legifer

The compound legifer , likely a neologism in Verg. Aen. 4,58, is used mainly in poetry. Until the second century AD, it appears only in Ou. am. 3,10,41 and Apul. met. 10,33. In Late Latin literature, legifer becomes more frequent, often referring to Greek figures such as Lycurgus and Solon or to the biblical Moses. Two specific examples are worthy of attention: Rut. Nam. 1,77, in relation to the triumphi of Rome , and Ven. Fort. carm. 9,1,102, concerning the Frankish king Chilperic.