The Monastic Rules of Visigothic Iberia - eTheses Repository ...

influenced by Christianity. Moreover, there are certain terms that are specific to a monastic
context, such as abbas, praepositus and hebdomadarius. These terms are unlikely to be
found outside ascetic circles, and so demonstrate the specialised audience of the monastic
rules.
5.17 Three Interesting Borrowings: Paximatium, Monophagia and Saio
One of the most interesting features associated with the lexis of the monastic rules is
the presence of loan words. Of course, many of the words typical of Christian Latin are
borrowed from Greek, or sometimes from a Semitic language via Greek. This notion is far
from novel. However, there are a couple of lexical items that merit particular attention. The
first is paximatium, „daily bread‟, a term borrowed from the Greek παμακάδηνλ, „a small loaf
of bread‟. It is used twice in the Common Rule: “Cum excommunicatur aliquis pro culpa,
mittatur solitarius in cellam obscuram, in solo pane et aqua, ut in uespera, post coenam
fratrum, medium accipiat paximatium, et non ad satietatem aquam, et hoc ab abbate
exsufflatum, non sanctificatum”; 528 “Et insuper uix tribus mensibus per pleraque monasteria
abundaretur, si sola quotidiana fuissent paximatia in hac prouincia plus omnibus terris
laboriosa”. 529 Cassian reports that amongst some of the Desert Fathers, this was part of the
daily food allowance for a monk. 530 This is a rare word found primarily in Cassian and only
a few times elsewhere. In this sense, then, the term paximatium is a very technical one, and is
both a Greek borrowing and one that is peculiar to a monastic experience.
528 Common Rule 14.
529 Common Rule 9.
530 For example, Institutes 4.14, “And although each one of them may bring in daily by his work and
labour so great a return to the monastery that he could out of it not only satisfy his own moderate
demands but could also abundantly supply the wants of many, yet he is no way puffed up, nor does he
flatter himself on account of his toil and this large gain from his labour, but, except two biscuits”.
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