Abstract
Comparison of adjectives (and adverbs) is a grammatical category that has thus far received scant attention in Latin linguistics. Modern Latin grammar books typically restrict themselves to saying that adjectives are compared and to the description of the forms of comparatives and superlatives; however, with few exception (cf.
PINKSTER 2005: 47; KÜHNER-HOLZWEISSIG 1912: 565-566; NEUE-WAGENER 1892, s. 244-263), they completely omit the question of which adjectives can be compared and which cannot. By contrast, the comments of the ancient Latin grammarians on the category of comparison are by far more complex and, in some cases, linguistically more interesting.
The study provides a reflection on how the late Latin grammarians commented on the category of comparison and to what extent they influenced the exposition of the matter in the modern Latin grammars.