Verrius Flaccus was a prominent
Roman grammarian known for his writings on the
Latin language and for tutoring the grandsons of
Caesar Augustus during his reign. He is best known for
De verborum significatu, the name which Festus later adopted for his epitome, the first major alphabetical Latin
dictionary. The 40-volume
lexicon is regarded as among the most important such works of
classical antiquity, though all but a few fragments of the original have been lost, perhaps in part due to its impractical size. Sextus Pompeius Festus, also a grammarian, likely flourished in the later 2nd century and is thought to have come from
Narbo in
Gaul, though few details are known about his life. Festus wrote his epitome of Flaccus' works during a time in the
history of the Roman Empire when greater priority was placed on defense after a long period of expansion. There was an anxious effort by many scholars to record their history and culture as means of preservation. Though another of Festus' books is mentioned in
De verborum significatione, none of his other works have survived. Festus' work originally contained 20 volumes. The only surviving copy is the
Codex Farnesianus, an 11th-century copy in poor condition, missing the first half of its alphabetized entries and suffering fire damage. Much of what we know about it comes from a summary of the full original, abridged in the 8th century by
Paul the Deacon (Paulus Diaconus) as a contribution to the library of
Charlemagne. As Festus reduced Flaccus from 40 to 20 volumes, so did Paul condense Festus by roughly half, excising entries he considered unnecessary or redundant, modifying parts of the text he thought unclear or obscure, and stripping away details like citations. ==Content==