This paper proposes to analyse how Aelius Donatus identifies, excerpts and inserts in his own discourse passages of Terence that he considers as maxims or "sententiae". The initial discussion focuses on the various names that Donatus gives to these sayings. Sometimes he considers them as products of "popular wisdom", and sometimes as parts of a moralizing discourse that can be ascribed to the poet himself. The commentator tracks these "sententiae" from the comedies to the language of his time, when they have become authentic proverbs. The roles of these different kinds of "sententiae" in the commentary is examined in the second part of the paper. The last part focuses on how these sayings are inserted in the moralizing discourse that the grammarian superimposes to Terence's text.
