The ruling as a clue to the make-up of a medieval manuscript

Abstract

• ADDITIONAL MS. 47678,' acquired by the British Museum in 1952, is an early ninth century Cicero manuscript written at Tours in Carolingian minuscules. It was still complete when it was at the Abbey of Cluny but only 39 leaves survive out of the 140 or 150 that it probably once had. It now contains fragments of the speeches against Catiline, for Quintus Ligarius, for King Deiotarus and the second speech in the second part of Verres' trial. Of these, the speech against Verres was the earliest to be composed. Verres was a flagrantly corrupt governor of Sicily in 73 70 B.C., who, on laying down office, was prosecuted for extortion. Cicero's speech in the first part of the trial brought such damning evidence of guilt that Verres anticipated the verdict by going into exile at Marseilles. The five speeches of the second part were never delivered, but were included in the subsequent publication of all seven speeches against Verres, which contain a wealth of information about the provincial government and the art treasures of Sicily. Catiline wasa disaffected nobleman who proposed a cancellation of debts in 63 B.C., the year of Cicero's consulship, and stirred up a rebellion, which in the event was easily put down. The speeches for Quintus Ligarius and for King Deiotarus were both delivered before Caesar, in 46 B.C. and 45 B.C. respectively. Ligarius was a republican opponent of Caesar, Deiotarusa tetrarch of the Tolistobogii, a tribe of western Galatia.