PROLEGOMENA Introduction.

This little book of Censorinus was already read as mutilated in the codex from which all the manuscript books we have today are derived. Although it has been observed by no one that the end of the book is missing, it is sufficiently proven by the points made on page 72. Thus it can be explained how it happened that the book of another writer, mutilated at the beginning, is found in all codices joined as a part with Censorinus. For from the archetype codex, some pages had fallen out by some chance, on which the end of the book On the Birthday and the beginning of that other work were written, which the scribes did not notice, just as it was not understood by the first editors. But after Carrio separated this fragment and pronounced that it proceeded from another author, I think no one has been found who doubted this matter except Barthius. For he once promised that he would prove (Advers. LI, 24. ad Claudian. Mamert. p. 340) that this is a fragment of Censorinus I briefly note the error of Bährius, who, in his History of Roman Literature (II p. 465), while correctly [citing] this fragment from Carrio....