Il θ e la condanna del critico: Orazio ars 446-447 e Sidonio Apollinare carm. 9, 332-335

In carm. 9.332-335, Sidonius hopes that, during the delicate revision phase of the nugae preceding their publication, his learned friend Probus may be willing to mark with theta those verses which are not perfect, and which may be the object of criticism from malevolent readers. This specific mention of the ecdotic practice is a close reference to the description of the ‘censorious’ intervention of the vir bonus et prudens on the text of a friend before its publication in Hor. ars 2, 445-452. In this passage, the poet alludes to the nigrum signum the trusted censor will write next to imperfect verses. In light of the Sidonian echo, one can suggest that Horace may have been already mentioning the theta