Kitap 16
6
Now Publius Nigidius, in the book which he wrote On Sacrificial Meats, says Frag. 81, Swoboda. that not sheep alone are called bidentes, but all victims that are two years old; yet he has not explained clearly why they are called bidentes. But I find written in some Notes on the Pontifical Law iii, p. 566, Bremer. what I had myself thought, that they were first called bidennes, that is biennes with the insertion of the letter d; then by long use in speech the word became changed and from bidennes was formed bidentes, because the latter seemed easier and less harsh to pronounce.
6
However, Julius Hyginus, who seems not to have been ignorant of pontifical law, in the fourth book of his work On Virgil, wrote Fr. 3, Fun. that those victims were called bidentes which were of such an age that they had two prominent teeth. I quote his own words: The victim called bidens should have eight teeth, but of these two should be more prominent than the rest, to make it plain that they have passed from infancy to a less tender age. Whether this opinion of Hyginus is true or not may be determined by observation without resort to argument. Hyginus' explanation is the accepted one.
7
That Laberius formed many words freely and boldly, and that he even uses numerous words whose Latinity is often questioned.
