Figurative uses of animal names in Latin and their ... - mura di tutti

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the transfer to the resemblance between the hard head of
the animal and the stout end of the beam ; or, to the similar-
ity between the butting and the swing of the machine, the
ram stepping back to butt with increased power, just as the
beam is drawn back to acquire momentum and force; appellatur
aries, vel quod habet durissimam frontem, qua
submit muros, vel quod more arietum retrocedit, ut cum
impetu vehementius feriat.®*
The first derivation can be disregarded, since the end of
the original Kpioi was comparatively soft, being of wood,
as Hesychius's definition of Xenophon's Kpiof implies.
Durissimam evidently refers to the iron protection of later
times ; cf . ferrearn frontem p. 1 1
The second alternative of Vegetius is, of course, the
only tenable reason for the transfer. The late Greek writer
Procopius,''*' suj^ports this view, speaking with the fullest
assurance: i? Se i^OKoi) avyya kfi^aXKotiivi) KaTacrela-ai re otti;
irpoairOirroi, koX hieXeiv paara o'ia re katt,, koX air' avTOv ttjv
iTTcovvfiiav TavTr]v r) firj'^avt) e%et, eTrei, rfji; Soicov ravTr)