Volcatius Sedigitus

Who is Volcatius Sedigitus?

Volcātius Sedīgitus was the titulus of a Roman literary critic who flourished around 100 b.c., noted for his ranking of those he considered the best Latin comics.

Nothing is known about Sedigitus beyond that Pliny, who calls him an ilustris poeta, states that he got his cognomen because he was born with six fingers on each hand. This rare state, known as polydactyly, is caused by a dominant gene. The Romans did not avoid the open expression of blemishes and personal infirmities in the names they gave to public figures. A literary critic, his origin may have been from outside the Roman Empire or his origins may have been lowly. 'Six digits' in Latin is sex digitī Volcatius is an adjective referring to the Volcatia gens and to the Volcae, a Celtic people.

From his work Dē Poētīs Aulus Gellius' Noctēs Atticae preserves 13 iambic senarii in didascaly, in which "Canon", as it has been termed, the principal Latin comics are enumerated in order of merit, in this order, from greatest: Caecilius, Plautus, Naevius, Licinius, Atilius, Terence, Turpilius, Trabea, Luscius, Ennius.

Historian Suetonius' work Vita Terentii quotes "Vulcacius" as having given a few details about Terence's leaving Rome and consequent disappearing. Viz., Sedigitus said that the playwright was going to Asia, i.e., Pergamum, and was never seen again.