"Graia migrabit ab urbe:" A Textual and Literary Note on Petronius' frg. 37 Ernout

Abstract According to the text of the Petronian fragment reported by Stern (GLAJJ 1,1976, no. 195) as frg. 37 Ernout, the Iudaeus unwilling to circumcise was forced to migrate "to the Greek cities" ("graias . . . ad urbes.") Several proposals have been made to emend the text of v. 5, and more or less popular conjectures have been advanced from the 16th to the 20th century to emend the unclear received reading "graia . . . urbe." This note defends the reading "graia" of codex Bellovacensis on textual grounds, and suggests that graia urbs, through a Virgilian allusion, might indicate the city of Rome.