Digital glossary

• abiectio
• The noun abiectio, used only in prose works, is first attested in Cic. Pis. 88, where it refers to a state of dejection. Starting with Tertullian, Christian authors generally use this word to evoke the idea of humilitas, already suggested by the occ…
• Andrea Arrighini
• April 10, 2026
• Conservation and religious conversion • Cultural and social trends

• apostata
• The term apostata, derived from the Greek ἀποστάτης, is a noun that began to be used only in Late Antiquity to refer to those who renounced the faith. From Tertullian to Augustine, passing through Cyprian, the concept could include Satan, fallen ang…
• Gianmario Cattaneo
• April 10, 2026
• Conservation and religious conversion • Power management and political reforms

• caelicola
• The compound term caelicola is first attested, in its plural form, in Ennius’ Annales (445), where it refers to the dii superi. This meaning recurs in many poetic contexts, primarily epic, until the early Imperial age. Apuleius is the first known au…
• Andrea Arrighini
• July 30, 2025
• Conservation and religious conversion • Cultural and social trends

• captator
• In its earliest attestations, the noun captator, when used absolutely, generally refers to a legacy hunter; with this meaning, it is frequently attested in the satirical literature up to the early imperial age. In Late Antiquity, this meaning become…
• Andrea Arrighini
• Sept. 19, 2025
• Cultural and social trends

• christianismus
• The word Christianismus, a Greek loanword from Χριστιανισμός (‘Christianity’), is scarcely used in late-antique Latin literature, in comparison to other words, such as Christianitas. This entry investigates the attestations of this word, which is mo…
• Gianmario Cattaneo
• April 10, 2026
• Conservation and religious conversion • Cultural and social trends

• conflagratio
• The noun conflagratio, firstly attested in the third book of Seneca’s Naturales quaestiones, is sometimes used as a synonym for incendium; however, it evokes more frequently the universal conflagration, a process which – in the Stoic perspective – e…
• Andrea Arrighini
• July 30, 2025
• Resilience and palingenesis • Conservation and religious conversion

• conuersio
• This entry analyses the different meanings that conuersio assumes in late-antique Latin: while maintaining the concrete meanings of ‘rotary movement’ or ‘change of direction’, it gradually becomes the technical term to indicate religious conversion,…
• Gianmario Cattaneo
• Sept. 19, 2025
• Conservation and religious conversion • Power management and political reforms

• impostor
• First attested in Varro (ling.) as a linguistic technical term, the noun impos(i)tor developed in Late Antiquity into the specialised meaning of ‘impostor’. In this sense, the term appears in two passages by Ulpian (dig. 21,1,4,2; 50,13,1,3); Jerome…
• Andrea Arrighini
• July 30, 2025
• Cultural and social trends

• lapsus
• This entry is devoted to the term lapsus in the sense of ‘apostate’: it was used above all by Cyprian to refer to those who had denied the Christian faith for fear of persecution. Lexical analysis shows that, in Late Antique Latin, lapsus was not ge…
• Gianmario Cattaneo
• April 10, 2026
• Conservation and religious conversion • Power management and political reforms

• legatarius
• In Late Antiquity the noun legatarius, which in juridical texts indicates a person who receives an inheritance, began to be used as a synonym of legatus, in particular by authors from the Gallo-Roman area (Anthimus, Epistulae Austrasicae, Venantius …
• Gianmario Cattaneo
• April 10, 2026
• War and pacification • Power management and political reforms

• legifer
• The compound legifer, likely a neologism in Verg. Aen. 4,58, is used mainly in poetry. Until the second century AD, it appears only in Ou. am. 3,10,41 and Apul. met. 10,33. In Late Latin literature, legifer becomes more frequent, often referring to …
• Andrea Arrighini
• July 30, 2025
• Power management and political reforms • War and pacification • Resilience and palingenesis

• postliminium
• Several juridical sources illustrate the notion of postliminium. This institution refers to the full reinstatement of rights for a Roman citizen returning home after being held as a military prisoner. The term postliminium is first attested in Cicer…
• Andrea Arrighini
• July 30, 2025
• Migrations and exiles • War and pacification

• recidiuus

• The adjective recidiuus is relatively late in attestation: its earliest known occurrence in poetry is in Virgil, while in prose it appears primarily in technical writings such as those of Celsus and Pomponius Mela. The term develops a noteworthy …

• Martina Venuti
• April 23, 2026
• Cultural and social trends • Resilience and palingenesis • Conservation and religious conversion

• regeneratio
• The Christian neologism regeneratio is attested only in prose. Tertullian is the first author who uses it widely: for him, regeneratio is mainly presented as a result of baptism. An analogous perspective comes up in Paulinus of Nola’s letters. The p…
• Andrea Arrighini
• April 10, 2026
• Conservation and religious conversion • Resilience and palingenesis

• renascor
• The verb renascor is widely attested in Latin literature. Originally used in agricultural language, it soon began to refer to nature, natural elements, and mythological figures. In Late Antiquity, the meaning of renascor expanded with two metaphoric…
• Andrea Arrighini
• Sept. 19, 2025
• Conservation and religious conversion • Resilience and palingenesis

• renouatio
• The noun renouatio, found exclusively in prose, first appears in Cicero and remains rare until Late Antiquity. During this period, it occurs primarily in the writings of Christian authors, for whom renouatio generally conveys the concept of spiritua…
• Andrea Arrighini
• Sept. 19, 2025
• Conservation and religious conversion • Cultural and social trends

• sc(h)isma
• A central concept for ancient Christian authors is that of sc(h)isma, which indicates a fracture within the Christian community. After having discussed the origins of this word in Greek and Latin literature, the entry focuses mainly on the evolution…
• Gianmario Cattaneo
• April 10, 2026
• Conservation and religious conversion • Cultural and social trends • Power management and political reforms

• soloecismus

• After a general introduction on the concept of solecism in Greek and Latin grammar, this entry concerns the uses of the term soloecismus outside the grammatical sphere: in Late Antiquity, this noun, which indicates a grammatical error related to …

• Gianmario Cattaneo
• April 23, 2026
• Conservation and religious conversion • Cultural and social trends

• traditor
• This entry examines the Latin noun traditor, tracing its semantic development from the classical period to Late Antiquity. Already in classical Latin, the term preserves the dual meaning of trado (‘to hand over’ and ‘to betray’). In Christian litera…
• Gianmario Cattaneo
• April 10, 2026
• Conservation and religious conversion • Power management and political reforms

• translator
• Just like transferre and translatio, in Late Antiquity the word translator began to be used in competition with interpres, in the sense of ‘translator’. This entry analyses the evolution of the terminology connected to translation, with particular r…
• Gianmario Cattaneo
• July 30, 2025
• Cultural and social trends

• uersutus

• The adjective uersūtus is attested from the earliest phase of Latin literature, appearing already in the opening line of Livius Andronicus’ translation of the Odyssey (Virum mihi, Camena, insece uersutum), where it renders Homer’s πολύτροπος of O…

• Martina Venuti
• April 23, 2026
• Cultural and social trends

• usurpatio
• In late antique authors, the noun usurpatio, which in classical authors can mean both ‘use’ and ‘misappropriation and misuse’, initially maintains a neutral value, but tends to assume only a negative value. In this entry, the evolution of the meanin…
• Gianmario Cattaneo
• Sept. 19, 2025
• Power management and political reforms • Cultural and social trends