J. N. Adams

The language of Latin veterinary medicine has never been systematically studied. This book seeks to elucidate the pathological and anatomical terminology of Latin veterinary treatises, and the general linguistic features of Pelagonius as a technical writer. Veterinary practice in antiquity cannot be related directly to that of the modern world. In antiquity a man could claim expertise in horse medicine without ever passing an examination. Owners often treated their own animals. The distinction between 'professional' and layman was thus blurred, and equally the distinction between 'scientific' terminology and layman's terminology was not as clear-cut as it is today. The first part of the book is devoted to some of the non-linguistic factors which influenced the terminology in which horse diseases and their treatment were described.

"Fifty Texts with Translations and Linguistic Commentary. This book contains over fifty passages of Latin from 200 BC to AD 900, each with translation and linguistic commentary. It is not intended as an elementary reader (though suitable for university courses), but as an illustrative history of Latin covering more than a millennium, with almost every century represented."--

This book addresses the question of whether there are continuities in Latin spanning the period from the early Republic through to the development of the Romance languages. It is often maintained that various usages admitted by early comedy were rejected later by the literary language but continued in speech, to resurface centuries later in the written record (and Romance). Are certain similarities between early and late Latin all that they seem, or might they be superficial, reflecting different phenomena at different periods? Most of the chapters, on numerous syntactic and other topics and using different methodologies, have a long chronological range. All attempt to identify patterns of change that might undermine any theory of submerged continuity. The patterns found are summarised in a concluding chapter. The volume will appeal to classicists with an interest in any of the different periods of Latin, and also to Romance linguists.