A picture, they say, speaks a thousand words. That is certainly true when it comes to the details of manuscripts. Seeing for yourself trumps another saying.
The Oxford Classical Text (henceforth, 'OCT') of Aeneid XI 149-151 reads:
sed venit in medios. feretro Pallante reposto
procubuit super atque haeret lacrimansque gemensque,
et via vix tandem voci laxata dolore est:
The exam board's endorsed edition has Pallanta (accusative), not Pallante (ablative). That edition has dative voci, just as per the OCT.
The authority for Pallanta is M2. That means the second hand in the fifth-century M(edicean) manuscript of Virgil in the Laurentine Library at Florence (Florentinus Laur. xxxix. 1 // Plutei 39.01) and folio 192 recto thereof, to be precise. The parchment is fine... vellum... made from animal skins.
Above is some of that side of that leaf. What remains of the top right-hand corner shows discoloration due to the residue of hair follicles. Spare a thought for the animals who gave their skins that we might read Virgil.
Next, the detail above shows line 149. There is a punctuation mark between MEDIOS and FERETRO (pace many Classics teachers and Classicists) and, above the E of PALLANTE, an A has been added by M2.
Then, 151. The OCT tells us that M2 reads voci, but that M1 reads voces. The crossbars (the hastae 'spears') of the E faintly remain, while the upright has been reinforced (re-inked, inked over). The erasure of the S (if any) was imperfect. At the last, DOLOREST received an addition E to give the unelided spelling (scriptio plena).
Now, all other manuscripts have Pallante at 149 and voci at 151, except P. Thanks to the Vatican Library, we can consult that manuscript -- the fourth/fifth-century Vaticanus Palatinus lat. 1631 -- online: https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Pal.lat.1631.
Above, folio 499 recto. The parchment is so fine as to be translucent. A later reader added '150' --helpfully -- beside the start of line 150. (Is there anything remarkable in line 150? Comments are welcome.)
Again, there is punctuation between MEDIOS and FERETRO and at the end of the line. The ablative PALLANTE too is clear.
P shows DOLOREST in 151, as if the elision has been marked in writing (or one E written instead of two), but, although P1 presents voci, P2 inserted a small S to give a genitive, not the dative.
The third ancient uncial manuscript of Virgil is Vaticanus lat. 3867. It is hardly noteworthy as far as our lines 149-151 are concerned (folio 266 recto), but is remarkable for its colour illustrations. Book XI begins at folio 262 recto.
Happy palaeography, via an online course!
The Oxford Classical Text (henceforth, 'OCT') of Aeneid XI 149-151 reads:
sed venit in medios. feretro Pallante reposto
procubuit super atque haeret lacrimansque gemensque,
et via vix tandem voci laxata dolore est:
The exam board's endorsed edition has Pallanta (accusative), not Pallante (ablative). That edition has dative voci, just as per the OCT.
The authority for Pallanta is M2. That means the second hand in the fifth-century M(edicean) manuscript of Virgil in the Laurentine Library at Florence (Florentinus Laur. xxxix. 1 // Plutei 39.01) and folio 192 recto thereof, to be precise. The parchment is fine... vellum... made from animal skins.
Above is some of that side of that leaf. What remains of the top right-hand corner shows discoloration due to the residue of hair follicles. Spare a thought for the animals who gave their skins that we might read Virgil.
Next, the detail above shows line 149. There is a punctuation mark between MEDIOS and FERETRO (pace many Classics teachers and Classicists) and, above the E of PALLANTE, an A has been added by M2.
Above, folio 499 recto. The parchment is so fine as to be translucent. A later reader added '150' --helpfully -- beside the start of line 150. (Is there anything remarkable in line 150? Comments are welcome.)
Again, there is punctuation between MEDIOS and FERETRO and at the end of the line. The ablative PALLANTE too is clear.
P shows DOLOREST in 151, as if the elision has been marked in writing (or one E written instead of two), but, although P1 presents voci, P2 inserted a small S to give a genitive, not the dative.
The third ancient uncial manuscript of Virgil is Vaticanus lat. 3867. It is hardly noteworthy as far as our lines 149-151 are concerned (folio 266 recto), but is remarkable for its colour illustrations. Book XI begins at folio 262 recto.
Happy palaeography, via an online course!
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