Corrector
Encyclopedia
A corrector is a person who or object that practices correction, usually by removing or rectifying errors.
The word is originally a Roman title corrector, derived from the Latin verb corrigēre, meaning "an action to rectify, to make right a wrong."
Apart from the general sense of anyone who corrects mistakes, it has been used as, or part of (some commonly shortened again to Corrector), various specific titles and offices, sometimes quite distant from the original meaning.
The Corrector Provinciae was a civilian governor
(hierarchically under the Vicarius
of an administrative diocese) of certain Roman province
s (or eparchies). Among these correctores, according to the Notitia Dignitatum
, around 400 AD, there were:
Two famous but extraordinary correctores were Odaenathus
and his son Vaballathus
.
In various municipia, corrector became the title of a permanent single chief magistrate
— traditionally there had been collegial systems, e.g. two Consul
es or Duumviri), as a Byzantine 7th century source attests for thirteen cities in the Egyptian province Augustamnica Prima.
Furthermore, the word Corrector was used as the title of several publications, some of which are quite famous, such as the 19th book, also known as Medicus, of the Ancient canons
.
The derived term correctorium has been used for revisions of the text of the Vulgate
Bible, begun in 1236 by the Dominicans under the French Cardinal Hugh of St. Cher.
The word is originally a Roman title corrector, derived from the Latin verb corrigēre, meaning "an action to rectify, to make right a wrong."
Apart from the general sense of anyone who corrects mistakes, it has been used as, or part of (some commonly shortened again to Corrector), various specific titles and offices, sometimes quite distant from the original meaning.
Roman Antiquity
A corrector (Latin plural correctores) originally was an extraordinal official, sent by the higher authorities (especially the state, e.g. the Emperor) to check on and take over from lower -especially municipal- officials against whom serious suspicions were pending.The Corrector Provinciae was a civilian governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
(hierarchically under the Vicarius
Vicarius
Vicarius is a Latin word, meaning substitute or deputy. It is the root and origin of the English word "vicar" and cognate to the Persian word most familiar in the variant vizier....
of an administrative diocese) of certain Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
s (or eparchies). Among these correctores, according to the Notitia Dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum
The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...
, around 400 AD, there were:
- in ItaliaItalia (Roman province)Italia was the name of the Italian peninsula of the Roman Empire.-Under the Republic and Augustan organization:During the Republic and the first centuries of the empire, Italia was not a province, but rather the territory of the city of Rome, thus having a special status: for example, military...
, under the diocesan Vicarius of Italia Suburbicaria:- the Corrector Apuliae et Calabriae. His officiumOfficiumOfficium is a Latin word with various meanings in Ancient Rome, including "service", " duty", "courtesy", "ceremony" and the like...
, specified, is quite small (Princeps officii, Cornicularius, two Tabularii, Commentariensis, Adiutor, Ab actis, Subadiuva; finally unspecified Exceptores and 'other' Cohortalini, i.e menial staff); - the Corrector Lucaniae et Bruttiorum;
- the Corrector Apuliae et Calabriae. His officium
- the Corrector of SaviaSaviaSavia is a genus of the family Phyllanthaceae.-Synonymy:This genus is also known as:*Charidia Baill.*Geminaria Raf.*Kleinodendron L.B.Sm. & Downs*Maschalanthus Nutt....
, in PannoniaPannoniaPannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
(Balkans); - the Corrector of the Provincia AugustamnicaAugustamnicaAugustamnica or Avgoustamnikai was a Roman province of Egypt created during the 5th century and was part of the Diocese of Oriens first and then of the Diocese of Egypt, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 640s...
, in Egypt; - the Corrector of PaflagoniaPaphlagoniaPaphlagonia was an ancient area on the Black Sea coast of north central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus...
, in Asia Minor (Anatolia).
Two famous but extraordinary correctores were Odaenathus
Odaenathus
Lucius Septimius Odaenathus, Odenathus or Odenatus , the Latinized form of the Syriac Odainath, was a ruler of Palmyra, Syria and later of the short lived Palmyrene Empire, in the second half of the 3rd century, who succeeded in recovering the Roman East from the Persians and restoring it to the...
and his son Vaballathus
Vaballathus
Lucius Iulius Aurelius Septimius Vabalathus Athenodorus was a king of the Palmyrene Empire. Vabalathus is the Latinized form of his name in the Arabic language, Wahb Allat or gift of the Goddess...
.
- When Emperor ValerianValerian (emperor)Valerian , also known as Valerian the Elder, was Roman Emperor from 253 to 260. He was taken captive by Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the only Roman Emperor who was captured as a prisoner of war, resulting in wide-ranging instability across the Empire.-Origins and rise...
was defeated and captured by the Parthians, in 260260Year 260 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Saecularis and Donatus...
, and his successors lacked the strength to fight them back, governor Odaenathus defended the frontier in the East, creating an almost independent state (known as Palmyrene EmpirePalmyrene EmpireThe Palmyrene Empire was a splinter empire, that broke off of the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. It encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor....
, after its capital Syrian Palmyra), formally still within the Roman Empire, and gained the title of corrector totius orientis "corrector of the whole East". - When Odaenathus died, his son requested and obtained, after some years, the same title, but later styled himself Augustus, and Emperor AurelianAurelianAurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
went in the East to squash this open rebellion, defeating and capturing Vaballathus and his mother (and behind-the-throne actual ruler) ZenobiaZenobiaZenobia was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria. She led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267...
.
In various municipia, corrector became the title of a permanent single chief magistrate
Chief Magistrate
Chief Magistrate is a generic designation for a public official whose office—individual or collegial—is the highest in his or her class, in either of the fundamental meanings of Magistrate : as a major political and administrative office , and/or as a judge Chief Magistrate is a generic designation...
— traditionally there had been collegial systems, e.g. two Consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
es or Duumviri), as a Byzantine 7th century source attests for thirteen cities in the Egyptian province Augustamnica Prima.
Ecclesiastic (Catholic) titles
- In the Roman CuriaRoman CuriaThe Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
(papal ecclesiastical administration); there is an office of corrector and reviser of the books of the Vatican LibraryVatican LibraryThe Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
; of the former Tribunal of Correctors, abolished by Pius VII, only a substitute-corrector among the Abbreviatores was maintained - In the regular order of the MinimsMinim (religious order)The Minims are members of a Roman Catholic religious order of friars founded by Saint Francis of Paola in fifteenth-century Italy...
it was the style of Superiors at the convent level, and the higher level, all elected; at the central level, the title is Corrector General, and at the level of the province, Corrector Provincial. - Correctores Romani was the name of a pontifical canon lawCanon lawCanon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
commission, installed by Gregory XIII, later increased to thirty-five members by Pius V in 1566, which revised the text of the Corpus Iuris Canonici.
Furthermore, the word Corrector was used as the title of several publications, some of which are quite famous, such as the 19th book, also known as Medicus, of the Ancient canons
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
.
The derived term correctorium has been used for revisions of the text of the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
Bible, begun in 1236 by the Dominicans under the French Cardinal Hugh of St. Cher.
Objects
The term is used for various devices used to correct another, as with a ship's compass or artillery.See also
- censorCensor (ancient Rome)The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....
- CorrectoryCorrectoryA Correctory is any of the text-forms of the Latin Vulgate resulting from the critical emendation as practised during the course of the thirteenth century.-Antecedents:...
text-form of the Latin VulgateVulgateThe Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
resulting from the critical emendation in the thirteenth century - criticCriticA critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
Sources and references
- Notitia dignitatumNotitia DignitatumThe Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...
(one online edition is http://www.intratext.com/X/LAT0212.htm) - Pauly-WissowaPauly-WissowaThe Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, commonly called the Pauly–Wissowa or simply RE, is a German encyclopedia of classical scholarship. With its supplements it comprises over eighty volumes....
- Catholic Encyclopaedia (various entries; more still to be checked, use its search)