Exasciator

The noun exasciator is a hapax legomenon which appears in an inscription from Rome approximately dated to the mid or the second half of the fourth century. This noun is traditionally connected to the verb exasciare , derived from ascia (‘destroy by means of an axe’); however, the verb exasciare is not otherwise attested, except for a modern conjecture on a passage of Plautus. The authors propose a new interpretation of the noun as a graphical correspondent of *exagiator, derived from the verb exagiare, attested in late antiquity. This new interpretation allows to make clear some phases of the process of wine distribution in late antique Rome.