Sententia

The use of sententiae has been explained by Aristotle[3] (when he discusses the γνώμη gnomê, or sententious maxim, as a form of enthymeme), Quintilian,[4] and other classical authorities.

Early modern English writers, heavily influenced by various humanist educational practices, such as harvesting commonplaces, were especially attracted to sententiae. The technique of sententious speech is exemplified by Polonius' famous speech to Laertes in Hamlet.[5] Sometimes in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama the sententious lines appear at the end of scenes in rhymed couplets (for instance, John Webster's Duchess of Malfi). In some early modern dramatic texts and other writings, sententiae are often flagged by marginal notes or special marks.[6]

The "first Roman book of literary character" was the Sententiae of Appius Claudius, which was composed upon a Greek model.[7]

A similar literary genre recurred in 1150 within the Libri Quattuor Sententiarum (The Four Books of Sentences) of Peter Lombard, a book which was widely commented during the Middle Age, namely by Saint Thomas Aquinas[8] and Saint Bonaventura.[9]

There is a classical, Roman novel written by Publilius Syrus. The book is a series of proverbs written in Latin.

• Commonplace books
• Publilius Syrus, a writer of sententiae
• Sentences, or The Four Books of Sentences (Libri Quattuor Sententiarum), a book of theology written by Peter Lombard