Moretvm 45: An Emendation

Abstract

This paper argues that the text of Moretum 45, transuersat durata manu liquidoque coacta (“kneads (?) the dough made firm and dense with his hand and water”), has two problems: first, the asyndetic conjunction with the preceding line is harsh; second, the verb transuersare is otherwise unattested in classical Latin and does not produce a plausible sense here. Both problems are simultaneously solved by writing et uersat: “and keeps turning over the dough as it is being made firm and dense with his hand and water.”