Quintus Valerius Soranus
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Quintus Valerius Soranus (born between ''circa'' 140 – 130 BC, died 82 BC) was a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
poet, grammarian, and
tribune of the people Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of ...
in the Late
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
. He was executed in 82 BC while
Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had ...
was
dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...
, ostensibly for violating a religious prohibition against speaking the arcane name of Rome, but more likely for political reasons. The ''
cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...
'' Soranus is a
toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
indicating that he was from Sora. A single
elegiac couplet The elegiac couplet is a poetic form used by Greek lyric poets for a variety of themes usually of smaller scale than the epic. Roman poets, particularly Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, and Ovid, adopted the same form in Latin many years late ...
survives more or less intact from his body of work. The two lines address
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
as an all-powerful begetter who is both male and female. This
androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics i ...
, unitarian conception of
deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
, possibly an attempt to integrate
Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy *STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain *' ...
and
Orphic Orphism (more rarely Orphicism; grc, Ὀρφικά, Orphiká) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus ...
doctrine, has made the fragment of interest in religious studies. Valerius Soranus is also credited with a little-recognized literary innovation:
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
says he was the first writer to provide a
table of contents A table of contents, usually headed simply Contents and abbreviated informally as TOC, is a list, usually found on a page before the start of a written work, of its chapter or section titles or brief descriptions with their commencing page number ...
to help readers navigate a long work.


Life and political career

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
has an interlocutor in his ''
De oratore ''De Oratore'' (''On the Orator''; not to be confused with ''Orator'') is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BC. It is set in 91 BC, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the Social War and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, du ...
'' praise Valerius Soranus as “most cultured of all who wear the
toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...
,” and Cicero lists him and his brother Decimus among an educated elite of ''
socii The ''socii'' ( in English) or ''foederati'' ( in English) were confederates of ancient Rome, Rome and formed one of the three legal denominations in Roman Italy (''Italia'') along with the Roman citizens (''Cives'') and the ''Latin Rights, Latin ...
et
Latini The Latins (Latin: ''Latini''), sometimes known as the Latians, were an Italic tribe which included the early inhabitants of the city of Rome (see Roman people). From about 1000 BC, the Latins inhabited the small region known to the Romans a ...
''; that is, those who came from allied
polities A polity is an identifiable political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any other group of p ...
on the Italian peninsula rather than from Rome, and those whose legal status was defined by
Latin right Latin rights (also Latin citizenship, Latin: ''ius Latii'' or ''ius latinum'') were a set of legal rights that were originally granted to the Latins (Latin: "Latini", the People of Latium, the land of the Latins) under Roman law in their origin ...
rather than full
Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...
. The
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of Sora was near Cicero's native
Arpinum Arpino ( Southern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, region of Lazio in central Italy, about 100 km SE of Rome. Its Roman name was Arpinum. The town produced two consuls of the ...
, and he refers to the Valerii Sorani as his friends and neighbors. Soranus was also a friend of
Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...
and is mentioned more than once in that scholar's multi-volume work on the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
language. The son of Q. Valerius Soranus is thought to have been the
Quintus Valerius Orca Quintus Valerius Orca (''fl.'' 50s–40s BC) was a Roman praetor, a governor of the Roman province of Africa, and a commanding officer under Julius Caesar in the civil war against Pompeius Magnus and the senatorial elite. The main sources for Orca ...
who was
praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...
in 57 BC.Giovanni Niccolini, ''I fasti dei tribuni della plebe'' (Milan 1934), pp. 430–431. Orca had worked for Cicero's return to public life and is among Cicero's correspondents in the ''Epistulae ad familiares'' (''Letters to Friends and Family''). Cicero presents the Valerii brothers of Sora as well schooled in Greek and Latin literature, but less admirable for their speaking ability. As
Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...
, they would have been lacking to Cicero's ears in the smooth sophistication (''urbanitas'') and faultless pronunciation of the best native Roman orators. This attitude of social exclusivity may account for why Valerius Soranus, whose scholarly interests and friendships might otherwise suggest a
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
temperament, would have found his place in the civil wars of the 80s on the side of the popularist Marius rather than that of the
patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
Sulla. It might also be noted that Cicero's expression of this attitude is double-edged: like Marius and the Valerii Sorani, he was also a man from a ''
municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privi ...
'', and had to overcome the same obstructing biases that he adopts and expresses. In 82 BC, the year of his death, Valerius Soranus was or had been a
tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...
of the people (''tribunus plebis''), a political office open only to those of
plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...
rather than
patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
birth.


Execution

The fullest account of the infamous death of Valerius Soranus is given by
Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...
, who says he was executed for revealing the secret name of Rome: Servius's account presents several difficulties.
Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
was a punishment generally reserved for slaves in the Late Republic;
Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' ...
, a historian in the early
Principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...
, reckoned that the punishment should not be inflicted on those of Roman blood even when they "deserved" it. Moreover, a tribune's person was by law sacrosanct. Finally, it is unclear whether the ten tribunes should possess the knowledge of Rome's secret name, or in what manner Soranus would have publicized it. Among sources earlier than Servius, both
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
and
Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
note that Valerius Soranus was punished for this violation. It has been suggested that the name was revealed in his one work for which a title is known, the ''Epoptides.'' The title, if interpreted as it sometimes is to mean "
tutelary deities A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety an ...
," offers an apt context. But elsewhere Servius — so too
Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...
— implies that the name remained unrecorded. Quintus Valerius Soranus has been identified with the Q. Valerius, described as ''philologos'' and ''philomathes'' (“a lover of literature and learning”), whom Plutarch says was a supporter of Marius. This man was put to death by
Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
in Sicily, where he would have accompanied Carbo, the
consular A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
colleague of the recently murdered Cinna. Carbo was executed by Pompey. In 1906, Conrad Cichorius published an article that organized the available evidence for the life of Valerius Soranus and argued that his execution was a result of the Sullan proscription in 82. The view of his death as politically motivated has prevailed among modern scholars: But if Varro originated the story, his reasons are hard to tease out of the roiled politics of the Late Republic. Although Varro was the friend of Valerius Soranus, in the civil war of the 40s he was on the side of the Pompeians; Caesar, however, not only pardoned him, but gave him significant appointments. The biases of the contemporary sources were not lost on Plutarch in his account of the killing: Speaking the name could be construed as a political protest and also an act of
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
, as the revelation would expose the tutelary deity and leave the city unprotected. This belief rests on the power of utterance to "call forth" the deity ''(
evocatio The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on ...
)'', so that enemies in possession of the true and secret name could divert the divine protection to themselves. The
intellectual historian Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual histor ...
of the
Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
Elizabeth Rawson Elizabeth Donata Rawson, FBA (13 April 1934 – 10 December 1988''The Cambridge Ancient History'' (Cambridge University Press, 1994), vol. 9, preface, p. xvii.) was a classical scholar known primarily for her work in the intellectual history of ...
ventured cautiously that Soranus's "motive remains unclear, but may have been political." More vigorous is the view of Luigi Alfonsi, who argued that Soranus revealed the name deliberately so that the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
could appropriate it and break Rome's monopoly of power. Another interpretation of these events, worth noting despite its fictional context, is that of
historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
ist
Colleen McCullough Colleen Margaretta McCullough (; married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 193729 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being ''The Thorn Birds'' and ''The Ladies of Missalonghi''. Life ...
, who melds political and religious motives in a psychological characterization. In '' Fortune's Favorites'', McCullough's Soranus “screams aloud” the arcane name because the atrocities committed during the
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
had rendered Rome unworthy of divine protection:


Literary works

The single
couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...
that survives from Valerius Soranus's vast work as a poet, grammarian, and
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
is quoted by St. Augustine in the ''
De civitate Dei ''On the City of God Against the Pagans'' ( la, De civitate Dei contra paganos), often called ''The City of God'', is a book of Christian philosophy written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century AD. The book was in response ...
'' (7.9) to support his view that the
tutelary deity A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and ...
of Rome was the Capitoline Jupiter:
''Iuppiter omnipotens regum rerumque deumque ''progenitor genitrixque deum, deus unus et omnes …''
The
syntax In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
poses difficulties in attempts at
translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
, and there may be some corruption of the text. It seems to say something like "
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
All-powerful, of kings and the material world and of gods the Father (''progenitor''), the Mother (''genetrix'') of gods, God that is One and All … ." Augustine says that his source for the quotation is a work on religion (now lost) by Varro, with whose conception of
deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
Augustine argues throughout Book 7 of the ''De civitate Dei''. The view of Varro, and presumably of Soranus, was that Jupiter represents the whole
universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...
which emits and receives seeds (''semina''), encompassing the generative powers of Earth the Mother as well as Sky the Father. This unitarianism is a
Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy *STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain *' ...
concept, and Soranus is usually counted among the Stoics of Rome, perhaps of the contemporary school of
Panaetius Panaetius (; grc-gre, Παναίτιος, Panaítios; – ) of Rhodes was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon and Antipater of Tarsus in Athens, before moving to Rome where he did m ...
. The unity of opposites in deity, including divine
androgyny Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in ...
, is also characteristic of
Orphic Orphism (more rarely Orphicism; grc, Ὀρφικά, Orphiká) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus ...
doctrine, which may have impressed itself on Stoicism. The couplet may or may not come from the ''Epoptides''. The title is mentioned only in Pliny, and none of the known fragments of Soranus can be attributed to this large-scale work with certainty. Soranus's innovation in providing a
table of contents A table of contents, usually headed simply Contents and abbreviated informally as TOC, is a list, usually found on a page before the start of a written work, of its chapter or section titles or brief descriptions with their commencing page number ...
— most likely a list of ''capita rerum'' (" subject headings") at the beginning — suggests that the ''Epoptides'' was an
encyclopedic An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
or compendious prose work. Alternatively, the ''Epoptides'' may have been a long
didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...
poem. Soranus is known to have written didactic poetry and is likely to have been an influence when
Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ;  – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into E ...
chose verse as his medium for philosophical subject matter. The most extensive argument regarding the ''Epoptides'' is that of Thomas Köves-Zulauf. Much of what can be conjectured about the work derives from the interpretation of its title. The Greek verb ἐποπτεύω (''epopteuo'') has the basic meaning of "to watch, oversee" but also "to become an ἐπόπτης (''epoptes'', "initiate," feminine ''epoptis'' and plural ''epoptides''), the highest grade of initiate at the
Eleusinian mysteries The Eleusinian Mysteries ( el, Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια, Eleusínia Mystḗria) were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Elefsina in ancient Greece. They are the " ...
. Köves-Zulauf argued that Soranus's ''Epoptides'' was an extended treatment of
mystery religions Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates ''(mystai)''. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy ass ...
, and the title is sometimes translated into German as ''Mystikerinnen.'' The classicist and
mythographer Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
H.J. Rose, on the contrary, insisted that the ''Epoptides'' had nothing to do with initiates. Elizabeth Rawson held with ''Initiated Women''; the
Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and L ...
offers ''Lady Initiates''; Nicholas Horsfall is satisfied with ''The Watchers''. Köves-Zulauf maintains that the ''epoptides'' of the title represent the Stoic conception of female '' daimones'' who are guardians of humanity, such as the Hours (''
Horae In Greek mythology the Horae () or Horai () or Hours ( grc-gre, Ὧραι, Hōrai, , "Seasons") were the goddesses of the seasons and the natural portions of time. Etymology The term ''horae'' comes from the Proto-Indo-European ("year"). F ...
'') and the Graces (''
Charites In Greek mythology, the Charites ( ), singular ''Charis'', or Graces, were three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility. Hesiod names three – Aglaea ("Shining"), Euphrosyne ("Joy"), and Thalia ...
''). Soranus integrates this concept, he says, with the ''
Tutela ''Tutela'' was the ancient Roman concept of "guardianship", conceived of as a goddess in the Imperial period, and from the earliest period as a functional role that various tutelary deities might play, particularly Juno. ''Tutela'' had particu ...
e'', ancient Italic protective spirits. The crime of Soranus was thus to reveal in this work the name of the ''Tutela'' charged with protecting Rome. Works of later Roman grammarians suggest that Soranus took an interest in
etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
and other linguistic matters.


Annotated bibliography

* Alfonsi, L. "L'importanza politico-religiosa della enunciazione di Valerio Sorano (a proposito di ''CIL'' I² 337)." ''Epigraphica'' 10 (1948) 81–89. Argues that Valerius Soranus should be identified with Valerius Aedituus, a poet from the circle of Lutatius Catulus, and that he revealed the name of Rome to disrupt the exclusivity of the Roman aristocracy and enable the participation of the Italic communities.Abstract translated from '' L'Année philologique''. * Brown, John Pairman. ''Israel and Hellas'', vol. 2. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1995
pp. 247–250
on Valerius Soranus. * Cichorius, Conrad. “Zur Lebensgeschichte des Valerius Soranus.” ''Hermes'' 41 (1906) 59–68. The most thorough biographical reconstruction. English abstract in ''American Journal of Philology'' 28 (1907) 468. * Courtney, Edward
“Q. Valerius (Soranus).”
''The Fragmentary Latin Poets.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993, pp. 65–68. Edition with
commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...
and
biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
note. Courtney refrains from identifying some recognized fragments of Soranus's work as poetry and thus omits them. See Funaioli and Morel following. * De Martino, Marcello. ''L'identità segreta della divinità tutelare di Roma. Un riesame dellaffaire ''Sorano''. Roma: Settimo Sigillo, 2011. * Funaioli, Gino. ''Grammaticae romanae fragmenta'', vol. 1. Leipzig: Teubner, 1907. Testimonia and fragments of Valerius Soranus's grammatical works
pp. 77–79.
* Horsfall, Nicholas. “Roman Religion and Related Topics.” Review of Thomas Köves-Zulauf, ''Kleine Schriften'', ed. Achim Heinrichs (Heidelberg 1988). ''Classical Review'' 41 (1991) 120–122. * Klinghardt, Matthias. “Prayer Formularies for Public Recitation: Their Use and Function in Ancient Religion.” ''Numen'' 46 (1999) 1–52. On the case of Valerius Soranus, pp. 43–45. * Köves-Zulauf, Thomas. "Die ''Ἐπόπτιδες'' des Valerius Soranus." ''Rheinisches Museum'' 113 (1970) 323–358. Reprinted in the author's ''
Kleine Schriften ' is a German phrase ("short writings" or "minor works"; la, Opuscula) often used as a title for a collection of articles and essays written by a single scholar over the course of a career. "Collected Papers" is an English equivalent. These short ...
'', ed. Achim Heinrichs (Heidelberg 1988). Argument summarized under
Literary works Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
. * Morel, Willy, with Karl Büchner and Jürgen Blänsdorf. ''Fragmenta poetarum Latinorum epicorum et lyricorum praeter Ennium et Lucilium''. 3rd edition. Stuttgart: Teubner, 1995. Contains fragments of Valerius Soranus not presented in Courtney. * Murphy, Trevor. “Privileged Knowledge: Valerius Soranus and the Secret Name of Rome.” In ''Rituals in Ink: A Conference on Religion and Literary Production in Ancient Rome'' (Stuttgart 2004)
pp. 127–137.
Rehearses sources for ''nomen'' transgression, with a stated interest in the significance of the story rather than its
historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity denot ...
. Some misapprehensions in handling primary source material. * Niccolini, Giovanni. ''I
fasti In ancient Rome, the ''fasti'' (Latin plural) were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events. After Rome's decline, the word ''fasti'' continued to be used for simil ...
dei tribuni della plebe.'' Milan 1934. Section on Valerius Soranus, pp. 430–431. * Rüpke, Jörg. ''Religion of the Romans''. Translated and edited by Richard Gordon. Cambridge: Polity, 2007. Discusses the case of Valerius Soranu
(p. 133)
in his consideration of Rome's tutelary deity. * Weinstock, Stefan. Review of ''Die Geheime Schutzgottheit von Rom'' by Angelo Brelich. ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 40 (1950) 149–150. Passing consideration of the likely political character of Valerius Soranus's execution, valuable mainly because of Weinstock's ''
auctoritas ''Auctoritas'' is a Latin word which is the origin of English "authority". While historically its use in English was restricted to discussions of the political history of Rome, the beginning of phenomenological philosophy in the 20th century e ...
''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valerius Soranus, Quintus People of the Roman Republic 1st-century BC Romans Tribunes of the plebs Ancient Roman antiquarians Ancient Roman scholars of religion Valerii People executed by the Roman Republic 2nd-century BC births 82 BC deaths Year of birth unknown People from Sora, Lazio