Abstract

Tyconius’ Liber regularum is a late fourth century treatise, often dubbed as “the first (extant) Latin treatise on hermeneutics.” This article investigates the following issue: What does Liber regularum as an introductio to hermeneutics amount to in the context of the other introductiones mentioned in Cassiodorus, Inst. 1.10? What has been presupposed by the author, what exactly is contended, and why has his treatise been called “the first Latin treatise on hermeneutics” when it is not limited to interpretative matters and discusses only a few selected hermeneutical issues? Indeed, the topic Tyconius almost exclusively focuses on is the unannounced change of reference within a sentence. He advises to recognize the seven compositional regulae mysticae in-built in scripture and, with the help of these, to determine the ever-changing references. In fact, this is what justifies calling his treatise a hermeneutical introductio. The compositional rules become hermeneutical rules and are immensely helpful for eliminating seeming contradictions in scripture. Particular attention is given to Augustine’s critical reception of Tyconius’ rules which mattered so much, in turn, for the reception of Tyconius.