concedo nulli

I yield to nobody

The Romans worshiped in the figure of the god Terminus the sanctity of boundary stones. According to legend (Livy, 1.55), when king Tarquin began construction of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, he ordered the removal of the altars and shrines of all the gods that were worshiped there, so the area could be devoted exclusively to the king of the gods. All were transferred without problems, except for Terminus, represented with a stone that could not be removed. The Romans saw in this fact a manifestation of divine will, and let the rock inside the temple. Hence the expression "I yield to no one", because Terminus had refused to yield to Jupiter himself. This fact was interpreted as an omen, meaning that the dominion of Rome would be everlasting. The prophecy proved valid for centuries.

The celebrity of the sentence “concedo nulli” is due to Erasmus, who took it as a personal motto in 1509, adopting the old god Terminus as its emblem. The young Erasmus was then in Italy, and began to enjoy international recognition for his work and abilities. Apparently, Erasmus received from his pupil Alexander Stewart a gem depicting the god Terminus, and this is what inspired him to take the image of the god and the Latin quotation discussed here as personal emblems. They appear in a famous commemorative medal minted for Erasmus, whose image you see below. Erasmus is also shown next to the god Terminus in a famous engraving by Holbein.

Erasmus' enemies saw this motto as a sign of intolerable arrogance. In 1528 Erasmus wrote a letter justifying his choice of these words and trying to disarm his critics: the "epistola apologetica de Termini sui inscriptione concedo nulli" There, the great humanist stated that the term did not represent his own words, but those of death, the only one that yields to nobody. But this explanation did not satisfy his enemies. Written almost twenty years after the original stay of Erasmus in Italy, it seems, in fact, a later reworking. Humility was never one of Erasmus virtues. Posterity has been, however, more benign in judging Erasmus than his contemporaries.

Erasmus’ Adagia

With the start of the sixteenth century, Italy lost its almost exclusive dominance in the study of antiquity. Many humanists from other European countries, in many cases trained in Italy, carried the flame of classical studies to their countries of origin, starting new traditions of study. Undoubtedly, one of the central figures in the dissemination of European humanism was Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536).

In 1500 a young and still unknown Erasmus published in Paris the first edition of a text destined to become one of the most reprinted in history, the Adagia. It is a collection of Latin proverbs discussed and explained by Erasmus. The collection is, indeed, only an excuse that allows Erasmus to develop his vision of ancient culture and humanism. His educational interests are clearly visible; the adages are the distillation of the high ideals Erasmus wants to spread among his readers.

The first edition printed in Paris (Collectanea Adagiorum) covers only 832 adages. In 1508 Erasmus published with Aldus Manutius in Venice - the most famous publisher of this period-, a second enlarged edition (Adagiorum Chiliades), which included 3260 entries and transformed its author in an international celebrity. Many more versions were produced in the following years, like the one published by Frobenius in Basel in the year 1515. Different summaries of this work were widely read until the nineteenth century.

Erasmus is known today mainly for his “The Praise of Folly”. His collection of proverbs is, by contrast, almost forgotten and read only by scholars and researchers. To immerse in this book is to travel to another world, a world where the passion for ancient culture occupied a central place. With respect and devotion, we will use the Adagia often in this blog as a source of knowledge an inspiration.

Note: the original text of the Adagia is not online. But you can access the Full edition of Paolo Manuzio. The Adagia were placed by the Council of Trent (1545-1563), along with all the works of Erasmus, in the Index librorum prohibitorum. Paulo Manuzio (son of the editor who had published the 2nd edition of 1508) was commissioned to produce an expurgated edition, which appeared after his death in 1575.