Talk:Bellum Catilinae

Title
Based on my reading of some commentaries, it seems that the best title is Bellum Catilinae rather than the current The Conspiracy of Catiline. See eg

"The work is sometimes called De Catilinae Coniuratione or simply Catilina in modern editions. Neither title rests upon the authority of the manuscripts. The former is taken from the text itself (4.3) and does not appear to have been current in antiquity. The MSS preserve the monograph under a variety of headings: Bellum Catilinarium, Liber Catilinarius, In Catilinario (sc. bello), and Bellum Catilinae. Even within one of our best MSS, P, the title fluctuates between Bellum Catulinarium [sic] in the praescriptio and Bellum Catilinae in the subscriptio. The grammarians as well show considerable latitude in the way they describe this work. Apparently, however, the word bellum belongs in the title, and by Quintilian’s day the work seems to have been known as the Bellum Catilinae since he refers to the two mono-graphs as in bello Iugurthino et Catilinae (3.8.9). Likewise Florus, who drew heavily upon S. for his chapter on the Catilinarian conspiracy, calls this section of his history (2.12) the Bellum Catilinae. Possibly S. deliberately called his first essay the Bellum Catilinae in reaction to Cicero’s contention (Cat. 3.23) that he had averted the war which threatened the state and had done so by means of a bloodless victory in the garb of peacetime. Cic. (Fam. 5.12.2) later prefers to describe the affair as a civilis coniuratio rather than a full-scale bellum."

If there is no objection, I will make a request that the page be moved appropriately. Ifly6 (talk) 23:09, 1 June 2022 (UTC)

Edit. Similarly,

"Many editors, using S.'s [Sallust's] own phrase (4.3), have given the monogrpah the title De Coniuratione Catilinae; some have contented themselves with a simple Catilina. There is no MSS authority for either of these titles. The praescriptiones and subscriptiones of the codices (listed by Kurfess, p. 1) vary between Bellum Catilinarium, Liber Catilinarius, In Catilinario (sc. bello), and Bellum Catilinae. The tradition therefore seems strong for the inclusion of the word "Bellum" in the title, but it should be remembered that medieval scribes were notably casual about titles... Quintillian's description of the two monographs: in bello Jugurthino et Catilinae (3.8.9) indicates that by this time the work was known as Bellum Catilinae. Florus, who took his account from S., calls his chapter on the conspiracy (2.12) Bellum Catilinae."

Ifly6 (talk) 00:18, 2 June 2022 (UTC)


 * Page moved. Ifly6 (talk) 17:31, 28 July 2022 (UTC)