GRICE E LICENZIO
Speranza, J. L.
(n. d.). ‘Grice e Licenzio: la ragione conversazionale e il
filosofo poeta Licenzio
(Roma, Lazio): la ragione conversazionale e il filosofo poeta – Grice’s theory of
reason-governed conversational meaning treats implicature as a rational,
publicly assessable inference from what is said to what is meant, anchored in
cooperative expectations and in the speaker’s intention that the hearer
recognize those intentions. Licentius, known mainly as a participant in
Augustine’s Cassiciacum conversations and as an aspiring poet whose impulses
Augustine alternately encouraged and disciplined, represents a different
register of “conversational reason”: a pedagogical and spiritual dialogue in
which what is left unsaid is often as important as what is said, because
silence, confession, and self-correction are part of the point of the exchange
rather than mere by-products of efficiency. Compared with Grice, the
Cassiciacum scene does not aim to model inferential norms like relevance or
quantity so much as to form a person capable of truthfulness, attention, and
moral seriousness; yet it constantly relies on Gricean phenomena, since
Augustine’s questions, ironies, and admonitions routinely invite the pupil to
supply what is meant beyond the literal surface, and to recognize when a remark
is meant as a rebuke, a prompt to examine oneself, or a shift from playful
verse-making to disciplined inquiry. The contrast, then, is between Grice’s
micro-theory of how implicatures are warranted in ordinary conversation and Licentius’
(Augustinian) context where implicature serves ascetic and educational ends:
not merely to convey extra information, but to transform the interlocutor, so
that conversational reason is measured not only by correct inference but by
whether the dialogue produces intellectual honesty and a rightly ordered will. Grice:
“Agostino was not an Italian, but an African – his friends, however, like
Licenzio, were Italian thoroughbreds – and he discussed philosophy with them
quite often! – except when he was meditating!’ A pupil of Agostino. L. achieves
a reputation of a poet. GRICEVS: salve,
LICENTIV. Romae te audio et philosophari et versificari; num idem animus
utrumque tolerat? LICENTIVS: salve, GRICE. tolerat—immo gaudet: cum philosophia
nimis arida est, poeta aquam addit; cum poesis nimis mollis est, philosophus
salem. GRICEVS: sed magister tuus Agostinus Africanus est, non Italus; quomodo
fit ut discipulus Italicus tam bene disputet, et tam bene cantet? LICENTIVS:
facile: ille meditatur et tacet; ego, ne silentium vincat, loquor. ita fit ut
Africanus cogitet, Italicus rimeat—et Roma, inter utrumque, rideat. Do we
know if this Licentius, a pupil of Augustine, belonged to some gens? or was
Italy-born? Short answer: no secure gens, and no, he was not Italy-born. The
best-attested facts point the other way. Licentius was the son of Romanianus, a
wealthy citizen of Tagaste in Roman North Africa, and one source explicitly
notes that [Licentius](citeturn32search897 says of himself that he and
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 “rise from the same city” — meaning
[Tagaste](citeturn32search897turn32search908, not Italy.
citeturn32search897turn32search908 So the line “Licenzio (Roma, Lazio)” is
not historically safe. The standard picture is that
[Licentius](citeturn32search897 belongs to the African circle around
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 and was with him at
[Cassiciacum](citeturn32search902turn32search903turn32search906 near Milan
in 386–387, but his family background points back to
[Tagaste](citeturn32search908 in North Africa, not to Italy.
citeturn32search897turn32search902turn32search903turn32search906turn32search908
On the gens question: here the answer is again caution. By the late fourth
century, with a figure such as [Licentius](citeturn32search897, one should
not assume a classical republican-style gens can be cleanly recovered from the
name alone. “Licentius” is not functioning for us like a tidy old nomen from
which one may confidently infer a living gens in the older sense. In late Roman
naming, the old gentilician system had already loosened greatly, and the name
by itself does not give a secure classical gens-dossier.
citeturn32search896turn32search898turn32search899turn32search901 So the
safest answer is: no secure gens can be assigned on present evidence; he was
very likely African by origin, from [Tagaste](citeturn32search908 or at
least from the same city and family world as
[Augustine](citeturn32search897; and his father was
[Romanianus](citeturn32search908, a wealthy citizen of
[Tagaste](citeturn32search908. citeturn32search897turn32search908 If one
wanted the driest Speranza correction, I would put it this way.
[Licentius](citeturn32search897 is not to be naturalised into
[Rome](citeturn32search898 merely because Augustine later speaks with him in
Italy. The evidence points instead to [Tagaste](citeturn32search908, and to
the household of [Romanianus](citeturn32search908, whose son he was. As for
gens, the late-antique name does not license the old republican confidence. One
has a person, a father, a city, a poem, and a pedagogical role at
[Cassiciacum](citeturn32search902turn32search903turn32search906; one does
not thereby obtain a neat gentilician label.
citeturn32search897turn32search902turn32search903turn32search906turn32search908
And one small refinement: he later stayed in Italy and wrote from there, but
that is residence, not origin. One source says that after
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 returned to Africa,
[Licentius](citeturn32search897 remained in Italy and later sent Augustine
his verse epistle. That helps explain why an Italianising imagination might
seize him, but it does not make him Italian-born. citeturn32search897 If you
like, I can now do one of two things here in chat only: I can rewrite the whole
Licenzio entry in a historically safer way while keeping the poet-pupil
contrast. I can also give you a short note on [Romanianus](citeturn32search908,
[Licentius](citeturn32search897, and the African background of the
[Cassiciacum](citeturn32search902turn32search903turn32search906 circle. Yes — of course. Here is the
Licentius answer again in the correct citation format. Short answer: no secure
gens, and no, he was not Italy-born. The best-attested facts point the other
way. Yes — of course. Here is the Licentius answer again in the correct
citation format. Short answer: no secure gens, and no, he was not Italy-born.
The best-attested facts point the other way. [Licentius](citeturn32search897
was the son of [Romanianus](citeturn32search908, a wealthy citizen of
[Tagaste](citeturn32search908 in Roman North Africa, and one source
explicitly notes that [Licentius](citeturn32search897 says of himself that
he and [Augustine](citeturn32search897 “rise from the same city” — meaning
[Tagaste](citeturn32search897turn32search908, not Italy.
citeturn32search897turn32search908 So the line “Licenzio (Roma, Lazio)” is
not historically safe. The standard picture is that
[Licentius](citeturn32search897 belongs to the African circle around
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 and was with him at
[Cassiciacum](citeturn32search902turn32search903turn32search906 near Milan
in 386–387, but his family background points back to
[Tagaste](citeturn32search908 in North Africa, not to Italy.
citeturn32search897turn32search902turn32search903turn32search906turn32search908
On the gens question: here the answer is again caution. By the late fourth
century, with a figure such as [Licentius](citeturn32search897, one should
not assume a classical republican-style gens can be cleanly recovered from the
name alone. “Licentius” is not functioning for us like a tidy old nomen from
which one may confidently infer a living gens in the older sense. In late Roman
naming, the old gentilician system had already loosened greatly, and the name
by itself does not give a secure classical gens-dossier.
citeturn32search896turn32search898turn32search899turn32search901 So the
safest answer is: no secure gens can be assigned on present evidence; he was
very likely African by origin, from [Tagaste](citeturn32search908 or at
least from the same city and family world as
[Augustine](citeturn32search897; and his father was
[Romanianus](citeturn32search908, a wealthy citizen of
[Tagaste](citeturn32search908. citeturn32search897turn32search908 In dry
Speranza style: [Licentius](citeturn32search897 is not to be naturalised
into [Rome](citeturn32search898 merely because
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 later speaks with him in Italy. The evidence
points instead to [Tagaste](citeturn32search908, and to the household of [Romanianus](citeturn32search908,
whose son he was. As for gens, the late-antique name does not license the old
republican confidence. One has a person, a father, a city, a poem, and a
pedagogical role at [Cassiciacum](citeturn32search902turn32search903turn32search906;
one does not thereby obtain a neat gentilician label.
citeturn32search897turn32search902turn32search903turn32search906turn32search908
And one small refinement: he later stayed in Italy and wrote from there, but
that is residence, not origin. One source says that after
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 returned to Africa,
[Licentius](citeturn32search897 remained in Italy and later sent
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 his verse epistle. That helps explain why an
Italianising imagination might seize him, but it does not make him
Italian-born. citeturn32search897 If you want, I can also re-submit any
other recent answer in this same corrected citation style. Yes — thank you, I understand now. The issue is that the citation markup
itself is correct, but in your view it is being displayed literally rather than
rendered as clickable citations. I cannot force the chat renderer from my side,
but I can re-submit cleanly and minimally so there is less chance of the markup
being swallowed by surrounding text. Here is the Licentius answer again,
cleanly reformatted. Short answer: no secure gens, and no, he was not
Italy-born. The best-attested facts point the other way.
[Licentius](citeturn32search897 was the son of
[Romanianus](citeturn32search908, a wealthy citizen of
[Tagaste](citeturn32search908 in Roman North Africa. One source explicitly
notes that [Licentius](citeturn32search897 says of himself that he and
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 “rise from the same city” — that is,
[Tagaste](citeturn32search897turn32search908, not Italy. citeturn32search897turn32search908
So the line “Licenzio (Roma, Lazio)” is not historically safe. The standard
picture is that [Licentius](citeturn32search897 belongs to the African
circle around [Augustine](citeturn32search897 and was with him at [Cassiciacum](citeturn32search902turn32search903turn32search906
near Milan in 386–387, but his family background points back to
[Tagaste](citeturn32search908 in North Africa, not to Italy.
citeturn32search897turn32search902turn32search903turn32search906turn32search908
On the gens question, caution is needed. By the late fourth century, with a
figure such as [Licentius](citeturn32search897, one should not assume a
classical republican-style gens can be cleanly recovered from the name alone. “Licentius”
is not functioning for us like a tidy old nomen from which one may confidently
infer a living gens in the older sense. In late Roman naming, the old
gentilician system had already loosened greatly, and the name by itself does
not give a secure classical gens-dossier.
citeturn32search896turn32search898turn32search899turn32search901 So the
safest answer is this. No secure gens can be assigned on present evidence. He
was very likely African by origin, from [Tagaste](citeturn32search908 or at
least from the same city and family world as
[Augustine](citeturn32search897. And his father was
[Romanianus](citeturn32search908, a wealthy citizen of
[Tagaste](citeturn32search908. citeturn32search897turn32search908 In dry
Speranza style: [Licentius](citeturn32search897 is not to be naturalised
into [Rome](citeturn32search898 merely because
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 later speaks with him in Italy. The evidence
points instead to [Tagaste](citeturn32search908, and to the household of
[Romanianus](citeturn32search908, whose son he was. As for gens, the
late-antique name does not license the old republican confidence. One has a
person, a father, a city, a poem, and a pedagogical role at [Cassiciacum](citeturn32search902turn32search903turn32search906;
one does not thereby obtain a neat gentilician label.
citeturn32search897turn32search902turn32search903turn32search906turn32search908
And one refinement: he later stayed in Italy and wrote from there, but that is
residence, not origin. One source says that after
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 returned to Africa,
[Licentius](citeturn32search897 remained in Italy and later sent
[Augustine](citeturn32search897 his verse epistle. That helps explain why an
Italianising imagination might seize him, but it does not make him
Italian-born. citeturn32search897 If you want, I can also do the same kind
of clean re-submission for the
[Lisimaco](citeturn30search880turn30search881 answer or any of the others.
Yes — I see what happened. Those last two times, the citations were not
being rendered as blue clickable links at all; they were being shown literally
as raw citation markup. That is a rendering problem, not a factual one. I
cannot repair the chat renderer from here. So the best practical thing I can do
is this: I will stop trying to force those inline clickable citations for the
moment in ordinary prose, because in your current session they are plainly not
resolving visually. Instead, if you want, I can answer in one of two safer
ways: One, I can give you the answer with plain prose and then list the source
handles separately at the end, like: Sources: turn32search897, turn32search908,
turn32search902, turn32search903, turn32search906 Two, I can give you a very
compact bibliographical answer with the source-bearing claims grouped tightly,
so that if the renderer recovers later, we can re-run it. So, for the Licentius
question, in the visually safest format: No secure gens can be assigned. He was
not Italy-born. He was the son of Romanianus, a wealthy citizen of Tagaste in
Roman North Africa. Licentius himself says, in effect, that he and Augustine
come from the same city, meaning Tagaste. He later remained in Italy for a
time, but that is residence, not origin. Sources: turn32search897
turn32search908 turn32search902 turn32search903 turn32search906 turn32search896
turn32search898 turn32search899 turn32search901 If you like, I can now do one
of two things: I can continue in this citation-safe format for the rest of our
chat. Or I can retry the blue-link format once more on a very short answer,
just to test whether the renderer has recovered.Licenzio (a. u. c. MCXXXIX). Dicta. Roma.
Commenti
Posta un commento