lea, -ae, f., game of chance, gambling; wager, stakes (in such a game).—parva…damnsa: PRED. ADJECTIVES with vidtur (esse).—nux, nucis, f., nut, often in pl. to represent a child’s playthings, or trivial, worthless objects; here in APPOSITION to lea; “nuclear,” “nucleus.”—damnsus, -a, -um, causing financial loss, ruinous, costly; “condemn.”—aufer, auferre, abstul, abltum, to carry away; take away, remove; destroy; “ablation,” “ablative.”—natis, natis, f., usually pl., buttocks; nats here = nats (-s was a common alternate form for the acc. pl. ending -s).
GRAMMATICA
Verba: Identify and list all the 1st-and 2nd-conjugation passive verb forms in this chapter’s readings, then transform each to active voice. Consult the Summrium Frmrum appendix, if necessary.
Nmina: List all the ablative nouns and pronouns in the readings, and identify the specific case usage of each.
CAPVT XIX
A Beast Hunt, Blind Lovers, and “In the Beginning”
The chapter’s inscriptions include a grafitto on the beauty of love, an ad for a gladiatorial show, and the epitaph of a woman and her son, buried together in a columbarium; among the proverbs and dicta are Augustus’ celebratory last words; and concluding the readings are two satiric squibs and a gift note by Martial, and a passage familiar to many from Jerome’s Latin translation of the Gospel of St. John.
Grammatica nova: Perfect passive system of all verbs; interrogative pronouns and adjectives.
NSCRPTINS
Love Is Bliss
NEMO • EST • BELIVS • NISI • QVI • AMAVIT […
Nm est belius nisi qu amvit […].
CIL 4.1883: Graffito from the basilica, Pompeii; a few now illegible words follow amvit, the first of which may be mulierem = fminam.
belius: a misspelling for bellus.—qu: = is qu the ANTECEDENT of a rel. pron. was commonly omitted when both were in the same case.
Under the Big Top
FAMILIA • GLADIATORIA VENATIO ET VELA Familia gladitria: vnti et vla.
CIL 4.1192: Advertisement of a gladiatorial show, one of the many dicta munerum dendrum (announcements of public shows to be produced) found in Pompeii. Such events, and notices advertising them, were very common at Pompeii and throughout the empire; not all outdoor entertainments featured awnings (see “Apophorta: Causea” in Capvt XI), but those that did offered spectators welcome relief from the hot Italian sun.
familia: here = the gladiatorial troupe or company.—gladitrius, -a, -um, of/ pertaining to gladiators, gladiatorial.—vnti, vntinis, f., hunting animals; animal hunt, a popular entertainment in the arena, featuring gladiators hunting and fighting lions, elephants, bears, and other wild animals. At some lavish events hundreds or even thousands of animals were slain, and on occasion prisoners without any weapons were pitted against the beasts.—vlum, -, n., awning; “velar,” “veil.”
Detail of circus scene, depicting a leopard and a gladiator; third–fourth century A.D.. Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
Scala / Art Resource, NY
Mother and Son: May They Rest in Peace
D • M D • APVLEIVS • IONICVS FECIT • EVTYCHIAE SORORI • SVAE • ET • EVTYCHETI FILIO • EIVS • IN • HAC • CVPA MATER • ET • FILIVS • POSITI • SVNT D(s) m(nibus): D(ecimus) Apuleius Ionicus fcit Eutychiae sorr suae et Eutychet fli eius. In hc cp mter et flius posit sunt.
CIL 6.12202: From an epitaph at Rome dedicated by Decimus Apuleius Ionicus to Eutychia and Eutyches; the cognomina are all Greek, suggesting the three were freedmen.
ds mnibus: for this phrase, commonly abbreviated D. M., see “Epitaph of a Young Boy,” in Capvt VII.—fcit: sc. id, i.e., the monument.—Eutychia, -ae, f., Eutychia, a female cognomen (and the name of a Greek goddess) meaning “Good Fortune.”—Eutychs, Eutychtis, m., Eutyches; like “Eutychia” (and the common Lat. cognomen Flx), the name means “Good Fortune.”—cpa, -ae, f., cask, barrel; burial niche, in a columbrium, a sepulchre with compartments for cinerary urns; “cupola,” and possibly “coop.”—posit: in the case, as here, of compound subjects of different genders, the partic. in perf. pass. system forms is regularly either m. by convention or will agree with the nearer/ nearest of the subjects.
QUAESTINS: The text illustrates well diff erences between the possessives suus, -a, -um, and eius; explain those differences, and identify the specific relationship of Apuleius to Eutyches.
Columbarium of the Vigna Codini, Rome, Italy, first century B.C.–first century A.D..
Alinari / Art Resource, NY
Let’s Practice Pronouns!
QVOD quod quid quae qus
QVID
QVAE
QVAS
CIL 4.10567: One column from a graffito at Herculaneum in which a child was practicing relative and interrogative pronouns on a wall—a variety of such school scribblings are found in Pompeii and elsewhere, like the practice ABC’s we saw in Capvt I and perhaps like declensions and conjugations you may have in your notebook!
QUAESTI: Can you identify the gender, number, and case of each of these four forms?—be careful, as three of them have multiple possibilities.
PRVERBIA ET DICTA
Bonus vir nm est nisi qu bonus est omnibus. (Publilius Sent.)
Vir bonus est quis? Qu cnsulta patrum, qu lgs iraque servat. (Horace Epist. 16.40–41: cnsultum, -, n., decree; “consultation.”—patrum here refers to the Roman Senate, whose members, originally the heads or “fathers” of leading noble families, were by tradition called patrs cnscrpt, conscript fathers.—lx, lgis, f., law, statute; “legalize.”)
cta est fbula: plaudite! (Suetonius Aug. 99.1: plaud, plaudere, plaus, plausum, to strike with a flat surface, clap; applaud; “plaudit,” “explode.” Augustus’ last words, according to his biographer.)
Fortibus est fortna virs data. (Ennius Ann. 247W: est…data = data est; perf. pass. system forms were often separated in this way, and with the form of sum, esse either preceding or following the participle.)
Iris praecepta sunt haec: honest vvere, alterum nn laedere, suum cuique tribuere. (Justinian Inst. 1.1: praeceptum, -, n., teaching, precept; principle, rule.—honest, adv., honorably; honestly.—laed, laedere, laes, laesum, to injure, damage, harm; “collide,” “collision,” “elide.”—tribu, tribuere, tribu, tribtum, to share, apportion; grant, bestow; “tribute,” “distribute.”)
Mult sunt enim voct, pauc autem lct. (Matthew 20.16: lig, ligere, lg, lctum, to pull out, extract; choose, select; “eligible,” “elect” with lect sc. sunt from the preceding clause, a common form of ELLIPSIS.)
Nm nisi viti su miser est. (Seneca Ep. 8.70.15: viti, because of…, ABL. OF CAUSE, a common abl. usage.)
Nihil enim est simul et inventum et perfectum. (Cicero Brut. 71: simul, adv., together; at the same time, simultaneously.—perfici, perficere, perfc, perfectum, to do thoroughly, accomplish; complete, perfect.)
Nl homin certum est. (Ovid Tr. 5.5.27: nl, a common contraction for nihil.)
S Deus pr nbs, quis contr ns? (St. Paul Romans 8.31: sc. est in each clause.)
Quae regi in terrs nostr nn plna labris? (Vergil Aen. 1.460: regi, reginis, f., direction, line; district, locale; “region.”)
LITTERTRA
Love Is Blind
“Thida Quntus amat.” “Quam Thida?” “Thida luscam.”
num oculum This nn habet, ille dus!
Martial Epig. 3.8: Martial and other Roman humorists rarely shrank from joking about physical infirmities and deformities; meter: elegiac couplet.
This, Thidis, acc. Thida, f., Thais, a Greek female name.—luscus, -a, -um, blind in one eye.—ille dus: sc. nn habet; i.e., the adverb-verb phrase is to be construed with both the line’s subjects and objects.
QUAESTINS: What is the point of the joke here? What is most striking stylistically in the first verse? In what way is the word order in the second verse especially effective?
Seeing Is Believing
Hrdem tibi m, Catulle, dcis.
Nn crdam, nisi lger, Catulle.
Martial Epig. 12.73: Romans often eagerly anticipated being named as heirs in the wills of relatives, friends, and patrons; for some, called capttrs (strivers), legacy-hunting was practically a profession; meter: hendecasyllabic.
hrs, hrdis, m./ f., heir; “hereditary,” “inheritance.”—hrdem…m: dcere can take a double acc., to call someone (acc.) something (acc.)—crd, crdere, crdid, crditum, to believe, trust; “credit,” “credible,” “creed.”—nisi lger: i.e., in Catullus’ will, which wouldn’t be read until his death.
Apophorta: Ovid Metamorphsis in Membrns
Haec tibi multiplic quae strcta est mssa tabell
carmina Nsnis qunque decemque gerit.
Martial Epig. 14.192: Books were favorite gifts in ancient Rome, just as they are today, and Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) was always a popular choice; the Metamorphoses (in Martial’s title above, Metamorphsis, singular), his most influential work, was a quasi-epic collection of some 250 interwoven transformation myths in 15 volumes. For Martial’s Apophoreta, see Capvt VII; meter: elegiac couplet.
Ovid: = Ovidi in a common spelling variant, 2nd-decl. nouns with a base ending in -i- often dropped that -i- in the gen. sg.; e.g., cnsilium, gen. cnsil.—membrna, -ae, f., membrane, skin; parchment, parchment page; books might be written on parchment, or on other material, such as papyrus, and sometimes covered in parchment.—Haec…tabell: as the endings make clear, haec modifies mssa, and multiplic modifies tabell this sort of ABAB arrangement (adj. A…adj. B…noun A…noun B), known as INTERLOCKED WORD ORDER, is very common in Lat. poetry. The standard prose order would be Haec mssa, quae tabell multiplic strcta est, carmina…gerit.—multiplex, gen. multiplicis, having many twists and turns; having many layers (here leaves, pages); “multiplicity.”—stru, struere, strx, strctum, to position, arrange; construct, compose; “structure,” “destruction.”—mssa, -ae, f., lump, mass; closely packed bundle; large, bulky object; “massive.”—tabella, -ae, f., board, tablet; writing tablet; page, document; “table,” “tabular.”—carmina: here = librs carminum.—Ns, Nsnis, m., Naso, a Roman cognomen, here referring to the poet Ovid.
In the Beginning
In prncipi erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in prncipi apud Deum: omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ips factum est nihil quod factum est. In ips vta erat et vta erat lx hominum, et lx in tenebrs lcet et tenebrae eam nn comprehendrunt.
John 1.1–5: A well-known passage from the Gospel of John in the Latin translation of the Bible produced by Hieronymus Eusebius, better known as St. Jerome (ca. A.D.. 347–420); Jerome’s translation came to be called the “Vulgate” edition (diti vulgta), as he had translated it into relatively simple, colloquial Latin for ease of reading by the vulgus, the common people, i.e., the average man on the street.
apud, prep. + acc., among, in the presence of, with, at the house of.—ipsum…ips: the intensive pron. is employed instead of the pers. pron. (eum, e) for emphasis.—lx, lcis, f., light; “lucid,” “translucent,” and the bar-soap brand “Lux” (which presumably makes you bright and shiny clean!).—tenebrae, -rum, f. pl., complete absence of light, darkness; “tenebrous.”—lce, lcre, lx, to emit light, shine (from the same stem as lx above).—comprehend, comprehendere, comprehend, comprehnsum, to grasp, seize, arrest; comprehend, understand; “comprehensive,” “incomprehensible.”
GRAMMATICA
Verba: Identify and list all the perfect passive system verb forms in this chapter’s readings, then transform each to active voice; if necessary, review the Summrium Frmrum at the back of the book.
Prnmina et Adiectva: List in separate columns all forms of the relative pronoun (qu, quae, quod), the interrogative pronoun (quis, quid), and the interrogative adjective (qu, quae, quod) in this chapter’s readings, reviewing the Summrium Frmrum if needed. For each pronoun identify the number, gender, case, specific case usage, and, for each relative, its antecedent as well; for the interrogative adjectives, identify number, gender, case, and the noun modified.
CAPVT XX
A Shared Bowl, Swords into Scythes, and “I’ll Scratch Your Back, You Scratch Mine”
This chapter presents inscriptions from the Arch of Titus (which you must surely see when you visit Rome!), from a shared ritual bowl, and from the burial of a young, perhaps newborn African boy named Ginga. The proverbs and dicta include, inter alia, the Romans’ analogue to our “I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine,” and a statement of the principle of the right to self-defense. The chapter’s closing text is another of Martial’s Apophoreta, this one a couplet to accompany a Roman scythe, a gift re forged from a soldier’s sword.
Grammatica nova: 4th-declension nouns; ablatives of place from which and separation.
NSCRPTINS
The Arch of Titus
SENATVS POPVLVSQVE • ROMANVS DIVO • TITO • DIVI • VESPASIANI • F VESPASIANO • AVGVSTO Sentus Populusque Rmnus Dv Tit, Dv Vespsin f(li), Vespsin August.
CIL 6.945: Inscription from the triumphal arch celebrating Rome’s sack of Jerusalem during the reign of the emperor Vespasian in A.D.. 70, a major victory in the Jewish War (66–73); the 50-foot-high arch, located on the Summa Sacra Via above and southeast of the Roman Forum, was commissioned by Domitian (emperor 81–96) and dedicated to his deceased brother Titus (Titus Vespasianus Augustus, emperor 79–81), who had led the successful assault on Jerusalem.
Sentus Populusque Rmnus: this formulaic appellation for the Roman government, dating from the Republican period and frequently abbreviated SPQR, appeared regularly on state buildings and other public works, coins, official documents, and on the legionary insignia of Rome’s army.—dvus, -, m., god; often a title (hence capitalized here) applied to Roman emperors, who were routinely deified by act of the senate after their deaths; “divinity,” “divine.”—Dv…August: ind. obj. with the understood phrase “dedicate(d) this monument.”
The Arch of Titus, Rome, Italy, first century A.D..
Giorgio Clementi
A Shared Bowl
LVCIVS • LVCIANVS • VLI • DIANTVS • VICTOR • VICTORICVS • VICTORINA • VASS COMMVNIS
Lcius, Lcinus, li
RIB 2501.307: This inscription is from the base of a 3rd-cent. A.D.. bowl from Roman Britain that was probably shared by the persons named, participants in a funeral banquet or possibly members of some guild (collegium) whose gatherings included dining and drinking. Found in a cemetery in Ospringe, Kent, England.
Ilius (VLI): the sculptor apparently meant to engrave IVL, a standard abbreviation for IVLIVS, but transposed the letters.—vs, vsis, n., container for liquids, food; vessel, bowl; “vase” in yet another slip, the person who inscribed the bowl not only initially misspelled this word and tried to erase the extra final -s, but also misconstrued the noun’s gender (commnis is either m. or f.: what is the correct n. form?)—some consolation perhaps to beginning Lat. students who sometimes make similar mistakes!
Base of a Samian ware bowl, Ospringe, Kent, Great Britain, third century A.D.. British Museum, London, Great Britain
© British Museum / Art Resource, NY
Kay Stanton (adapted from RIB)
Ginga
GAVDIA QVE DEDERAT RAPVIT FORTVNA REPENTE…]ES LVCTVS CONVERTIT VOTA PARENTVM NAM PVER HOC PARVVS VITAEQ E LIMINE RAPTVS GINGA SITVS TVMVLO EST INDIGNI VVLNERA PATRIS A DOLOR ET GEMITVS INLVSAQ VOTA TVORVM NON TAMEN AD MANES SED CAELI AD SIDERA PERGIS
Gaudia, que dederat, rapuit Fortna repente
[Inque cr]s lcts convertit vta parentum;
Nam puer hc, parvus vtaeq(ue) lmine raptus,
Ginga situs tumul est, indign vulnera patris.
, dolor et gemits inlsaq(ue) vta turum!
Nn tamen ad mns sed cael ad sdera pergis.
CIL 8.8567: The first 5 verses of this dactylic hexameter epitaph form an acrostic, with the initial letter of each verse spelling out vertically the name of the deceased child, Ginga; the inscription was found at Sétif (Sit
ifis) in Algeria, and the boy’s name is likely North African.
gaudium, -, n., joy, delight; “gaudiness.”—rapi, rapere, rapu, raptum, to seize, snatch, carry away; “rape,” “rapture,” “ravish.”—repente, adv., without warning, suddenly.—lctus, -s, m., grief, mourning, lamentation.—convert, convertere, convert, conversum, to turn around, cause to turn; “convert,” “conversion.”—vtum, -, n., vow, offering; prayer; desire, hope; “votary,” “vote,” “votive.”—parns, parentis, m./ f., parent.—hc…tumul: sc. in.—lmen, lminis, n., threshold; “liminality,” “eliminate.” Ginga was perhaps a newborn, and hence on the threshold of passing into life, when instead he passed into death.—raptus: partic. of rapi (above) modifying puer, snatched away.—situs, -a, -um, laid up, stored; buried; common in the formula hc situs est, is buried here; “site,” “situate.”—tumulus, -, m., mound, tomb; “tumulus.”—indignus, -a, -um, unworthy, not deserving (some good fortune, or some misfortune); “indignant,” “indignation.”—vulnus, vulneris, n., wound; sorrow; “vulnerable,” “invulnerable” vulnera, pl. for sg., a usage common in verse, and in APPOSITION to the whole preceding phrase, i.e., the boy’s death.—, interj. (expressing distress, regret; surprise, joy; etc.), ah, oh!—dolor, dolris, m., pain, grief; “dolorous.”—gemitus, -s, m., groaning, moaning, as an expression of pain or sorrow.—inlsus, -a, -um, mocked, made sport of (partic. of inld = illd, illdere, ills, illsum), “illusion,” “illusory.”—mns, mnium, m. pl., shade, ghost, spirit; d mns, spirits of the dead, supernatural powers that protected the soul of the deceased.—sdus, sderis, n., constellation, star; “sidereal,” “consider,” “desire.”—perg, pergere, perrx, perrctum, to make one’s way, move onward, proceed.
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