scutica

Forms

scutica f (genitive scuticae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2] The OLD explains it as probably the feminine of an unattested adjective ⟨Scuticus⟩, that is from Latin Scythicus (“Scythian”), and records the spelling ⟨scytica⟩ in Paulus' epitome of Festus.^[3] Wiktionary derives it from Ancient Greek σκῦτος (skûtos, “hide, leather”),^[1] which Köbler gives only as a possibility.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Horace has it first,^[2] in the Satires, where he wants a rule of fair penalties so that no one who deserves only the strap is flogged with the dreadful whip (flagellum).^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It remained the lighter instrument beside the flagellum:^[4] Persius and Juvenal use it of the punishment of slaves, and Suetonius quotes Domitius Marsus on the schoolmaster Orbilius beating his pupils with the cane and the strap (ferula scuticaque).^[3]

Timeline

• 65–8 BC – Horace contrasts it with the flagellum.^[3][2]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it.^[3][2]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it.^[3][4][2]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius quotes a line on a schoolmaster's strap.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A strap or lash used for punishment, milder than the flagellum.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press