Disjecta membra is Latin for “scattered members” and is used to refer to surviving fragments of ancient pottery, manuscripts and other cultural objects, and even fragments of ancient poetry. It is derived from "disjecti membra poetae," referring to the limbs of a dismembered poet, a phrase used by the Roman author Horace

Horace

Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...

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Pottery

Scholars have long referred to fragments of ancient Greek pottery

Pottery of Ancient Greece

As the result of its relative durability, pottery is a large part of the archaeological record of Ancient Greece, and because there is so much of it it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek society...

 as "disjecta membra." They have studied fragments of ancient Greek pottery in institutional collections, and have attributed many such pieces to the artists who made them. In a number of instances they have been able to identify fragments now in different collections that belong to the same vase.

Poetry and writings

Fragments of ancient writing, especially ancient Latin poetry

Latin poetry

The history of Latin poetry can be understood as the adaptation of Greek models. The verse comedies of Plautus are the earliest Latin literature that has survived, composed around 205-184 BC, yet the start of Latin literature is conventionally dated to the first performance of a play in verse by a...

found in other works are commonly referred to as disjecta membra.

Ancient and medieval manuscripts

Isolated leaves or parts of leaves of ancient or medieval manuscripts are also called disjecta membra. Scholars have been able to identify fragments now held in different libraries that originally belonged to the same manuscript.