In Boccaccio’s Genealogia, the text gives a quote from Claudianus and then continues
- hec ille; ex quibus reor, serenissime regum -
the translation given is
- So Claudian writes. I think that from this quotation, most serene of kings -
The bit I’m having a problem with is “hec ille”.
If we ignore it and just look at “ex quibus reor”, it’s easy enough to see “from which I think” in reference to the quotation but what the heck is “hec ille”?
What is the literal translation?
“This that?”
I know that the ae diphthong is often contracted to e in medieval Latin. So hec could easily be haec but that’s likely to make it feminine nominative singular so if ille is plain old masculine nominative singular, how can they go together?
Is ille a contraction of illae and therefore neuter nominative or accusative plural? Is that how they go together? Are they neuter nominative plural?
And what does the phrase actually mean? Is an idiom for “et cetera”?
“This that”?
“These those”?