“Dicam dumtaxat quod est historicon”: Varro and/on the past

Varro’s approach to his subjects is usually systematic and synchronic, but there are frequent diachronic digressions and observations on time and the past, often divided into three stages (remote past, near past, and present). I discuss Rust. 2.1, with a progressive concept of three successive stages in human history from Dicaearchus, and a fragment from Censorinus, where Varro distinguishes tria discrimina temporum. A significant affinity emerges between etymological research and the study of origins: both involve the study of antiquitas or the origo, and both use the genealogical-reconstructive method. The same image of gradus descendere indicates the sequence of logical and chronological steps in describing human history (Rust. 2.1.3–5) and etymological research (Ling. 5.7–9). Varro is fully aware of the difficulties in reconstructing the ancient past and the origins of language, because uncertainty is a characteristic of the origo of human history and of words.