INTRODUCTION
real importance in determining the correct text. Roth[1] was the first to submit them to a critical examination, on the basis of which he divided them into two classes. These are:
(1) The codices multi, marked by an extensive lacuna in the Jugurtha (ciii. 2, "quinque" … cxii. 3, "et ratam"). In some instances the lacuna has been filled by a later hand.
(2) The codices integri, in which the lacuna is filled by the first hand, either in the proper place or at the end. Some of these manuscripts have a phrase ("neque muniebantur ea," Jug. xliv. 5) which is not found in any other codices, and of these Dietsch made a third class. The usual division, however, is a twofold one, although Wirz[2] is right in not recognizing the mutili and integri as classes, except for convenience. As a whole the mutili are older and better than the integri, which as a general rule are useful only in filling the lacuna. The following manuscripts are most highly esteemed:
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