Penicillo ad id ipsum facto (Cels. 6, 6, 8 b) : les attestations de penicill- sur les cachets à collyres

The set of letters PENICIL-has been engraved several times on the collyrium-stamps. The literary occurrences of the term penicillum/-us, as well as the words “pinceau” and “pencil”, lead us to believe that this set was the name of a medical instrument. Nevertheless, the spongy nature of this “little pencil” offers a great oculistic interest for the Ancients. In the inscriptions engraved on the collyrium-stamps, PENICILLE, PENICILLEM and PENICILLVM are no doubt neuter nouns which do not refer to a medical instrument used to apply a collyrium, but to a collyrium “with little pencil”.