cacula

See also: càcula and caçula

Latin

Alternative forms

• cacus

Etymology

Military term, traditionally referred to Sanskrit शाक (śā́ka, “helper, aide, friend”). Or, possibly an Etruscan borrowing.

Noun

cacula m (genitive caculae); first declension

1. (military) servant, batman, orderly, military drudge
   • c. 195 BCE, Plautus, Trinummus 718–724:

     Quid ego nunc agam,
     nisi uti sarcinam constringam et clupeum ad dorsum accomodem,
     fulmentas iubeam suppingi soccis? Non sisti potest.
     Video caculam militarem me futurum hau longius:
     Atque aliquem ad regem in saginam si eru’ se coniexit meus,
     credo ad summos bellatores acrem – fugitorem fore
     et capturum spolia ibi illum qui meo ero advorsus venerit.

     What do I do now, if not to pack my knapsack, fit my shield on my back, and let fasten the heels under the shoes? It cannot be stopped.
     I see myself as a military drudge in a future not far:
     My master stepping into the service and nourishment of some king, I believe that with the mightiest warriors he will be the foremost in retreat
     And will seize spoils where someone shall come against my master.

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cacula	caculae
Genitive	caculae	caculārum
Dative	caculae	caculīs
Accusative	caculam	caculās
Ablative	caculā	caculīs
Vocative	cacula	caculae

Derived terms

• caculāri (“to serve”)
• caculātus (“service”)

References

• “cacula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cacula in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• cacula in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Ernout, Alfred, Meillet, Antoine (1985) “cacula”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots‎^[1] (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 81