Alliteration (Latin)

The term alliteration was invented by the Italian humanist Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503), in his dialogue Actius,^[1] to describe the practice common in Virgil, Lucretius, and other Roman writers of beginning words or syllables with the same consonant or vowel. He gives examples such as Sale Saxa Sonābant "the rocks were resounding with the salt-water"^[2] or Anchīsēn Agnōvit Amīcum "he recognised his friend Anchises"^[3] or Multā Mūnīta Virum Vī "defended by a great force of men".^[4]

Pontano also used the term alliteration to refer to repetition of letters in medial positions. Among other kinds, he mentions the frequent case when the last syllable of a word begins with the same consonant as the first syllable of the next word, as in lōRīcam ex aeRe Rigentem "the rigid breastplate made of bronze" (Virgil).^[5] Since "x" is pronounced [ks], the phrase Sale SaXa Sonābant "the rocks were resounding with sea water" (Virgil) can also be considered an example of this kind.

Alliteration was a prominent feature of Latin literature (in contrast to Greek), especially in poetry in the 3rd to 1st centuries BC, and continued to be used by some writers even in the Middle Ages.