GRICE E PIRALLIANO

 

Speranza, J. L. (n. d.). ‘Grice e Piralliano: la ragione conversazionale del gruppo di gioco dell’accademia a Roma, e la filosofia italiana (Roma). Filosofo italiano. A philosophical acquaintance of Elio Aristide. Accademia. Piralliano (Roma, Lazio): la ragione conversazionale del gruppo di gioco dell’accademia a Roma, e la filosofia italiana. A philosophical acquaintance of Elio Aristide. Accademia. Piralliao. accademia. GRICEVS: Salvete, Piralliane! Dic mihi, quid accidit in Academia Romana? Ludisne philosophicum ludum vel serius meditaris? PIRALLIANVS: O Griceve, in Academia omnia ludus est! Philosophia, carta, et etiam mensa – sed mensam semper philosophice terimus! GRICEVS: Ingenium habes, amice! Forsitan mensam teris ut mens mentem terat? Sed cave, ne mensa te terat! PIRALLIANVS: Ha ha! Non timeo mensam, Griceve, sed philosophos dormientes. Hi sunt periculosiores quam mensa ipsa! Are we supposed that this Piralliano's mother tongue was Latin and that he was an Italy-born Roman. What about Elio Aristide -- Aristide sounds Greek to Speranza - No, it is not safe to suppose that this Piralliano was Latin-speaking, Italy-born, or Roman in origin on the evidence you have given. In fact, I cannot identify “Piralliano” securely at all from the materials now in hand, so any claim about his mother tongue or birthplace would be speculation. The name as transmitted in your passage does not yield a clear historical figure in the search results, so the honest answer is that I do not know who he is. Because of that, I would not infer “Roma, Lazio,” nor Latin as mother tongue, merely from the setting of the passage. [en.wikipedia.org] As for Elio Aristide, Speranza’s instinct is right: Aristide does sound Greek because he was Greek. Aelius Aristides was a Greek orator and sophist of the Second Sophistic, born in Mysia in Asia Minor, not in Italy, and his literary language was Ancient Greek. He is very often identified with Smyrna because that was one of his main cities of education and activity, but his birth was in Hadriani/Hadrianotherae in Mysia. [en.wikipedia.org], [eulogikon.org] So the careful split answer is: For “Piralliano”: not enough evidence to assign ethnicity, birthplace, or mother tongue. I would not assume Latin or Italy-born status. [en.wikipedia.org] For Elio Aristide: Greek, from Asia Minor, and Greek-speaking, not Italy-born Roman. The Roman-looking “Aelius” reflects Roman citizenship naming, not Latin ethnicity or Latin mother tongue. [en.wikipedia.org], [grokipedia.com] That last point matters. In the imperial period, a man can bear a Roman nomen like Aelius and still be culturally and linguistically Greek. Aelius Aristides is exactly that kind of case. [en.wikipedia.org], [grokipedia.com] So, in short: Aristides, yes, Greek; Piralliano, unknown, so no safe assumption. Can you do a double-run with Pirallianus, rather than Piralliano -- the exact source indicates, in English, "an acquaintance of Aelius Aristides" or "a philosophical acquaintance of Aelius Aristides" Does the name Pirallianus indicate Romanita, or could it be Greek Pirallianos? On a double run, I still cannot identify a securely attested historical Pirallianus linked to Aelius Aristides, so I cannot confirm the person from the evidence I have. That is the first and most important point. [en.wikipedia.org] As to the name-form itself, Pirallianus does not by itself prove Romanity. In fact, the ending -ianus is extremely common in the Roman imperial world for Latinized or Romanized names, but it is also perfectly compatible with a Greek or eastern provincial person operating in a Roman setting. So Pirallianus could be a Latinized form without the bearer’s being Italy-born or ethnically Roman. [behindthename.com] And if the underlying form were Greek Pirallianos, that would be entirely plausible too. In the eastern empire, Greek names were often transmitted in Latinized dress and vice versa. That is especially worth stressing here because Aelius Aristides himself is the exact kind of case that teaches the lesson: he bears the Roman nomen Aelius but is culturally and linguistically Greek, from Asia Minor, writing in Greek. His Roman-looking name does not make him Latin in mother tongue or Italian in origin. [en.wikipedia.org], [britannica.com] So the careful answer is: No, the form Pirallianus does not let us infer “Romanità” in the strong sense of Italy-born Roman identity. Yes, it could perfectly well be a Greek name in Latinized form, something like Pirallianos rendered as Pirallianus. And in a context involving Aelius Aristides, the balance of probability actually leans toward a Greek or eastern provincial milieu rather than an Italian one, unless a source explicitly says otherwise. [en.wikipedia.org], [britannica.com] So if Speranza wants a cautious note, I would phrase it this way: “Pirallianus, if the name is correctly transmitted, sounds like a Latinized form but does not securely indicate Italian or Roman origin; in the cultural orbit of Aelius Aristides, a Greek or Greco-eastern bearer is at least as likely.” [en.wikipedia.org], [britannica.com] If you want, I can now help by doing a philological guess at what Greek form might lie behind Pirallianus, but that would be conjectural rather than securely sourced.