Guarino Persius-kommentárjának kézirati hagyománya

The distinctive style and phrasing of Persius’s satires, from the very beginning of their publication, prompted the creation of commentaries to clarify obscure points in the text. According to St. Jerome, by Late Antiquity, there was already a commentary on the poet’s works—comprising just a single book—and many indications suggest that elements of this commentary survived through the Early Middle Ages, evolving through transmission. Some of these elements were eventually organized into a relatively coherent form during the Carolingian period, while others were preserved as marginal or interlinear glosses. However, the development of this collection did not stop there: the Carolingian text underwent further modifications, with new elements being added, either from these glosses or from later medieval contributions. Today, this collection of scholia and its later versions are collectively referred to as the Commentum Cornuti. Before the fourteenth century, the interpretation of Persius was largely based on this body of texts, with only a few commentaries from known authors. However, from the fourteenth century onward, there was a surge of scholarly interest in the Stoic poet’s works, with no fewer than 23 commentaries emerging from that century alone. Unfortunately, most of these remain in manuscript form, with only one or two copies surviving in most cases. In this regard, Guarino Veronese’s commentary on Persius stands out, with no fewer than nine surviving manuscripts. In my paper, I aim to provide a clear view of the relationships between these manuscripts and their critical value, which is essential for determining the most accurate reading of the commentary available to us.