In Book 20, Chapter 11 of the Noctes Atticae (Attic Nights), Aulus Gellius relies heavily on a book by the grammarian Publius Lavinius titled De Verbis Sordidis ("On Vulgar Words"). [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Gellius uses Lavinius's work to explain the origins and usage of the colloquial word sculna (an old, vulgar term for an arbitrator, mediator, or stakeholder). Within this short chapter, the explicit literary examples and quotes cited from or via Lavinius include: [1, 2]

• Marcus Varro's Logistoricus: Lavinius points out that the word sculna was explicitly used by the famous Roman scholar Marcus Varro in his dialogue or philosophical work entitled Catus (subtitled On the Upbringing of Children). [1, 2]
• Cato the Elder's De Ptolomaeo contra Thermum: After establishing that ancient speakers used the adverbial phrase sequestro positum to describe property deposited with a mediator, Gellius provides a specific historical quote from Cato the Elder's speech Against Thermus concerning Ptolemy: "Per deos immortalis, nolite vos atque . . ." ("By the immortal gods, do not allow yourselves and..."). (Note: The remaining text of this specific quotation is lost due to a permanent break in the surviving manuscripts.)[1, 2, 3]

Summary of the Etymology Explained by Lavinius

Through these examples, Lavinius demonstrates that sculna was originally a vulgar corruption of seculna. Both seculna and the more elegant, standard Latin alternatives—sequester and arbiter—share a linguistic root with the verb sequor ("to follow"). They are called this because both disputing parties ultimately agree to "follow" the final judgment of the chosen referee. [1, 2, 3]

If you are researching early Roman legal and grammatical terms, would you like me to find other examples from Gellius where he analyzes vulgar words (verba sordida), or look up more fragments of Varro's Logistorici?