Priscian

Priscian, Latin in full Priscianus Caesariensis, (flourished c. 500 ce, Caesarea, Mauretania [now Cherchell, Algeria]), the best known of all the Latin grammarians, author of the Institutiones grammaticae, which had a profound influence on the teaching of Latin and indeed of grammar generally in Europe.

Though born in Mauretania, Priscian taught in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). His minor works include De nomine, pronomine et verbo (“On Noun, Pronoun, and Verb”), for the teaching of grammar in schools; a treatise on weights and measures; a treatise on the metres of Terence; Praeexercitamina, an adaptation for Latin readers of some Greek rhetorical exercises; a panegyric in verse on the emperor Anastasius I; and a verse translation of Dionysius’s Periegesis. Priscian’s Institutiones grammaticae (“Grammatical Foundations”) is an 18-volume exposition of Latin grammar. As far as possible Priscian took as his guides the works of Apollonius Dyscolus on Greek grammar and Flavius Caper on Latin grammar. He drew illustrative citations from many Latin authors and in this way was able to preserve numerous fragments that would otherwise have been lost.

Priscian’s work was extensively quoted in the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries. Subsequently it became the standard work for the teaching of grammar in the medieval schools; and it provided the background for the rise of speculative grammar (the logic of language) in the 13th and 14th centuries. There are about 1,000 manuscript copies extant. Of these, the greater part contain only books i–xvi (called Priscianus major); a few contain books xvii and xviii (Priscianus minor) and some of the minor works; and a few contain all 18 books of the Institutiones.

Apart from fragments, the oldest manuscripts are of the 9th century. The first printed edition was produced in 1470 at Venice.