The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

so called because water is strained (percolare) through
them. People say that Tarquinius Priscus first made these
in Rome in order that, whenever there was a downpour
of rain, water would pass through them out of the city
so that the destructive force of water in very great and
prolonged storms would not destroy the level places or
foundations of the city. 26. Porticos(imbolus) areso
named either because they are ‘under the mass’ (subvolumen),
8 or because people walk (ambulare) under them,
for they are the arcades found here and there along the
boulevards.
27. Aforum(forus, i.e. the archaic form of forum)
is a place for practicing litigation, named from “speaking”
(fari) [orfromKingPhoroneus,whofirstgavelaw
to the Greeks]. These places are also called prorostra (lit.
“before the prows”) because prows (rostrum)wereseized
from captured Carthaginian ships in the Punic War and
set up in the Roman Forum as a sign of this victory.
28. The Senate House (curia) issocalled because there
the oversight (cura) ofallaffairs is administered by the
Senate. 29. Apraetorium is so named because there a
‘judicial magistrate’ (praetor) has his seat for managing
investigations. 30. Agymnasium (gymnasium) ingeneral
is a place for exercising, but in Athens it was a place
where philosophy was discussed and the study of wisdom
was engaged in, for the Greeks call what
is called ‘exercise’ in Latin, that is, ‘meditation’ (meditatio).
9 Butgymnasiums are also bathhouses and places for
runners and athletes, because there people are trained in
the study of their particular skills. 31.TheCapitolium of
Rome is so called because it was the highest head (caput)
of the Roman city and its religion. Others say that when
Tarquinius Priscus was uncovering the foundations of
the Capitolium in Rome, he found on the site of the
foundation the head (caput) ofahuman marked with
Etruscan writing, and hence he named it the Capitolium.
32.Citadels(arx)arethehigh, fortified parts of a city,
for whatever are the safest places in a city are called
citadels from their holding off (arcere) theenemy. Also
from this term are ‘bow’ (arcus) and‘strongbox’(arca).
33. TheRomanssuppose that the Circus (Circus) was
8 We guess that by subvolumen Isidore means “under, i.e. supporting,
the mass” of the portico roof, linking the syllable -vol-with
the -bol- ofimbolus.
9 Meditatio means both “practice, exercise” and “meditation, contemplation.”
The Etymologies XV.ii.26–ii.40 307
named for the circling (circuitus) ofhorses, because
there horses run around (circum) the turning-posts. 34.
A theater (theatrum) isnamedfrom‘spectacle’ (spectaculum),
from the term (“spectacle”), because
people standing in it and watching (spectare)fromabove
gaze at stage-plays. 35.And an amphitheater (amphitheatrum)issocalledbecauseitiscomposed
of two theaters
(cf. ,“onbothsides”), for an amphitheater is round,
but a theater consists of half an amphitheater, having the
shape of a semicircle.
36.Alabyrinth (labyrinthus)isastructurewithintricate
walls, of the kind made at Crete by Daedalus where
the Minotaur was shut in. If anyone should enter into
it without a ball of twine he would not be able to
find the way out. This building is so situated that, for
those who open its doors, a terrifying thunder is heard
within. It slopes down more than a hundred steps. Inside
are images and monstrous effigies, innumerable passages
heading every which way in the darkness, and
other things done to confuse the way of those who have
entered, so that it seems impossible to pass from its darkness
to the light. There are four labyrinths: first the Egyptian,
second the Cretan, the third in Lemnos, the fourth
in Italy. All were so constructed that not even the ages
can destroy them.
37. Alighthouse (farum; cf. Greek ) isavery
tall tower which the Greeks and Latins in common
have named ‘lighthouse’ from its particular use, because
thanks to its signal of flames it may be seen from far
off by sailors. Ptolemy is said to have constructed such
alighthouse near Alexandria for eight hundred talents
of gold. Its function was to show a light for ships sailing
at night, in order to make known the channels and the
entrance to the port, so that sailors would not be deceived
in the darkness and run onto the rocks – for Alexandria
has tricky access with deceptive shallows. Therefore
from this, people call the devices built for the purpose
of shining a light in ports ‘lighthouses’ (pharus), for
means “light”; , “vision” (actually “landmark,
pillar”). Hence Lucifer (i.e. the ‘Light-bearer’) is called
in Greek.
38. Coclea are tall, round towers, and they are called
coclea as if the word were ‘cycles’ (cyclea), because in them
one climbs in a spiraling ring. One of these in Rome is 175
(Roman) feet high. 39.Hot baths (thermae)aresocalled
because they are warm, for the Greeks call heat .
40. Baths (balneum) are assigned their name from the