pomerium Latin · revision 34630

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=compound|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=la post, la mūrus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [poːˈmeː.ri.ũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [poˈmɛː.ri.um]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pōmērium''' ''n'' (genitive pōmēriī or pōmērī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''pōmoerium''; the first spelling is most frequent in inscriptions, the second in manuscripts.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ Varro's ''postmoerium'' seems to have been inferred from the etymology.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ De Vaan takes it as a compound, [[af|la|post|mūrus|t1=behind|t2=wall]], from an older form meaning “what is behind the wall”;^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) the old diphthong of ⟨moerus⟩ was not changed to /ī/ as expected in a non-initial syllable, so the word may be an archaism.^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD suggests instead that it is perhaps Etruscan.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Ancient writers made the same connection with the wall: Varro wrote ⟨postmoerium⟩, and Paulus' epitome of Festus explains another archaic form as “next to the wall”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan records it from Varro,^(de Vaan 2008) who also uses it figuratively of the bounds that writers set to their subject.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the open strip of land left free of buildings inside and outside the walls of a town, marked by boundary stones and forming the limit within which the city's auspices were taken; it is used especially of Rome.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero writes of entering and crossing the ''pomerium'' and of the law that governs it, and Livy, Tacitus and Gellius use it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) An inscription of 8 BC records it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Juvenal's wit born ''intra pomeria'' is the wit of the city.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Apuleius uses it of the boundary of any town.^(OLD 2012) Medieval glossaries define it as the space around the walls.^(DMLBS) In medieval Latin it could also stand for ''pomarium'', an orchard.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of town bounds and, figuratively, of the limits of a subject.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of crossing the ''pomerium''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of the ''pomerium'' of Rome.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of the bounds of any town.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The open strip of land round the walls of a town that formed its sacred [[m|en|boundary]], especially that of [[m|en|Rome]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The boundary of any town.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The bounds or limits of a subject.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An [[m|en|orchard]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mūrus]]

+ * [[post]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}