[379] Divortia would naturally mean a branching of two or more paths, as in Livy 44. 2 (comp. by Cerda), “prope divortium itinerum castra posituri erant,” a sense in which it is frequently applied to a water-shed. So it is explained by Serv., “viae in diversa tendentes, hoc est, ad diverticula viae militaris.” “Diverticulum” however seems rather to mean a bye-path, a turning from the regular road, and so it is often written “deverticulum.” Tac. Agr. 19 has “divortia itinerum et longinquitas regionum indicebatur,” where some have wished to read “devortia.” Here we should rather expect to hear of bye-paths than of cross-paths: the MSS. however seem to present no variety of reading, and it would be hazardous either to assume a word “devortium” or to give ‘divortia,’ without further authority, the sense of “deverticula.”
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John Conington. P. Vergili Maronis opera. P. Vergili Maronis Opera. The works of. Virgil. , with a Commentary by John Conington, M.A. and Henry Nettleship, M.A. London. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane;. George Bell and Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1876.
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