Sententiae, the nominative plural of the Latin word sententia, are brief moral sayings, such as proverbs, adages, aphorisms, maxims, or apophthegms taken from ancient or popular or other sources, often quoted without context. Sententia, the nominative singular, also called a "sentence", is a kind of rhetorical proof. Through the invocation of a proverb, quotation, or witty turn of phrase during a presentation or conversation one may be able to gain the assent of the listener, who will hear a kind of non-logical, but agreed-upon truth in what one is saying. An example of this is the phrase "age is better with wine" playing off of the adage "wine is better with age". The same saying is present in Luke 5,39.
History
The use of sententiae has been explained by Aristotle (when he discusses the γνώμη gnomê, or sententious maxim, as a form of enthymeme), Quintilian, and other classical authorities.
Early modern English writers, heavily influenced by various humanist educational practices, such as harvesting commonplaces, were especially attracted to sententiae. The technique of sententious speech is exemplified by Polonius' famous speech to Laertes in Hamlet. Sometimes in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama the sententious lines appear at the end of scenes in rhymed couplets (for instance, John Webster's Duchess of Malfi). In some early modern dramatic texts and other writings, sententiae are often flagged by marginal notes or special marks.
The "first Roman book of literary character" was the Sententiae of Appius Claudius, which was composed upon a Greek model.
A similar literary genre recurred in 1150 within the Libri Quattuor Sententiarum (The Four Books of Sentences) of Peter Lombard, a book which was widely commented during the Middle Age, namely by Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Bonaventura.
There is a classical, Roman novel written by Publilius Syrus. The book is a series of proverbs written in Latin.
See also
- Commonplace books
- Publilius Syrus, a writer of sententiae
- Sentences, or The Four Books of Sentences (Libri Quattuor Sententiarum), a book of theology written by Peter Lombard
References
- Schneider, Elizabeth (November 5, 2019). Wine for Normal People: A Guide for Real People Who Like Wine, but Not the Snobbery That Goes with It. Chronicle Books. p. 111. ISBN 9781452171418. OCLC 1119627959.
- Trapp, John (March 9, 2020). A Commentary or Exposition upon all the Books of the New Testament. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 387. ISBN 9781725269965. OCLC 1145561623. Retrieved July 11, 2021 – via onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu.
{{cite book}}: External link in|via= - Rhetoric 2.21
- Institutes of Oratory, 8.5
- Act 1, scene 3
- G.K. Hunter, "The Marking of Sententiæ in Elizabethan Printed Plays, Poems, and Romances," The Library 5th series 6 (1951): 171-188
- Boak, Arthur E. R. & Sinnigen, William G. History of Rome to A.D. 565. 5th Edition. The Macmillan Company, 1965. p. 95
- Commento alle "Sentenze" di Pietro Lombardo e testo integrale di Pietro Lombardo. Libro quarto. Distinzioni 14-23, La penitenza, l'unzione degli infermi. Commento alle Sentenze di Pietro Lombardo (in Italian). Bologna: Ed. Studio Domenicano. 1999. OCLC 469296610 – via archive.is.
{{cite book}}: External link in|via= - Giovanni Ballaini (1573). D. Bonauenturae S.R.E. Episcopi Card. Albanienis. Doctorisq. SERAPHICI In Secundum Librum Sententiarum elaborata dilucidatio. Collectis vniuersis prioribus editionibus ; quidquid aut elegantiae, aut eruditionis in illis anteà sparsim legebatur ; huic uni appositum est totum ; & longè copiosus, ac emendacius: ita ut vix ampliùs sit, quod in tanto opere desiderari queat (in Latin). Venice. OCLC 898175147 – via archive.is.
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