Etymologies & Works 9 part 2/3

For among them are unruly manners, a natural ferocity of spirit. Some suspect that the Britons were named in Latin, because they are brutish ('bruti'), a nation within the Ocean, placed as it were outside the world by the sea flowing between. Concerning whom Virgil (Eclogues 1.67): 'The Britons wholly sundered from all the world.' The Scots have their name in their own tongue from their painted body, because they are marked with iron points and the tattoo of ink in various figures. The Gauls were named from the whiteness of their body. For 'GALA' in Greek means milk. Whence also the Sibyl thus calls them, when she says of them (Virgil, Aeneid 8.660): 'Then their milk-white necks are entwined with gold.' For according to the diversity of the sky, there exist both the faces of men and their colors, and the sizes of bodies, and the diversities of dispositions.

Hence we perceive that the Romans are grave, the Greeks fickle, the Africans crafty, the Gauls fierce by nature and keener in wit, which the nature of the climates brings about. The Gallic Senones, moreover, were anciently called Xenones, because they had received Liber with hospitality; afterward the X was changed into the letter S. Vacca was a town near the Pyrenees, from which the Vaccaei were surnamed, concerning whom it is believed the poet spoke (cf. Virgil, Aeneid 4.42): 'and the Vaccaei roaming far and wide.' These inhabit a very extensive wilderness on the ridges of the Pyrenees. The same are also the Vascones, as it were 'Vaccones,' the C being changed into the letter S. These Gnaeus Pompey, when Spain had been subdued and he was hastening to come to his triumph, brought down from the ridges of the Pyrenees and gathered into one town. Whence also the city of the Convenae received its name.

The Hispani were first surnamed Iberi from the river Iberus, afterward Hispani from Hispalus. The Galleci were named from their fairness, whence also the Galli. For they are fairer than the rest of the peoples of Spain. These claim a Greek origin for themselves. Whence also by natural talent they are shrewd. For indeed, after the end of the Trojan war, Teucer, hateful to his father Telamon because of the death of his brother Ajax, when he was not received into the kingdom, withdrew to Cyprus, and there founded a city with the name of his ancient homeland, Salamis; thence he set out for Gallaecia, and having established his seat, gave the nation a name from the place. The Astures are a nation of Spain, so called because they dwell around the river Astura, fenced in by mountains and dense forests.

The Cantabri, a nation of Spain, were named from the appellation of a city and of the river Iberus, on which they are settled. Their spirit is stubborn, and more inclined to brigandage and to warfare, or always ready to endure blows. The Celtiberi were of the Celtic Gauls, from whose name the region Celtiberia was called. For from the Spanish river Iberus, where they settled, and from the Gauls, who were called Celtici, both names being mixed, they were named Celtiberi. The Afri were named from one of the descendants of Abraham, who was called Afer, who is said to have led an army against Libya, and there, when the enemies had been conquered, to have settled; and his descendants named both the Afri and Africa from the name of their forefather.

The Poeni, moreover, are the Carthaginians, named from the Phoenicians, who set out with Dido. But the Tyrians were named from the Phoenician city of Tyre, from which they set out and came to the shore of Africa. The Getuli are said to have been Getae, who, having embarked in ships from their own places in a huge column, occupied the places of the Syrtes in Libya; and because they had come from the Getae, by a derived name they were surnamed Getuli. Whence also there is an opinion among the Goths that, on account of an ancient kinship, they call the Moors near to themselves by consanguinity. Africa, moreover, at the beginning was held by the Libyans, then by the Afri, after these by the Getuli, and last by the Moors and Numidians. The Moors and Numidians, as the Afri think, took their beginning and their name thus.

For after Hercules perished in Spain, and his army, composed of various nations, having lost its leader, sought seats for itself here and there, from that number the Medes and Persians and Armenians, carried across by ships into Africa, occupied the places nearest the sea. But the Persians, since they found no material in the fields for building dwellings, and an unfamiliar tongue prevented commerce, wandered through the open fields and diverse solitudes, and from their wandering foragings named themselves in their own tongue Numidae, that is, wanderers and rovers without a town. The Medes, however, mingled with the Libyans, who inhabited the region nearest to Spain;

whose name the Libyans gradually corrupted, in their barbarous tongue calling them Mauri instead of Medi; although the Moors are so named by the Greeks on account of their color. For the Greeks call black 'MAURON.' For being scorched by the heat-bearing warmth, they take on the appearance of a dark color. Massylia is a city of Africa, not far from Atlas and the gardens of the Hesperides; from which city the Massyli were named, whom we corruptly call Massuli, concerning whom Virgil (Aeneid 4.483): 'Here a priestess of the Massylian nation was shown to me.' The Gaulali are nations ranging from the south as far as the Hesperian Ocean. To these the island of Gaulos gave a name, which is near Ethiopia, where no serpent is born or lives.

The Garamantes are peoples of Africa dwelling near Cyrene, named from king Garamas the son of Apollo, who there founded the town of Garama from his own name. They are, moreover, nearest to the nations of the Ethiopians. Concerning whom Virgil (Eclogues 8.44): 'the farthest Garamantes.' 'Farthest,' because they are savage and removed from the fellowship of humanity. The Hesperii, however, are those who dwell about Spain. For Spain is Hesperia. The Ethiopians are named from the son of Ham, who was called Chus, from whom they draw their origin. For 'Chus' in the Hebrew tongue is interpreted 'Ethiopian.' These, rising up once from the river Indus, settled beside Egypt, between the Nile and the Ocean, in the south under the very neighborhood of the sun; of whom there are three peoples: the Hesperi, the Garamantes, and the Indi.

The Hesperi are of the west, the Garamantes of Tripolis, the Indi of the east. The Trochoditae are a nation of the Ethiopians, so named because they are of such swiftness that they overtake wild beasts by the course of their feet. The Pamphagi, these too are in Ethiopia: whose food is whatever can be chewed, and everything that grows by chance; whence also they were named. The Ichthyophagi, because they are strong at hunting in the sea, and are nourished only by fish. These, beyond the Indians, hold the mountainous regions, whom Alexander the Great, when he had subdued them, forbade to feed on fish. The Anthropophagi are a most savage nation situated beneath the region of the Sires, who, because they feed on human flesh, are for this reason named Anthropophagi.

And so, as with these, so also with the other nations through the ages, their names have been changed either by kings, or by places, or by manners, or from any other causes whatsoever, so that the first origin of their name is not apparent because of the antiquity of the times. Now indeed, as for those who are called Antipodes, because they are thought to be contrary to our footprints, so that, as if placed beneath the earth, they tread footprints opposite to our feet, this is by no reasoning to be believed, because neither does the solidity permit it, nor the center of the earth; and this is confirmed by no knowledge of history, but the poets conjecture it as if by reasoning.

They say, moreover, that there were in Greece certain Titans, robust peoples and excelling in strength, whom the fables relate were created by the Earth, angered against the gods, for her own vengeance. Whence also they were called Titans 'APO TES TISEOS,' that is, 'from vengeance,' because they arose armed against the gods as if for the sake of avenging their mother Earth; whom the fables feign to have been overcome in war by Jupiter and destroyed, for which reason they perished by the thunderbolts cast from heaven. III. ON THE TERMS OF KINGDOMS AND WARFARE. A kingdom ('regnum') is named from kings ('reges'). For just as kings are named from ruling ('regere'), so a kingdom from kings.

All the nations had a kingdom, each in its own times, as the Assyrians, the Medes, the Persians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, whose turns the lot of the times so rolled about that one was dissolved by another. Among all the kingdoms of the earth, however, two kingdoms are handed down as more glorious than the rest: first that of the Assyrians, then that of the Romans, as ordered and distinguished among themselves both in time and in place. For just as the former was earlier and this later, so the former arose in the east, this in the west: finally, at the end of the former was straightway the beginning of this one. The other kingdoms and the other kings are held to be, as it were, appendages of these. Kings ('reges') are named from ruling ('regere'). For just as a priest ('sacerdos') from sacrificing, so also a king ('rex') from ruling. But he does not rule ('regit') who does not correct ('corrigit').

Rightly, therefore, by doing rightly the name of king is retained; by sinning it is lost. Whence also among the ancients there was such a proverb: 'You will be king ('rex') if you act rightly ('recte'); if you do not so act, you will not be.' The chief virtues of a king are two: justice and piety. But among kings piety is more praised; for justice by itself is severe. Consuls were named from consulting ('consulere'), just as kings from ruling, just as laws ('leges') from reading ('legere'). For when the Romans would not endure the proud domination of kings, they made for themselves yearly commands and two consuls. For the royal pride was not the benevolence of one consulting, but the arrogance of one lording it. Hence, therefore, they were named consuls, either from consulting for the citizens, or from governing all things by counsel ('consilium').

Yet they chose to change these every single year, so that neither should an insolent one remain long, and a more moderate one should quickly come to aid. And moreover they were two equals, because one administered civil affairs, the other military affairs. They reigned, moreover, for four hundred and sixty-seven years. Proconsuls were substituted for the consuls, and were called proconsuls because they discharged the office of a consul, just as a procurator for a curator, that is, for an administrator. Ex-consuls, however, were so called because they had now gone out from the consulship, or had departed when the year of their turn was completed. Dictators the Romans created for themselves in the fifth year after the kings were expelled, when the son-in-law of Tarquin had gathered a huge army against Rome to avenge the injury of his father-in-law. These exercised a command of five years' duration.

For they were greater in honor than the consuls, who held yearly powers. And they were called dictators, as it were 'chiefs' and 'instructors' ('praeceptores'). Whence also they were named 'masters of the people.' Whence also 'edicts' ('edicta') are so called. The name of the Caesars began from Julius, who, when the civil war had been stirred up, was the first of the Romans to obtain a single supreme rule. He was called Caesar, moreover, because he was brought forth and drawn out from the cut ('caeso') womb of his dead mother, or because he was born with a head of hair ('caesaries'). From whom also the succeeding emperors were called Caesars, because they were long-haired ('comati'). For those who were taken out by the cutting of the womb were called Caesones and Caesares. He was called Julius, moreover, because he derived his origin from Iulus the son of Aeneas, as Virgil confirms (Aeneid 1.288): 'Julius, a name sent down from great Iulus.'

The name of emperors ('imperatores'), moreover, among the Romans belonged formerly only to those with whom the supreme command of military affairs resided, and therefore they were called emperors from commanding ('imperando') the army: but since for a long time the generals bore the imperial titles, the Senate decreed that this name should belong only to Augustus Caesar, and that by it he should be distinguished from the other kings of the nations; which the succeeding Caesars have usurped up to now. For it usually happens that the rest also possess the name of the first king, just as among the Albans, from the name of Silvius, all the kings of the Albans were called Silvii; just as among the Persians the Arsacidae, among the Egyptians the Ptolemies, among the Athenians the Cecropidae. Augustus, therefore, is among the Romans a name of empire, because they once increased ('augerent') the commonwealth by amplifying it.

This name the Senate first bestowed on Octavius Caesar, so that, because he had enlarged the lands, he might be consecrated by the very name and title. But while the same Octavian was now called Caesar and emperor, or Augustus, afterward, while he was watching the games, and it had been proclaimed to him by the people that he should also be called 'Lord' ('Dominus'), immediately, with hand and averted countenance, he repressed the unseemly flatteries and, as a man, declined the appellation of 'Lord'; and on the following day he rebuked the whole people with a most weighty edict, and thereafter did not permit himself to be called 'Lord' even by his own children. He was, moreover, the son of Atia, who was born of the sister of Julius Caesar. Kings, moreover, for this reason are called among the Greeks 'BASILEIS,' because, like bases, they support the people.

Whence also bases have crowns. For the more anyone is set in a higher place, the more heavily is he burdened with the weight of labors. Tyrants are so called in Greek. In Latin the same are also kings. For among the ancients there was no distinction between a king and a tyrant, as (Virgil, Aeneid 7.266): 'Part of the peace for me shall be to have touched the right hand of the tyrant.' For strong kings were called tyrants. For 'tiro' means strong. Concerning such the Lord speaks, saying (Proverbs 8.15): 'Through me kings reign, and tyrants hold the earth through me.' Now afterward it came into use that the worst and most wicked kings should be called tyrants, exercising the lust of a wanton domination and a most cruel dominion over the peoples.

'Prince' ('princeps') signifies a rank both of dignity and of order, as is that Virgilian passage (Aeneid 9.535): 'Prince Turnus hurled the blazing torch,' for 'first' ('primus'). It is called 'prince,' moreover, from the meaning of taking ('capere'), because he takes first ('primus capiat'), just as 'municeps' from the fact that he takes offices ('munia capiat'). A 'leader' ('dux') is so called because he is the leader ('ductor') of the army. But not immediately can whoever are princes or leaders also be called kings. In war, however, it is better to be named 'leader' than 'king.' For this name expresses one leading in battle. Whence also Virgil (Aeneid 10.370): 'of leader Evander.' Sallust (Histories 4, fragment 7 M.):

'The more eagerly did each show himself brave before the face of the leader.' He did not say 'before the face of the consul.' Monarchs ('monarchae') are those who possess a sole rule, such as was Alexander among the Greeks, and Julius among the Romans. Hence also it is called 'monarchy' ('monarchia'). For 'MONAS' is singularity by the Greek name, 'ARCHE' is rule. Tetrarchs ('tetrarchae') are those holding a fourth part of a kingdom: for 'TETTARA' means four; such as was Philip in Judaea. Patricians ('patricii') were so named for this reason: because, just as fathers provide for their sons, so they provide for the commonwealth. Prefects ('praefecti') are so called because they preside ('praesint') with praetorian power. Praetors are the same as the prefects, as it were 'those set before' ('praepositores'). Governors ('praesides'), however, are so called who hold the guardianship of some place in the manner of a garrison ('praesidialiter').

Tribunes ('tribuni') were so named because they assign ('tribuunt') rights to the soldiers or to the plebs. Chiliarchs ('chiliarchae') are those who preside over a thousand, whom we call 'millenarii'; and it is a Greek name. Centurions ('centuriones') are so called because they preside over a hundred soldiers; just as the 'quinquagenarii,' because they are at the head of fifty soldiers; just as the 'decani,' from the fact that they are set over ten soldiers. A soldier ('miles') is so called because there were formerly a thousand ('mille') in one number, or because one is chosen out of a thousand. Romulus, moreover, was the first to take soldiers from the people and to name them. But Liber first taught the order of warfare. A soldier is called either 'ordinary' or 'extraordinary.' He is ordinary who serves through the ranks in order, and has not yet attained any grade of honor.

For he is a common soldier, that is, of lowly service. The extraordinary, however, is he who on account of valor is promoted out of the ranks. 'Emeriti' are called veterans discharged from service, who are no longer in the practice of battle; and because to serve as a soldier is said 'to earn' ('mereri'), namely from the pay ('stipendia') which they earn. The same are also called veterans, because they are no longer in the practice of battle, but after many labors of warfare they obtain the boon of rest. Equestrian soldiers are so called because they sit on a horse ('equus'). Likewise that man serves in the equestrian order. 'Tirones' are called strong youths who are enlisted for military service and are fit for bearing arms. For these are judged not only by the mere declaration of their birth, but by the appearance and vigor of their body.

Whence also they were called 'tirones'; and before they have been proved by the oath, they are not soldiers. It was, moreover, the custom of the Roman militia to exercise the first youths in arms. For at the sixteenth year the recruits served as soldiers, in which alone they also acted under guardians, concerning whom Virgil (Aeneid 7.162): 'And youth in its first bloom.' It is established, indeed, that slaves never served as soldiers, unless slavery had been laid aside, except in the time of Hannibal, when after the battle of Cannae the Romans were in such great necessity that not even the means of freeing the slaves was available. Deserters ('desertores') were so called because, having abandoned ('desertis') their military duties, they wander about. These are forbidden to give their name to other divisions of the army; but if they have not incurred a fault of great length of time, they are beaten and restored to their own divisions.

But those too who abandon the army and go over to the enemy are themselves called deserters (desertores). Soldiers are called 'enrolled' (conscripti) because they are entered on the rolls by the one who is to lead them, just as men are called 'transferred' (transcripti) when they pass from one legion to another; and they are called transcripti because they submit their names to be transcribed. They are called 'options' (obtiones) because they are chosen; for 'to opt' (optare) is to choose, as in that verse (Virgil, Aeneid 3.109): 'And he opted a place for his kingdom,' that is, he chose it. They are called 'watchmen' (excubitores) for this reason, that they always keep watch (excubias). For they are drawn from the number of the soldiers and keep watch in the porticoes for the guarding of the king. Now 'watches' (excubiae) are by day, 'vigils' (vigiliae) by night; whence also the 'sentinels' (vigiles). Among the Romans the 'skirmishers' (velites) were a kind of soldiery, named from their darting about (volitando).

For young men chosen for their agility, with their own weapons, used to sit behind the backs of the cavalry, and as soon as they came upon the enemy they leapt down from the horses, and immediately as foot-soldiers themselves — while on the other side the cavalry who had carried them fought on — they threw the enemy into confusion. It was therefore by these skirmishers that the elephants of Hannibal were once driven back, and when they could no longer be controlled by their own men, they were killed by a carpenter's chisel driven between their ears. A camp (castra) is where a soldier has taken his stand. It is called castra as though 'chaste' (casta), or because there lust was 'gelded' (castraretur); for a woman was never present there. And 'soldiery' (militia) is named from the soldiers (milites); or from 'many' (multis), as though multitia, that is, the affair of many; or from the mass (moles) of matters, as though moletia.

A legion (legio) is a body of six thousand armed men, named from being selected (electo), as though 'the chosen' (lecti), that is, chosen for arms. Properly speaking, the Macedonians' formation is called a phalanx, the Gauls' a horde (caterva), and ours a legion. A legion has sixty centuries, thirty maniples, twelve cohorts, two hundred squadrons. A century (centuria) is a part of the army divided into groups of a hundred soldiers; whence also those who command them are called centurions (centuriones). The 'sub-centuried' (subcenturiati) are not those in the first, but those in the second century, as it were under the first century; yet they too are arrayed and posted on the lookout in battle, so that if the first line fails, these — whom we said were beneath them — come to the aid of the first when it is hard-pressed. Whence also one who lies in ambush is called subcenturiatus, as though equipped with cunning arms.

A maniple (manipulus) is a body of two hundred soldiers. Soldiers were called 'maniple-men' (manipuli) either because they used to begin battle first hand-to-hand (manu), or because, before there were standards, they made for themselves maniples, that is, little bundles (fasciculos) of straw or of some plant, to serve as standards; from which standard the maniple-soldiers took their name. Of these Lucan says (1.296): 'Straightway he summons the armed maniples to the standards.' A squadron (turma) is thirty horsemen; for the Roman cavalry in a single tribe numbered three hundred. From each of the ten centuries ten were assigned, and they made up a squadron. A cohort (cohors) has five hundred soldiers. There are three kinds of military service: the oath (sacramentum), the summons (evocatio), and the conspiration (coniuratio).

The oath (sacramentum), in which, after being chosen, each soldier swears that he will not withdraw from military service except after completing his stipends, that is, his terms of service; and these are they who hold full service, for they are bound for twenty-five years. The summons (evocatio), when for a sudden war not only the soldier but the rest as well are called out; whence too the consul used to say: 'Let him who wishes the commonwealth to be safe follow me.' The conspiration (coniuratio), which arises in an uproar, when a danger near to the city does not permit each man to be sworn in individually, but a multitude is suddenly gathered and is fused together in tumultuous wrath; this is also called a tumult (tumultuatio). Now in the battle-line these are more or less the formations: the army (exercitus), the fleet (classis), the knot (nodus), the wedge (cuneus), the wings (alae), the horns (cornua), the column (agmen);

which borrow their forms and names from the very things from which they are transferred. The battle-line (acies) is so called because it is armed with iron and with the edge (acumen) of swords. An army (exercitus) is a multitude of one kind, named from the training (exercitatione) of war. A wedge (cuneus) is a body of soldiers gathered into one; whence, because it comes together into one, the very coming-together into one is named cuneus, as it were couneus, from the fact that all are driven (coguntur) into one. Divisions (classes) are so called because of the dividing of the army, which were afterward called maniples; whence also Virgil says (Aeneid 2.30): 'Here was the place for the divisions, here the battle-lines used to contend.' Later on the trumpet-signals of ships were also called classica. A knot (nodus) is properly a dense multitude of foot-soldiers, just as a squadron (turma) is of horsemen. And it is called a knot from its difficulty, because it can scarcely be untied.

The wings (alae) in an army are said to be thirty horsemen. And the horsemen are called 'wings' for this reason, because they cover the foot-soldiers in the manner of wings (alarum vice). The horns (cornua) are the name for the extremity of the army, because it is bent inward. It is called a column (agmen) when the army is on the march, named from 'driving on' (agendo), that is, from going. Plautus says (Mostellaria 562): 'Where are you driving yourself (agis)?' For it is the army itself walking. For it is called agmen because it is drawn out at length, such as it usually is when the army advances out of the gates. Whatever else it may be is so called by misuse. IV. ON CITIZENS. Since something has been said in part about the terms for commands and military service, we next add briefly the names of citizens. They are called 'citizens' (cives) because, coming together into one, they live so that life may be both more ornate and safer.

A house (domus) is the dwelling-place of a single family, just as a city (urbs) is of a single people, and the world (orbis) is the abode of the whole human race. Now the household (domus) comprises kind, family, or the union of husband and wife. It begins from two, and the word is Greek. For a family (familia) consists of children begotten from free persons under lawful conditions, and it is named from 'thigh' (femur). Kind (genus) is named from begetting and generating, or from the marking-off of certain descendants, as are the nations (nationes), which, bounded by their own kinships, are called peoples (gentes). A people (populus) is a body of a human multitude, associated by common agreement in law and by a harmonious sharing of interests. Now a people differs from the commons (plebs) in that a people is the whole body of citizens, including the elders of the state.

[The commons (plebs), however, is the rest of the common folk without the elders of the state.] Therefore the people is the whole state, but the common folk are the commons (plebs). The commons is so called from plurality (pluralitate); for the number of the lesser is greater than that of the elders. Now the people is in Greek called *sympheteros*, that is *systasis* (a combination); and hence the word 'people' (populus). In Greek the people is called *laos*, from stones (*lapides*). The common folk (vulgus) is a multitude dwelling here and there, as though each one wherever (quo vult) he wishes. Tribes (tribus) are so called as curiae, that is, distinct assemblies of the peoples, and they were named tribus from the fact that in the beginning the Romans were divided by Romulus into three parts: into senators, soldiers, and commoners. Yet these tribes, now multiplied, retain their ancient name. To the senate (senatus) its age gave the name, because they were elders (seniores).

Others take it that senators (senatores) are so called from 'permitting' (sinendo), for they used to grant the power of acting. The senate's decree (senatus consultum) is named from 'consulting' (consulendo) and deliberating, because it is so made that it may take counsel and be unable to do harm. The fathers (patres), as Sallust says (Catiline 6), were named from a likeness to care (cura); for just as fathers nourish their own sons, so they nourished the commonwealth. They are called 'enrolled fathers' (patres conscripti) because, when Romulus had chosen ten curiae of senators, he entered their names on golden tablets in the presence of the people, and thence they were called enrolled fathers. Senators of the first order are called 'illustrious' (illustres), those of the second 'respectable' (spectabiles), those of the third 'most distinguished' (clarissimi). There is no fourth rank below these.

But although a man might be of senatorial origin, until the lawful years he remained a Roman knight (eques); then he received the honor of senatorial dignity. Among the ancient Romans there were censors (censores); for 'censor' is the name of a judicial dignity, since 'to assess' (censere) is to judge. Likewise censors are judges of patrimonies, named from the assessment (censu) of bronze money. Judges (iudices) are so called as those 'declaring the law' (ius dicentes) to the people, or because they debate according to law (iure). Now to argue according to law is to judge justly. But he is no judge if there is no justice in him. Governors (praesides) are the rulers of a province, so called because they preside (praesunt). Praetors are, as it were, the instructors (praeceptores) and chief men of the state. Likewise quaestors are, as it were, 'inquirers' (quaesitores), because they preside over inquiries (quaestionibus); for counsel and the cause rest with them.

The nobles (proceres) are the chief men of the state, as it were 'those who go before' (procedes), because they precede all others in honor. Whence also the heads of beams (capita trabium), which project beyond the walls, are called proceres, because they go forward first. Hence the term was transferred to the foremost men (primores), because they stand out from the rest of the multitude. Tribunes (tribuni) are so called because they bestow (tribuunt) upon the commons either rights or aid. They were established in the sixth year after the kings were driven out. For when the commons were being oppressed by the senate and the consuls, then the commons itself created for itself tribunes as its own judges and defenders, to safeguard their liberty and to defend them against the injustice of the nobility. Whence also they were called defenders (defensores), because they defend the commons entrusted to them against the insolence of the wicked.

But on the contrary, some now exist as overthrowers (eversores), not defenders. Accountants (numerarii) are so called because they bring public coin into the treasuries (aerariis). The 'discharged' (functi) are so named from the fact that they have discharged (fungantur) some office and honor. Hence too we call the dead 'defunct' (defuncti), because they have completed the duties of life; for they now do nothing. Townsmen (municipes) are those born in the same township (municipium), named from the duty of offices (munerum), because they receive public duties (munia); for munia are offices. Whence also those who bear no office are called 'exempt' (immunes). Municipal magistrates are native citizens bearing office in their locality. Decurions (decuriones) are so called because they are of the order (ordo) of the curia; for they administer the office of the curia. Hence he is no decurion who has not paid in his sum or shared in the curia. Curials (curiales) are the same as decurions.

And they are called curials because they procure and carry out the civic duties. The 'principals' (principales), 'magistrates' (magistrati), and 'duumvirs' (duumvirales) are the ranks of the curial offices. They are called principals because they are first (primi) among the magistrates. The magistrates are so called because they are greater (maiores) than the remaining offices. The duumvirs [are so called because they are two men (duo viri) governing]. A notary (tabellio) is so named because he is the carrier of tablets (tabellarum). He is the same as a scrivener (exceptor), the same also as a public scribe (scriba publicus), because he writes only those things which are made public in the records. Garrison-troops (burgarii) are named from strongholds (burgi), because they commonly call burgi the frequent dwellings set up along the frontiers. Whence too the name of the Burgundian people clung to them, whom the Romans, when Germany had once been subdued, distributed among the camps, and thus they took their name from the places.