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Mapping the Anglo-Saxon Intellectual Landscape: The Old English Maxims I and Terence's Proverb “Quot homines, tot sententiae”

Abstract This article presents a source history of lines 167–68 in the Old English wisdom poem Maxims I. A classical Latin sententia by Terence (“Quot homines, tot sententiae”) has been identified as source or analogue for line 167 (“Swa monige beoþ men ofer eorþan, swa beoþ modgeþoncas”), but no detailed examination of the validity of this identification, of the Latin proverb's transmission, or of possible intermediate sources has been offered. This article first shows that the Old English analogue to the original proverb extends over two instead of only one line, paralleling a longer version of the Latin proverb than previously assumed. After an excursus on the status of Terentian material in Anglo-Saxon England, I suggest that, besides Terence as ultimate source, a line in Ovid's Ars Amatoria may have more immediately influenced the Old English poet's phrasing. In addition to investigating the source history of two specific lines, this article demonstrates the valuable contributions that source study continues to make to the larger field of Anglo-Saxon studies by presenting a case study that illustrates how source analysis can be used to map more accurately and more completely the intellectual landscape of Anglo-Saxon England.