The grammatical treatise "De Analogia" and linguistic conservatism of Julius Caesar in the context of the ancient "language policy"

Abstract

In this article are examine certain philological beliefs of Julius Cesar in the context of the “Language Politic” of Roman expansionism. Based on the remaining fragments of the grammatical tract De Analogia, the authors come to the conclusions that Cesar wanted to create a language norm that is free from vulgarities and distortions, the one that adhere to strict grammatical rules, which correspond to the spirit of traditional Roman culture, religion and government. We think that in this treatise Cesar shows himself not only as a jealous defender of linguistic antiquarianism but also as an active political reformer, who corrects and transforms the Latin language, infected, in his view, by the illness of barbarization.