The Renaissance Editions of Festus. Notes on the Title

No full title for the historical-linguistic compendium of Sextus Pompeius Festus can be found in his manuscript tradition, because the first half of the Codex Farnesianus, the only organic witness of this work, has been missing since it was discovered in 1457. Festus’ text was an abridged version of De verborum significatu, the extensive treatise of Verrius Flaccus, and was subsequently abridged during the early Middle Ages by Paul the Deacon in an epitome known as De verborum significatione. These two titles and the lack of a reliable formulation for Festus’ work brought about variations in the head titles used throughout its entire editorial history. This phenomenon began to emerge during the Renaissance, when some scholars appear not only to have perceived semantic differences between Paul’s epitome and the Codex Farnesianus, but also attempted to represent these in the title. The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons behind the different Renaissance titles for Festus, which could offer an interesting overview on how this author was perceived in the history of Classical tradition.