Ducentesimum Septimum Latinum Verbum Diei: April 24, 2010

[Christina Wallin]

Theme for this month: Fera Animalia

cuniculus, cuniculi m.

Definition: rabbit, underground tunnel/burrow/hole; mine/excavation;
channel; secret device;

Sententia: Cicero De Lege Agraria Oratio Prima Contra P. Servilium
Rullum Tr. Pleb. In Senatu 1.1.1

***quae res aperte petebatur, ea nunc occulte cuniculis oppugnatur.
Dicent enim xviri, id quod et dicitur a multis et saepe dictum est,
post eosdem consules regis Alexandri testamento regnum illud populi
Romani esse factum.

Those things which were sought openly [before], now are fought after
secretly in rabbit-holes. For the decemviri will say, that which also
is said by many and often has been said, that after those consuls the
kingdom [Egypt] became that of the Roman people by the will of King
Alexander.

This is the first of Cicero's Orationes de Lege Agraria. The Lex
Agraria, proposed by Rullus in 63 BC, aimed to rid Rome of its mass of
poor citizens by settling them on public land. Though there was not
much public land left in Italy at the time, he wished to use all that
remained for the poor, and also wished to sell property of the State
which lay outside the borders of Italy to raise funds to purchase land
for the poor to live on. The connection with Egypt is that in 65 BC,
there was a movement to make Egypt a province, and it was rejected.
Cicero now cautions the Senators to be wary of this further ploy to
make Egypt a province under the land bill. Unsurprisingly, the
aristocracy, Cicero among them, did not favor this plan, and it did
not pass.

“Cuniculus” is an interesting word, which underwent semantic shift.
From its original meaning of “rabbit,” it shifted to mean the
underground holes they live in, and then metaphorically to secret
devices in general. Etymologically, the origin of this word is
unknown, though it possibly is of Iberian descent.


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