correspondents never use -to imperatives, even in contexts where we might reasonably expect one, such as when an imperative is employed next to a conditional (cf. Servius 248 in Ad Fam.I.: hoc idem, si tibi videdur, fac ante oculos tibi proponas). Yet, we find ­-to imperatives in letters from Caelius to Cicero, and from Cicero᾽s brother Quintus to Tiro. The form is also used by Asinius Pollio and Pompey. Interestingly, we also see the form used in later epistolary corpora, such as in the letters of Pliny, Fronto and Seneca, indicating that the prevalence of the form in certain Republican circles ensured that the form did not become extinct in later epistolographical language.

Length of Presentation: 20 Minutes

Bibliography:

Adams, J. N. (1995) Pelagonius and Latin Veterinary Terminology in the Roman Empire, Leiden.

Adams, J. N. (2016) An Anthology of Informal Latin, 200 BC-AD 900, Cambridge.

Barrios-Lech, P. (2017) ‘The Imperative in -to in Plautus and Terence', Classical Quarterly 67.2, 485-506.

Decorte, R. P. M. (2015) ‘Latin Legal Lanuage: A Linguistic and Epigraphic Investigation of Roman Statutes', PhD thesis, University of Cambridge.

de Melo, W. (2006) ‘Review of E. Karakasis, Terence and the Language of Roman Comedy (Cambridge, 2005)', Mnemosyne 59, 268 - 74.

Gibson, R. (1998) ‘Didactic Poetry as ‘Popular' Form: A Study of Imperatival Expressions in Latin Didactic Verse and Prose', in C. Atherton (ed.), Form and Content in Didactic Poetry, Bari, 67-98.

Gratwick, A. (1993) Plautus: Menaechmi, Cambridge.

Joseph, B. D. and R. E. Wallace. (1992) ‘Socially Determined Variation in Ancient Rome', Language Variation and Change 4, 105-119.

Pinkster, H. (2015) Oxford Latin Syntax: Volume 1: The Simple Clause, Oxford.

Risselada, R. (1993) Imperatives and Other Directive Expressions in Latin: A Study in the Pragmatics of a Dead Language, Amsterdam.

Rosén, H. (1999) Latine loqui: Trends and Directions in the Crystallization of Classical Latin, Munich.

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Presenters

Solveig Hilmarsdottir, University of Cambridge

  SCS-10