Note 91 — Chapter I · THE KING OF THE WOOD

Scholars are not agreed as to whether the list of confederate Latin cities in Cato is complete, and whether the Latin dictator he mentions was the head of the league or only of Tusculum. In regard to the former question we must remember that the passage of Cato is known to us only from Priscian, who seems to have quoted no more than suited his purpose, which was merely to illustrate a grammatical termination (Ardeatis for the later Ardeas). Probably, therefore, the original passage contained many more names of towns which Priscian did not think it needful to cite. This is the view of H. Dessau (in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, xiv. p. 204). With regard to the second question, Mommsen held that the dictatorship in question was merely the chief magistracy of Tusculum, the presidency of the Latin league being vested in two praetors, not in a dictator (Livy, viii. 3. 9). Most scholars, however, appear to be of opinion that the dictator referred to was head of the league. See H. Jordan, M. Catonis praeter librum de re rustica quae extant, pp. xli. sqq.; J. Beloch, Der italische Bund unter Roms Hegemonie (Leipsic, 1880), p. 188; H. Nissen, Italische Landeskunde, ii. (Berlin, 1902) pp. 557 sq.