apostolicfathers0201clem - Carmel Apologetics

IGNATIUS THE MARTYR. 23
Egnatius, foiled the Romans for a time, till the struggle was ended by
his death on the battle-field of Sentinum (Liv. x. 18— 29). Again
two centuries later, in the last great conflict of the Romans with the
neighbouring Italian nations, the Marsian war (a.d. 90), another general
bearing the same name, Marius Egnatius, likewise a Samnite, inflicted
heavy losses on the Romans, till he too met with a similar fate (Liv.
Epit. Ixxv, Appian Civ. i. 40, 41, 45). From this time forward the
distinction of Roman and Italian ceases \
and Egnatius appears as a
not uncommon Roman name. It occurs for instance not less than
five times in a single inscription belonging to the age of Vespasian
(Gruter hiscr. ccxl, ccxli). At a Uiter date it was borne by one of
the Roman emperors {Ox€\}l\ Liscr. 1004 P. Licinio Egnatio Gallieno ;
comp. 1008). The form Ignatius has many analogies in the language.
Thus we have Deana, Dometius, Fabrecius, Menerva, Opemius,
Paperius, etc., in the older inscriptions {Corp. Liscr. Lat. i. p. 605),
where the later forms are Diana, Domitius, Fabricius, Minerva,
Opimius, Papirius, etc. Nor is this exchange of vowels confined to
proper names ;
e. g. fuet, mereto, tempestatebus, etc. (see Roby's Latin
Grammar i. § 234). As a rule, the substitution of the I for E had
taken place in the language long before, but in some proper names,
e.g. Vergilius, Verginius (Ritschl Opusc. 11. p. 779), the older forms
still prevailed. The name with which we are concerned seems to
have been written indifferently Egnatius or Ignatius, though doubtless
there was a greater tendency to the latter form in Greek than in Latin'.
Thus the Samnite general in the Marsian war appears persistently as
'lyvartos in Appian {Civ. i. 40, Schweighaeuser's note), though written
Egnatius in Livy. So too the lieutenant of Crassus is called 'lyvartos
by Plutarch {Vit. Crass. 27), though a Latin writer would doubtless
write the name Egnatius. The name of the Carthaginian saint again
is written in both ways in the manuscripts of Cyprian Ep. xxxix. 3,
and
elsewhere (see Zahn, /. v. A. p. 28). There is however no persistence
either in the Greek or the Latin orthography of the name. Thus for
instance 'Eyi'artos appears in inscriptions (e.g. Boeckh Corp.
Inscr. Graec.
Index p. 85; C. I. L. vi. p. 85), and coins (Mionnet in. p. 16),
and in Dion Cassius (liii. 24, Ixii.' 26). On the other hand, Ignatius,
Ignatia, occur in Latin (e.g. C. I. L. 11.
1457, if correctly so read,
IX. 353), though rarely, until a comparatively late date. There is therefore
no ground for supposing with Wieseler d.
{Christenverfolg.
Ciisarcn
pp. 122, 133) that Ignatius and Egnatius are two separate names.
^
So cvocatus becomes iovoKaros in vcxillatio Pt^jXariwi' in an inscription,
Hegesippus (Eus. //. E. iii. 20); and Bull, dc Corr. Hellcn. X. p. 227 (1886).