tertium, adv., for the third time; “tertiary.”
Inscription from the Pantheon, Rome, Italy, second century A.D.. (CIL 6.896)
Andrew L. Sistrand
FROM SOME ROMAN EPITAPHS
Annihilation
NON FVI FVI NON SVM NON DESIDERO Nn fu, fu, nn sum, nn dsder.
CIL 8.3463: From Lambaesis, a Roman fort and town in the province of Numidia (modern Algeria). Nearly identical formulae appear repeatedly in Greek as well as Latin epitaphs; compare nn fu, fu, memin, nn sum, nn cr (CIL 13.530, from Lactora, modern Lectoure, France; memin = I remembered; “memento” cr [1], to care, care about; be concerned; “curator.”) Also common are abbreviations such as N F F N S N C, nn fu, fu, nn sum, nn cr (CIL 5.2893, Patavium, modern Padua).
dsderre, to desire; “desiderata,” “desiderative.”
NON FVERAS NVNC ES ITERVM NVNC DESINES ES SE Nn fuers; nunc es; iterum nunc dsins esse.
CIL 8.2885: Excerpt from an epitaph from the Roman settlement of Lambaesa, Algeria; similar language is found in numerous other epitaphs, e.g., CIL 5.1939 (from Iulia Concordia, near Venice), nn fueram, nn sum, nesci, nn ad m pertinet (nescre, to not know, be unaware; “nescient” pertinre, to pertain to, relate to, concern.)
iterum, adv., again, a second time; “iteration,” “reiterate.”—dsin, dsinere, dsv, dsitum, to cease, leave off; “desist.”
QUAESTINS: What conception of death and afterlife is reflected in the above epitaphs? If you are familiar with views of afterlife expressed in Greco-Roman myth or in ancient cults, how do these views differ from that seen in these epitaphs?
A Young Girl’s Burial
DVM VIXI LVSI Dum vx, ls.
CIL 6.19007.5: Excerpted from a long verse epitaph for a young girl named Agathe; from a marble tombstone at Rome.
ld, ldere, ls, lsum, to play, sport; have fun; “allude,” “illusion.”
To Priscus
D M PRISCVS V A XIIII M VIIII TI CLAVDIVS MOSCHVS ET CLAVDIA NICOPOLIS FILIO PIISSIMO D(s) m(nibus). Prscus v(xit) a(nns) XIIII m(nss) VIIII. Ti(berius) Claudius Moschus et Claudia Nicopolis fli piissim.
AE (1989) 94: From a marble cinerary urn found on the Via Latina, near Rome; late 1st/ early 2nd-cent. A.D.. Priscus’ parents both had Greek cognomina and were apparently freedmen of the same family, as they share the same nomen, which, by convention, would have been taken from the master who had freed them.
D.M.: the standard abbreviation for ds mnibus in funerary inscriptions; see note on “Epitaph of a Young Boy,” Capvt VII above.—anns: the acc. case (and sometimes the abl.) was regularly employed for DURATION OF TIME.—XIIII…VIIII: common alternates for the numerals XIV and IX.—mnsis, mnsis, m., month; “menses,” “menstrual.”—piissimus, -a, -um, most/ very dutiful; virtuous, upright; devoted; superl. form of the adj. pius, -a, -um; “pious,” “piety.”
PRVERBIA ET DICTA
Vcit et supers amor. (Seneca Herc. Oet. 472: et here, as often, = etiam.—superus, -a, -um, above, upper; super, -rum, m. pl., gods; “superior.”—What is unusual in the word order and what is the rhetorical effect?)
Nllum magnum ingenium sine mixtr dmentiae fuit. (Seneca Tranq. 17.10: ingenium, -, n., nature, innate talent; “ingenious,” “ingenuous.”—mixtra, -ae, f., mingling, mixture.—dmentia, -ae, f., madness, insanity; “demented.”—Seneca was here paraphrasing Aristotle.)
Vdcaelum novum et terram novam. (Revelations 21.1.)
Deum nm vdit umquam. (1 John 4.12: umquam, adv., ever.)
Et sambulver in medi umbrae mortis, nn timb mala, quoniam t mcum es. (Psalms 22.4: ambul [1], to walk; “ambulatory,” “amble.”—medius, -a, -um, middle, the middle of; “mediate,” “Mediterranean.”—umbra, -ae, f., shadow, shade; ghost; “umbrage,” “umbrella.”—mors, mortis, f., death; “immortal.”—time, timre, timu, to fear, be afraid; “timid,” “timorous.”)
Nn habmus rgem nisi Caesarem. (John 19.15: nisi, conj., if…not, unless, except.)
Quod scrps, scrps. (John 19.22: quod, rel. pron., what, that which. Spoken by Pontius Pilate.)
Vrits numquam perit. (Seneca Tro. 614: pere, perre, perv, pertum, to die, perish; “imperishable.”)
LITTERTRA
I Get Your Point!
Oplomachus nunc es, fuers opthalmicus ante.
Fcistmedicus quod facis oplomachus.
Martial Epig. 8.74: The nameless addressee (more often Martial names his victims, though typically with pseudonyms) had switched from one profession to another, but both types of practitioners used scarily long pointed instruments in their work. In another epigram (1.47) the poet satirizes a chap named Diaulus, who’d given up his incompetent doctoring for undertaking—not much of a career change, as in both jobs he buried his clients! Meter: elegiac couplet.
(h)oplomachus, -, m., hoplomachus, heavily-armed gladiator (whose weapons typically included a long spear, together with a short sword or dagger and a small round shield).—opthalmicus, -, m., eye doctor, oculist; “opthalmologist.”—ante, adv., before, previously; “ante bellum,” “ante room.”
Terracotta gladiator figures. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Taranto, Italy
Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz / Art Resource, NY
QUAESTINS: What is the (ouch!) “point” of Martial’s joke? What are some interesting features, and effects, of the word order and also the repetitions?—think especially of the positioning of nouns and verbs.
GRAMMATICA
Verba: List all the perfect system tense verbs (perfect, future perfect, and pluperfect or “past perfect”) in the readings, then identify the person, number, and tense; and finally transform each verb to the other two perfect system tenses, while keeping the person and number the same, and translate into English; e.g., amvit, 3rd person singular, perfect > amverit, future perfect, she/ he will have loved; amverat, pluperfect, she/ he had loved. Consult the Summrium Frmrum appendix, if necessary.
CAPVT XIII
An Exemplary Patron, an Imperial Parrot, and Pompeian Guys and Gals Hanging Out
This chapter’s inscriptions include an epitaph from a tomb at Pompeii set up by a freedwoman for her deceased patron, along with several graffiti scribbled around town—on the walls of a house and a tavern, and on a column at the spa (the Large Palaestra)—by couples out on a date (except for one poor lad, whose lady may have stood him up). There’s much to be learned from the chapter’s “quotable quotes,” including the fact that even in the Roman empire there were folks who were “afraid of their own shadow.” The final reading is another of Martial’s Apophoreta, this one composed to accompany a parrot with a keen talent for saying just the right thing!
Grammatica nova: Reflexive pronouns and possessives, and intensive pronouns.
NSCRPTINS
Epitaph for a Patron
C • VERANIO • Q • F • RVFO • II • VIR • VERANIA • Q • L • CLARA • OPTIMO PATRONO • SIBI • ET • SVIS G(i) Verni, Q(unt) f(li), Ruf, ((duum))vir()—Vernia, Q(unt) l(berta), Clra, optim patrn sibi et sus.
AE (1990) 179a: Funerary inscription from Tomb F in the Fondo Pacifico necropolis, southeast of Pompeii’s Porta Nocera tombs, dedicated by a freedwoman to her deceased patron, Gaius Veranius Rufus—one of many examples of a woman’s initiative in social matters, here in her role as client to the former duumvir.
Quntus, -, m., Quintus; a common Roman praenomen.—duumvir: for these local magistrates known as duumvirs (or duovirs), see “Balbus for Mayor” in Capvt V.—lberta, -ae, f., freedwoman; “libertine.”—clrus, -a, um, clear, bright; famous, renowned, illustrious; “clarity,” “clarify.” Here the word is Verania’s cognomen—what do you recall was the source of a freedwoman’s or freedman’s nomen? (See “To Priscus” in Capvt XII, if you don’t recall.) With Vernia…Clra sc. some verb meaning “dedicates.”—optimus, -a, -um, superl. of bonus, best, excellent; “optimal,” “optimism.”—patrnus, -, m., patron; “patronage,” “patronize” a lbertus regularly became a “client” (clins) to the patron who freed him and was o
bliged to render him services, generally of a social or political nature. Patrn is here, like sibi et sus, in APPOSITION to Verni.—sibi et sus: a common formula in dedicatory inscriptions, legal documents, and the like; while reflexives usually refer to the subj. of a clause, they also often refer, as here, to the person most prominent in the sentence.
QUAESTI: Two Veranii are mentioned here; which one had freed Verania, and which had ultimately been her patron?
Funerary inscription from Fondo Pacifico necropolis, Pompeii, Italy
Robert I. Curtis
Hanging Out with the Guys
P • COMICIVS RESTITVTVS CVM FRATRE IC • STETIT P(blius) Cmicius Restittus cum frtre
CIL 4.1321: Graffito from the Strada di Mercurio; the same “deceiving” Restitutus we met in Capvt XII?
hc, adv., at this place, here; the letter h-, a light aspirate, was often dropped in both speech and writing.
ARRVNTIVS HIC FVIT CVM TIBVRTINO Arruntius hc fuit cum Tburtn.
CIL 4.8480: Graffito found near the entrance to a tavern at Pompeii, near the apartment of Marcus Loreius Tiburtinus; he and Arruntius were perhaps drinking companions.
With Her…
ANTIOCHVS HIC • MANSIT CVM • SVA CITHERA Antiochus hc mnsit cum su Cithr.
CIL 4.8792b: Graffito from a column in the colonnade around the Large Palaestra, near the amphitheater in Pompeii.
Antiochus, -, m., Antiochus, a Greek cognomen; most likely a freedman and possibly a gladiator.—Cithra, -ae, f., Cithera, also a cognomen and likely that of a freedwoman. Greek in origin, the name was more properly spelled Cythra (i for y was a common spelling variant, reflecting the average Roman’s pronunciation) and was meant to evoke the charms of the goddess Venus, who was given the epithet “Cytherea” for her mystical birth out of the sea off the coast of the Aegean island of Cythera.
DAPHNICVS CVM FELICLA SVA HIC Daphnicus cum Flcl su hc.
CIL 4.4066: From the House of Valerius Flaccus and Valerius Rufinus, Pompeii.
Daphnicus, -, m., Daphnicus, a (Greek) cognomen, most likely a slave’s or freedman’s; sc. some verb like fuit or mnsit.—Flcula, -ae, f., Felicula, a charming cognomen, DIMINUTIVE of the 3rd-decl. adj. flx, flcis (cf. the Eng. name “Felicity”) that means something like “Little Lucky.” The young lady’s beau (assuming it was Daphnicus himself who hastily scribbled this note) was, alas, not a good speller—though the misspelling (a common sort of speech contraction known as SYNCOPE) probably reflects how he pronounced her name: I am reminded of the young blind girl in the 1965 Sidney Poitier film, “A Patch of Blue,” who had supposed for years that her name was “Sleena,” when in truth—despite the cacophonous mis-speaking she’d grown accustomed to from her abusive mother—her name was the sonorous “Selena,” from the classical Greek word for “moon.”
The amphitheater, Pompeii, Italy
Robert I. Curtis
…and without Her
VIBIVS RESTITVTVS HIC Vibius Restittus hc slus dormvit et
SOLVS • DORMIVIT ET VRBANAM Urbnam suam dsderbat.
SVAM DESIDERABAT
CIL 4.2146: Graffito found in a small bedroom (cubiculum) of a (probable) brothel on the Vico di Eumachia. Vibius was the man’s family name; for his cognomen, see “Hanging Out” above and “Deception,” Capvt XII.
dormi, dormre, dormv, dormtum, to sleep; “dormitory.”—Urbna, -ae, f., Urbana, cognomen from the adj. urbnus, -a, -um, of the city, urban; urbane, genteel.—dsder (1), to desire, long for, miss; “desiderata,” a list of things one hopes to acquire.
QUAESTI: Explain how the sentence well illustrates the principal difference of sense between the perfect and imperfect tenses.
PRVERBIA ET DICTA
Vitis enim nostrs in animum per oculs via est. (Quintilian Decl. Mai. 1.6.)
Nquitia ipsa poena su est. (Publilius Sent.: nquitia, -ae, f., moral depravity, vice.)
Umbram suam metuit. (Cicero Comm. Pet. 2.9: umbra, -ae, f., shadow, shade; ghost; “umbra,” “penumbra.”—metu, metuere, metu, to fear, dread; revere, admire; “meticulous.”)
Cnsilium inveniunt mult sed doct explicant. (Publilius Sent.: explic [1], to unfold; explain; carry out, implement; “explicate,” “inexplicable.” Identify and consider the effect of the CHIASMUS.)
Suum cuique pulchrum est. (Cicero Tusc. 5.22.63: cuique = dat. of quisque.)
Dligs amcum tuum scut tmet ipsum. (Leviticus 19.18: scut, adv. and conj., as, just as, as it were.—tmet, intensive form of t cf., e.g., egomet, I myself, my own self.)
Etiam capillus nus habet umbram suam. (Publilius Sent.: capillus, -, m., hair; “capillary.”)
Su cuique mrs fingunt fortnam. (Cornelius Nepos Att. 11.6: fing, fingere, fnx, fictum, to make by shaping, form; create, invent; “fiction,” “fictitious.”)
Avrus ipse miseriae causa est suae. (Publilius Sent.: causa, -ae, f., cause, reason.—miseria, -ae, f., unhappiness, misery.)
Quot homins tot sententiae: suus cuique ms. (Terence Phorm. 454: quot…tot, indecl. adjectives, as many…so many; “quota,” “total.”—sc. sunt in the first clause, est in the second, an example of a very common type of ELLIPSIS, omission of one or more words easily understood from the context, often in Lat. a form of the verb sum, esse.)
LITTERTRA
Apophorta: Psittacus
Psittacus vbs alirum nmina discam:
Hoc didic per m dcere, “Caesar, hav!”
Martial Epig. 14.73: This elegiac couplet was composed to accompany a gift parrot, which, as with most of Martial’s “gift cards” (see Capvt VII), itself addresses the recipients—in this case quite astutely!
psittacus, -, m., parrot; “psittacine” used here in APPOSITION to the 1st-person subject.— or ab, prep. + abl., from, away from; by; “abdicate.”—hav or av, interj., greetings, hail!; “Ave, Maria.”
QUAESTI: Do you understand the joke?—i.e., what is it that makes this imperial bird so politically shrewd?
GRAMMATICA
Prnmina: List in two separate columns all the reflexive and intensive pronouns found in this chapter’s readings (review the Summrium Frmrum appendix, if necessary); then, for the reflexives, indicate the subject referred to and, for the intensives, indicate the noun or pronoun being emphasized.
CAPVT XIV
Doomed Mayors, Magic Squares, and a Truly “Fishy” Menu
The electoral programmata in this chapter advertise the candidacies of two men who were subsequently elected and serving as duumvirs at Pompeii when Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the city; the chapter’s other inscriptions are examples of two famous word squares found in numerous locations throughout the Roman empire and viewed by many ancients as having magical or religious significance. There are lots of proverbs here to help you better know the Romans “from head to toe” and to learn their take on the “two things you can’t escape,” one of which was not taxes! The final reading is a tasty recipe drawn directly from Apicius’ De Re Coquinaria, our one surviving cookbook from ancient Rome.
Grammatica nova: 3rd-declension i-stem nouns; ablatives of means, accompaniment, and manner.
NSCRPTINS
Holconius for Mayor!
M • HOLCONIVM • PRISCVM C • GAVIVM • RVFVM • II • VIR PHOEBVS • CVM • EMPTORIBVS SVIS ROGAT M(rcum) Holcnium Prscum G(aium) Gavium Rfum ((duum))vir(s) Phoebus cum mptribus sus rogat.
CIL 4.103: Electoral notice from the Via Consolare, Pompeii; Holconius Priscus and Gavius Rufus ran for office in the spring of A.D.. 79, and were elected and in office when the city was destroyed a few months later (these specifics and many others regarding the Pompeian programmata are drawn from James Franklin’s important study, Pompeis Difficile Est, cited in the brief bibliography at the end of this book). You’ve read several of these programmata already; hundreds exist, painted on walls throughout Pompeii, many on storefronts on the Via dell’Abbondanza—the ancient equivalent of modern campaign posters, billboards, and television ads!
duumvirs: for the office, see note on �
�Balbus for Mayor” in Capvt V. We know from another programma that Holconius had previously run for aedile, the official in charge of public buildings and other public works, entertainments, and markets.—Phoebus, -, m., Phoebus, a cognomen of Greek origin; a local businessman campaigning for the two candidates.—mptor, mptris, m., buyer, purchaser, customer; “exempt,” “redemption,” and cf. the familiar admonition caveat mptor, let the buyer beware.—rog (1), to ask, ask for; in electoral campaigning, ask to elect, ask approval for; “interrogate,” “prerogative.”
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