The term alliteration was invented by the Italian humanist Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503), in his dialogue Actius,Pontano (1519), Actius, fol. 127b; Naeke (1829) p. 327; Rolfe (1943), p. 226. to describe the practice common in Virgil, Lucretius, and other Roman writers of beginning words or syllables with the same consonant or vowel. He gives examples such as "the rocks were resounding with the salt-water"Virgil, Aeneid 5.865. or "he recognised his friend Anchises"Virgil, Aeneid 3.82. or "defended by a great force of men".Lucretius, 1.725; Pontano, Actius, fol. 128.
Pontano also used the term alliteration to refer to repetition of letters in medial positions. Among other kinds, he mentions the frequent case when the last syllable of a word begins with the same consonant as the first syllable of the next word, as in "the rigid breastplate made of bronze" (Virgil).Virgil, Aeneid 8.620; Pontano, Actius, fol. 128b; Naeke (1829), pp. 331, 333f. Since "x" is pronounced [ks], the phrase "the rocks were resounding with sea water" (Virgil) can also be considered an example of this kind. This kind of alliteration is referred to by some writers as consonance.
Alliteration was a prominent feature of Latin literature (in contrast to Greek), especially in poetry in the 3rd to 1st centuries BC, and continued to be used by some writers even in the Middle Ages.
Definitions Scholars differ as to how alliteration should be defined. Some, such as Keith Maclennan (2017), suggest that the term alliteration should be used only of repeated sounds at the beginning of words, and assonance of sounds repeated in another context.Keith Maclennan (2017), Virgil: Aeneid VIII, p. 43. Tracy Peck (1884) also gives examples only of word-initial alliteration.
However, Pontano himself, who invented the term, used it also of the alliteration of medial consonants. The French scholars A. Cordier (1939) and Jules Marouzeau (1933) similarly define it as "the repetition, near or exact, of a phoneme or group of phonemes at the beginning of syllables (e.g. ) or at the beginning of words (e.g. ) nearby one another in the utterance."Rolfe (1943), p. 226; original in French.
The German classicist August Ferdinand Naeke (1829) also accepted internal alliteration and cited examples such as "you've nearly broken the hinges of the door, you idiot!" (Plautus),Plautus, Amphitruō 1025; Naeke (1829), p. 347. in which the first F, though medial, clearly contributes to the effect of the whole.
The Lucretius specialists Cyril Bailey (1947) and Margaret Deutsch (1939), on the other hand, give a slightly different definition. They define alliteration as the repetition of consonants (whether initial or medial), and assonance as the repetition of vowel sounds or of syllables.Bailey (1947), vol. 1 p. 147. From the examples Bailey gives, such as , it is clear that he considered that consonants at the end of syllables and words could contribute to alliteration as well as those at the beginning.Bailey (1947), vol. 1 p. 149.
Thus when several words in a row begin with the same vowel, as in "the huge man, struck, falls to the ground" (Virgil),Virgil, Aeneid 12.925-6. some scholars follow Pontano in referring to it as alliteration,e.g. T.E. Page (1904) on Aeneid 12.925; Cordier, reported in Rolfe (1943), p. 230; Liegey (1956), p. 383; Clarke (1976). while others use the term assonance.e.g. R.D. Williams (1973) on Aeneid 12.925; Bailey (1947), p. 151; de Ford (1986), p. 61.
Conversely, when a medial consonant is involved, as in , it is called "internal alliteration" by BaileyBailey (1947), pp. 149, 151. but would be considered as assonance by Maclennan.
Writing in Latin in the 12th century, Gerald of Wales defines alliteration as "that kind of Also spelled and . (paronomasia) in which the initial letters or syllables of words are linked together".Giraldus Cambrensis, , 1.12. He gives a Latin example from the Aeneid: (Aen. 3.183) "such misfortunes Cassandra was singing", in which the syllables cās, cass and ca are used in successive words.
Compound alliteration Although simple alliteration involving only the initial consonants of words is very common, in Latin authors of all periods it will often be found that primary alliteration on an initial consonant is accompanied by a secondary or "minor"de Ford (1986), p. 60. alliteration on a medial consonant. Thus Cicero's "the gates are open"Cicero 1.10; cf. Aeneid 2.266. as well as the primary alliteration of P has minor alliteration of T. Occasionally there are two minor consonants involved, as in "lakes and groves" (Cicero)Cicero 2.5.188; cf. Aeneid 7.695. or "with coils of snakes" (Virgil).Aeneid 12.845.
In other examples, the same consonant occurs both initially and medially,Bailey (1947), p. 151. e.g. (Plautus) and (Virgil)Aeneid 4.2. with C, or (Virgil)Aeneid 8.620. with R. Often two different consonants are involved in the same phrase, partly initial and partly medial: (Naevius) and (Virgil)Aeneid 12.875. with M and T; and with M and L (Virgil);Aeneid 2.680, 4.66. and (Nepos),Nepos, Themistocles 10.4. (Virgil)Aeneid 4.1. and (Virgil) with R and G.Aeneid 1.401.
Any account of alliteration in Latin must therefore take such cases into consideration. However, as Bailey warns, caution must be observed in recognising such examples, as the internal alliteration may sometimes be accidental.
Alliteration and assonance Alliteration frequently overlaps with assonance, which is defined by one dictionary as "a resemblance in the sounds of words or syllables, either between their vowels (e.g. meat, bean) or between their consonants (e.g. keep, cape)".Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (1996). (This latter kind is also known as consonance.)
By this definition some of the examples which Naeke in the 19th century called alliteration, such as "thief who wears three yokes" (Plautus),Plautus, 323; cf. Naeke (1829), p. 348. "it's never been imagined, or painted, or written" (Plautus),Plautus, 172; Naeke (1829), p. 384. or "she is overcome with grief" (Terence)Terence, 265; Naeke (1829), p. 387. would usually these days be referred to as assonance.cf. R.G. Austin (ed.) Virgil: Aeneid 2 on line 107 (īct) and 282 (ōr).
Often alliteration and assonance are combined, as in "with copious blood they wash their necks and shoulders" (Virgil),Aeneid 12.721-2. where there is alliteration of L L L, but also assonance of A AR AR A.
Examples of alliteration In popular phrases The earliest appearance of alliteration in Latin seems to have been not in poetry but in proverbs and popular sayings, and phrases of a religious or legal character.Peck (1884), p. 60. Examples of popular phrases are: "to waste both oil and time", "beware of the dog", "alive and well", "enough and more", "white or black", "public and private", and so on. Legal and religious phrases included such as "tablets and witnesses", "altars and shrines", "houses and temples", "brave and loyal", "routed and put to flight", "Chance and Fortune". Frequently such alliterating phrases show asyndeton, i.e. the two words are placed side by side with no conjunction such as "and".Peck (1884), p. 62. Another example of this is the boast "I came, I saw, I conquered" attributed to Julius Caesar.Suetonius "Life of Julius Caesar" 37; Peck (1884) p. 61.
It has been noted that in these phrases that if one of two alliterated words has an "a" in it, it is usually placed second: "by sword and flame", "far and wide", "hills and plains", "many and great".Peck (1884), p. 64. When the words are of unequal length, the shorter one usually precedes: "fame and fortune", "gold and silver", "care and custody", and so on. As both Peck and Cordier noted, the Latin language naturally lends itself to such phrases, making them part of everyday speech. Some apparent examples of alliteration therefore are likely to be fortuitous, for example Jesus's saying "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14.6), which is translated from a non-alliterating Greek original.Peck (1884), p. 61; Rolfe (1943), p. 229.
In prayers Some of the early prayers () which survive, such as the one which begins as follows, are partly alliterative, but the alliteration is not maintained throughout the prayer:McGann (1958), p. 303.
"Father Mars, I pray and beg you that you be willing and propitious"
It contains alliterative lines such as this:
"that you may keep the herdsmen and the cattle safe"
However, much of the prayer is not alliterative. McGann (1958) concludes that alliteration is an important but occasional device which adds greatly to the effect of the composition, but does not perform a structural function in the as a whole.
In poetry Early Latin poetry The earliest Latin poems, unlike early Germanic and English poetry, do not have obligatory alliteration. Most of the fragments of the early accentual Saturnian poetry listed by Lindsay exhibit no alliteration, although some do, for example the following line, attributed to Naevius (c.270–c.201 BC), which has alliteration of M, P, and T: Lindsay (1893), p. 155. "A tumult of great fear possesses their hearts"
The epic poet Ennius (c.239–c.169 BC) made very frequent use of alliteration. In the following example, the alliteration emphasises the noise of trees crashing to the ground. The most obvious alliteration is at the beginning of words, but there is also internal alliteration of the letter t:
Ennius, 6.183–5. "The ash tree crashes and the tall fir is cut down,they overturn tall pines; every groveof the leafy forest was resounding with noise"
To a greater extent than later poets, Ennius often uses the same alliteration throughout the line:Bailey (1947), p. 148.
"nor stay captured when captured, nor burn when set on fire"Macrobius 6.60, translated R.A. Kastner (2011) (Loeb).
Another famous line of Ennius is the following:
"O Titus Tatius, you yourself, o king, have brought such great (troubles) on yourself!"
The following trochaic septenarius line is from his tragedy Alexander. The principal alliteration is M, but there is secondary alliteration of T, L, and R:
"Mother, best woman by far of the best of women!"
In the following hexameter, the primary alliteration with T is supported by a secondary medial alliteration of R to reinforce the idea of terror and trembling:
Cited by Peck (1884), p. 60. "The rough land of Africa trembles with terrifying tumult."
T and R are also used in the following often-quoted line. It was quoted with disapproval for its excessive alliteration in the Rhetorica ad Herennium 4.12, and some modern critics have called it "almost absurd"Bailey (1947), vol. 1 p. 148. or "embarrassing".Austin (1970), p. 132.
"but the trumpet with terrifying sound went 'taratantara!'"
Another Ennius example, which Austin describes as "noble", is the following iambic octonarius. Here there is assonance between and at corresponding places in the two halves of the line, combined with alliteration of C, S, and minor alliteration of P and L:
"O great temples of the heaven-dwellers, mixed with splendid stars."
Pacuvius, a nephew of and pupil of Ennius, was famous as a writer of tragedies. Aulus Gellius quotes the following verses, calling them "very delightful". They are rich in alliteration of m, l, and n, and also assonance of ul repeated four times:
quoted by Gellius, 2.26.13. "give me your foot, so that with yellow water I can wash off the browndust with these same hands with which I often bathed Ulysses,and lessen your tiredness with the softness of my hands"
The comic playwright Plautus also has innumerable instances of alliteration, usually for comic effect: Plautus, 252. "He couldn't in a few words have said more in a plain way."
Plautus, 157. "You with the axe, I'm putting you in charge of the wood-cutting province!"
Plautus, Cist. 201–2. "Destroy the enemies, get praise and laurels, so that conquered by you the Carthaginians may suffer the penalty"