Editing Priscian (section)

=={{anchor|De Constructione|Institutiones Grammaticae}}<!--linked-->Works==
[[File:Firenze, prisciano, institutiones grammaticae, 1290 ca. 01.jpg|thumb|300px|''Institutiones Grammaticae'', 1290 circa, [[Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana]], Florence]]
Priscian's most famous work, the ''Institutes of Grammar'' ({{langx|la|Institutiones Grammaticae}}), is a systematic exposition of Latin grammar. The dedication to Julian probably indicates the consul and patrician, not the author of a well-known epitome of [[Justinian I|Justinian]]'s ''Novellae'', who lived somewhat later than Priscian. The grammar is divided into eighteen books, of which the first sixteen deal mainly with sounds, word-formation and inflexions; the last two, which form from a fourth to a third of the whole work, deal with syntax.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=360}}

Priscian's grammar is based on the earlier works of [[Aelius Herodianus|Herodian]] and [[Apollonius Dyscolus|Apollonius]]. The  examples it includes to illustrate the rules preserve numerous fragments from Latin authors which would otherwise have been lost, including [[Ennius]], [[Pacuvius]], [[Lucius Accius|Accius]], [[Lucilius]], [[Cato the Elder|Cato]] and [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]]. But the authors whom he quotes most frequently are [[Virgil]], and, next to him, [[Terence]], [[Cicero]], [[Plautus]]; then [[Lucan (poet)|Lucan]], [[Horace]], [[Satires of Juvenal|Juvenal]], [[Sallust]], [[Statius]], [[Ovid]], [[Livy]] and [[Persius]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=360}}

The grammar was quoted by several writers in Britain of the 8th century - [[Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne|Aldhelm]], [[Bede]], [[Alcuin]] - and was abridged or largely used in the next century by [[Rabanus Maurus|Hrabanus Maurus]] of Fulda and [[Servatus Lupus]] of Ferrières. About a thousand manuscripts exist, all ultimately derived from the copy made by Theodorus. Most copies contain only books I&mdash;XVI; these are sometimes known as the ''Priscianus Major'' ("Greater Priscian"). Others contain only books XVII and XVIII along with the three books to Symmachus; these are known as his work ''On Construction'' (''{{lang|la|De Constructione}}'') or the ''Priscianus Minor'' ("Lesser Priscian"). A few copies contain both parts. The earliest manuscripts are from the 9th century, though a few fragments are somewhat earlier.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=360}}

Priscian's minor works include:{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=360}}
* Three treatises dedicated to Symmachus (the father-in-law of [[Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius]]): on weights and measures; on the metres of [[Terence]]; and the ''Praeexercitamina'', a translation into Latin of Greek rhetorical exercises from [[Hermogenes of Tarsus|Hermogenes]].
* ''De nomine, pronomine, et verbo'' ("On noun, pronoun, and verb"), an abridgment of part of his ''Institutes'' for teaching grammar in schools
* ''Partitiones xii. versuum Aeneidos principalium'': another teaching aid, using question and answer to dissect the first lines of each of the twelve books of the [[Aeneid]]. The metre is discussed first, each verse is scanned, and each word thoroughly and instructively examined.
* The poem on Anastasius mentioned above, in 312 [[hexameter]]s with a short iambic introduction
* A translation in 1087 hexameters of the verse-form geographical survey by [[Dionysius Periegetes]].