THE TRANSMITTED TEXT
The philological value of the Beneventan manuscripts of Virgil can be measured in two ways. On the one hand, they occasionally preserve genuine readings and ancient variants. On the other hand, they share many conjunctive errors, which allow us to consider them as a consistent group depending on a common source, or at least on a common ‘Beneventan vulgata’.
The agreement between the Beneventan manuscripts is indicated as Λ (codd. Longobardici) in the recent Teubner edition of the Eclogues and the Georgics . The siglum Φ refers to the codd. Carolingi, and the siglum ω indicates the agreement between ΦΛ or between the majority of the manuscripts belonging to these two groups.
GENUINE READINGS
The most interesting genuine readings of Virgil preserved by the Beneventan manuscripts occur when the majority of the Codices antiquiores and the Carolingians have a corrupted text. The occasional disagreement between the Beneventan books is likely to derive from contamination. See, for example:
ecl.
1.12 turbatur] kyzΛ, Quint. 1, 4, 28, Cons. 372, 35, DSeru. ad Aen.1, 272, «uera lectio» iudice Seru.: turbamur PRΦγ, agnoscit Seru.
georg.
2, 330 tepentibus] MtΛ (cf. Ou. met. 1, 107): trementibus PRΦγ;
2.488 conuallibus] Mc?g?r?Λ: in uallibus Mx RΦεγ, ps. Acro ad Hor. carm. 1, 37, 19
3.85 fremens Ma2erΛ: pr(a)emens RΦoεγ (primens P), Sen. ep. 95, 68
In one passage the reading of the Beneventan manuscripts, which was conjectured and defended also by Wakefield :
ecl. 8.74 hanc tΛ, def. Wakefield: haec MPaΦγ, Seru. ad Aen. 4, 508, schol. Bern.
CONJUNCTIVE ERRORS
My investigation of the text of the Bucolics and the Georgics transmitted by the seven complete Beneventan manuscripts of Virgil (νnoδεζη) has already detected several examples of conjunctive errors.
ecl.
1.17 post hunc u. saepe sinistra caua dicebat (pr〈a〉edixit o?γ1) ab ilice cornix exhibent Λγ1
1.63 labantur] labetur Λ;
2.57 concedat] concedet dkrvΛ
3.84 est] sit dhilzΛ (praeter n), Seru.
7.67 me] nos Λ (praeter ε)
8.39 acceperat] c(o)eperat krsΛ
georg.
2.178 ferendis] creandis g2Λ
2.340 primae] primam Λ
Considered together with the century-wide gap in the history of transmission, the conjunctive errors linking Λ with one or more codices antiquiores support the idea that the Beneventan books of Virgil descend from a textual tradition of late Antiquity, perhaps through an intermediate step. Indeed, the Beneventan manuscripts share errors of the following kind with the antiquiores:
georg.
2.82 miratasque] miraturque MPeΛ, ps. Acro ad Hor. epod. 16, 46
3.194 tum uocet] prouocet PtΛ prouocat ζ
3.63 iuuentas] iuuentus MghΛ, Non. 389, 2, Prisc.
4.43 fouere] fodere MxtΛ
4.482 implexae] impexae MpΛ amplexae εζ