ABSTRACT
Humanitas is for us a code-word because the work of the humanists was described in terms of it. If it can be interpreted their programme can be laid open. The term was employed by a number of Roman writers including Aulus Gellius (c. A.D. 130-180), Varro (116-27 B.C.), the Elder Pliny (A.D. 23-79), Seneca (c. 4 B.C.-A.D. 65), Quintilian (A.D. c. 40—c. 100) and above all Cicero (106—43 B.C.). There is a double tracery made up of the ancient and Renaissance meanings of the word. As we shall see, they broadly correspond to one another. At their centre lies a primary sense of humanity as a virtue inspired by knowledge. By defining these intricacies precisely, it is possible to discover what traditions of thought were tapped by the humanists and what use they made of them.
