Virtus in technical treatises: meanings, values and uses

Marilena De Gregorio

doi:10.5817/GLB2024-2-4

Virtus in technical treatises: meanings, values and uses

Vol.29,No.2(2024)

Marilena De Gregorio

https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2024-2-4

Stable URL (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/digilib.80763

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Abstract

The word uirtus was used in a technical way by many authors and over a fairly long period of time. In this paper evidences from the 1st c. BC to the 6th c. AD are presented. Virtus is handled in many domains, such as health, nature, science, medicine, veterinary science and architecture. In this essay, numerous examples of different values and meanings of uirtus are discussed, taking into account the difference between literal and metaphorical meaning. The literal meaning (uirtus as value, quality) is very frequent and usually refers to natural elements. Among the meanings of uirtus, both literal and metaphoric, it is possible to note a first distinction between singular and plural: in some authors and in some fields, the word is present only in one or in the other form. In medical and veterinary works, for example, only the singular is attested, in the meaning of 'power' referred to medicine and remedies. Virtus also appears only in the singular form in Anthimus' Epistula de obseruatione ciborum, a text which combines information about food with dietetic and health advice. Anthimus uses uirtus three times both directly referring to some food and to its effects from the medical point of view. This paper shows the different values of the word in the Epistula as compared to other technical treatises. Another point which is discussed is the semantic and pragmatic correlation between uis and uirtus and the influence that uis could have had on uirtus.

Keywords:
uirtus; uis; Anthimus; Latin medical writers; Latin veterinaries; Vitruvius; Latin linguistics; semantic values

Pages:
29–44

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