Questions tagged [classical-latin]
Questions concerning Latin of the classical era, approximately 75 BCE to 300 CE
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A passage about reassuring your loved one about conceding too easily [closed]
I remember reading a while ago a poem/epigram in which the author reassures his lover not to worry about conceding herself too easily to him, but unfortunately no source was indicated and I made the ...
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Correct my Latin "O tempora obscura!"
In a discussion with friends, we joked that things were better in the past and we used older and older languages to write our messages. I ended up saying the following:
Antea, linguâ latinâ, quae ...
cmw♦
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Unusual grammar in Ars Amatoria 1.509 f: 'a nulla tempora comptus acu'
I'm reading the Ars Amatoria in Hans Ørberg's annotated edition, this is book 1.509 f:
Forma viros neglecta decet. Minoida Theseus
abstulit, a nulla tempora comptus acu;
I get the sense: "It ...
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Relative pronouns that don't start the dependent clause
In the following text, the dative relative pronoun (or whatever it could be) does not start the clause:
Hic templum Iunoni ingens Sidonia Dido
condebat, donis opulentum et numine divae
aerea cui ...
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Does animal include human?
In today's English the word "animal" can include or exclude humans, depending on context.
How about the word animal in classical Latin?
Does it include humans?
If not, is there a term that would cover ...
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Why is Virgil's Aeneid considered incomplete?
It's well known that Virgil died before fully editing the Aeneid and that he wanted the manuscript to be burned. What isn't immediately clear to me, though, is whether this was a result of misguided ...
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Weird lines in the Aeneid (Book I, lines 444-445)
I am quite confused about how I can translate the two following lines:
[Iuno] monstrarat, caput acris equi; sic nam fore bello
egregiam et facilem victu per saecula gentem.
The real difficulty comes ...
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Seeking Confirmation on Latin Phrase Translation
I am reaching out to seek confirmation on a specific Latin phrase. I have come across the sentence "UNUS PERCENT MELIUS COTIDIE," which is intended to mean "one percent better every day,...
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What does "nosse" mean?
What does nosse mean? I cannot find it in Lewis & Short. For example (Cicero, Philippicae 6.1.6):
Quam ob rem, quod quaesivit ex me P. Apuleius, homo et multis officiis mihi et summa ...
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How do I locate a classical quotation?
This recent question brought up the quotation numqvam est ille miser cui facile est mori. A bit of Google indicates that this (probably) comes from Seneca.
But from there, how would I find the ...
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How to understand "excusare Baeticis contra unum hominem advocationem"?
Pliny writes letter 1.6 to Octavius Rufus, who has asked him to appear in court against the Baetici, which he declines to do:
Etenim, sicut fas est mihi, praesertim te exigente, excusare Baeticis ...
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Did the Romans have anything artificial? Which words did they use to describe it?
I am looking for a word or set of words to describe artificial items or materials.
Maybe my shoes are made of artificial leather instead of the real thing, or maybe a crown is made of fake gold.
What ...
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Unde urbem licet aestimare totam?
Martial (4.64, 11–12) famously wrote:
Hinc septem dominos videre montis
Et totam licet aestimare Romam
This refers to a view from the Ianiculum on the west bank of Tiber.
How precisely do we know ...
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Recommend a graded reading list of Latin works starting with De Bello Gallico
I'm about halfway through Caesar's De Bello Gallico which is typically considered the easiest work of Classical Latin for beginners. It would be good to know where to go next once I'm finished: ...
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Examples of the most subordinate infinitive clauses combined in one sentence
Personally, I think it to be interesting when I find multiple infinitive clauses in a sentence.
Based of this structure: Cogitavi virum putavisse eum ambulavisse,” (I thought that the man thought than ...
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What is the translation of "Cashless Society" into Classical Latin?
The world seems to be moving this way, so how would Romans in the classic era have translated the phrase "cashless society". I am ignoring the fact that they didn't use paper money for ...
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How to translate "walk it off" into Latin? As the phrase corresponds to relieving physical pain
The best translation I could figure was "Ambulate donec discesserit."
But that would be more like, "walk until it will have departed." Is there a more efficient and/or precise way ...
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Is "Ita an non" a valid, neutral, straightfoward translation of "Yes or no"?
Asking to really, really be sure since I'm planning on getting it tattoed. I just intend that simple sentence in the more correctly latin way possible, but there are many ways to say it and I don't ...
CommunityBot
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What's the meaning of "lex fundamentum est libertatis, qua fruimur. legum omnes servi sumus, ut liberi esse possimus"?
On the title page of The Works of James Wilson, there's a Latin inscription saying, "lex fundamentum est libertatis, qua fruimur. legum omnes servi sumus, ut liberi esse possimus":
What ...
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Is "Ave Dominus Nox" the correct translation for "Hail to the Lord of Night"?
In the Warhammer 40K universe, the Night Lords (scary stealthy dudes) use the battle cry "Ave Dominus Nox." This isn't meant to be in Latin, but in High Gothic, a made-up language for the ...
cmw♦
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How do you say "living being" in Classical Latin?
In the Gaffiot dictionary, animal is translated as "être vivant", that is "living being".
However I am a bit skeptical about this, as the quote given opposes animalia with ...
cmw♦
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'Antisemitism' in Greek and/or Latin
This is a purely linguistics inquiry.
One term that's piqued my interest is "anti-Semitism." While it's widely used, the construction (anti- + -ism) feels recent compared to terms like "...
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What is the difference between gradus and passus as a step or pace?
Gradus and passus both have multiple meanings. Passus, as in its meaning related to feet, is also described as a unit of measurement, of five Roman feet. Gradus also has distinct meanings, including ...
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Is "tandem tamen" a classical paronym?
I've noted the use of the expression tandem tamen (~ in the end however, but yet, and yet), in various Latin texts. It's a paronym that appears in many post-classical and neo-Latin texts; by example :
...
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Why do Gerundives ever exist when they can technically be rewritten with, "Necesse est (DO) (inf)...."
Libri legendi = The books are to be read.
Necesse est libris legi. = It is right/necessary for the books to be read.
Technically, these two sentences, although they are grammatically different, mean ...
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Translate: “If God Is For Me.”
If God is for us, who can be against us?” - Romans 8:31
Looking to translate, “If God is for me.” from English to Latin.
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How do you say "yes" and "no" in Classical Latin?
I'm wondering how the Romans would have said "yes" as in "yes please" or "no" as in "no thank you". I don't know if they would have said it exactly like that, but what would they have said if they had ...
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What's the difference between vel, aut, -ve, et cetera?
So I see "vel", "aut", and "-ve" being used (mostly) interchangeably in the Latin I read. Is there any idiomatic difference, or can they be used interchangeably?
For ...
cmw♦
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Use of the perfect to indicate "whenever I do someting"
In the following sentence I do understand the reason the perfect is used for veni:
rure meo possum quidvis perferre patique; ad mare cum veni, generosum et lene requiro ("In my country estate I ...
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from dēfēcisse to deficisse
My question concerns the forms dēfēcisse (dēficio, active infinitive perfect) and the variant dēficisse. I found both forms in a text from Justin/Trogus (Epitome.11.2.7) :
In cuius apparatu occupato ...
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Length of i in Vergilius' "ferentis"
In the famous line "quicquid id est timeo Danaos et dona ferentis" Vergilius uses an older plural accusative form ferentis instead of ferentes.
(It is unimportant here whether quicquid or quidquid is ...
cmw♦
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Reason for ablative case in "praesidioque decorique parentibus esse"
In Lucretius II 641–643
"aut quia significant divam praedicere ut armis
ac virtute velint patriam defendere terram
praesidioque parent decorique parentibus esse."
I am not very comfortable ...
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Why is 'r' often rolled in modern classical Latin?
During my Latin education (using classical pronunciation), I was taught that 'r' should be 'rolled', making a sort of growling sound.
For example, the r's (more the second than the first set) in ...
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What's the most common word in Latin?
A comment recently mentioned that the most common word in English is "the", which is odd since it has no direct Latin equivalent. That made me realize: I'm not sure what the most common word ...
cmw♦
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The best way to say Sinners
I'd like to create an aesthetic with the phrase "Remember that you must die, sinners" - targeted at the viewers. I know the first part is memento mori, but what is the best translation of &...
cmw♦
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Are there Roman accounts of Easter?
Now that it is Easter time, I wonder whether the Romans wrote about Easter.
I am looking for non-Christian accounts in Latin describing the events of Jesus's death and subsequent resurrection.
I ...
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Can someone help translating "one must die for one to live"
I'm writing a novel and at some point, the hero needs to make a sacrifice: "One must die for one to live." He has to chose between two people: only one will survive, the other one will die. (...
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Have these Greek letters been related to these Latin/English letters?
Was each following Latin/English letter originated from, cognate with, or related to the Greek letter given after the Latin/English letter?
Latin f and Greek phi
Latin h or e, and Greek eta
Latin j ...
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What are the Greek or Latin words for these SI prefixes?
Smith's Greek and Latin Roots gives the etymology of a few SI prefixes. For example, tera- is from Greek teras ("monster"), deci- from Latin decem, and micro- from Greek mikros ("small&...
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Is the locative used with multi-part city names?
The Duolingo Latin course mentions New York a lot.
(I'd rather have it focused on the geography of ancient Italy than the modern US, but that's beside the point now.)
The locative comes up regularly: ...
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Latin translation for the Serenity Prayer?
I'm looking for the latin translation of the Serenity Prayer:
God,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know ...
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Example request: accusative neuter nouns in any classical prose text
Is anyone able to provide me with about five sentences from any Latin classical text (one or more), excluding poetry or plays, where a NEUTER noun (any) is unambiguously employed in the accusative as ...
cmw♦
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Tacitus Germania XIV: Cum ventum in aciem
This is clear in meaning but I am confused with the ventum itself. It seems the ventum here is either supine or PPP. But either one does not really fit my understanding of them. Can someone tell me ...
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Ancient Greek-Latin and Latin-Ancient Greek books II
Is there any book of comparative Ancient Greek-Latin text-based teaching?
(I am talking about a parallel method containing e.g. latin texts' fragments translated in ancient greek with comparative ...
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Is khrysodory Athenaie the accurate way to say Athena's golden spear?
The closest I have come is khrysodory Athenaie (χρυσόδόρυ Αθηναία). Since I am piecing this together from the internet, I am uncertain if this is correct. I have also pieced together the latin, which ...
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Does Latin have sentences or just clauses?
When I learnt about the pronoun "suus", I was originally taught that it always referred to the subject at the start of the sentence. Having read some original Livy, I am not confused as I ...
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Which modern language out of French, Italian, and Spanish is most similar to classical latin?
Since Spanish, Italian and French languages are all Romance Languages, which one of them is the most similar one to Classical Latin?
I found this Diagram of the Romance Languages on Wikipedia.
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Why does Ago become agit, agitis, agis, etc? [conjugate with an *i*?]
I am working on word endings in Latin, and I came across the word Ago.
And I was looking at the different conjugations for this word and it did not make sense to me.
Observe:
Endings are:
...
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Are there linguistic arguments for the claim that "Odi et amo" in Catullus (LXXXV) cannot be simply translated as 'I hate and I love'?
On the basis of literary arguments, Arkins (2011) "The meaning of Odi et amo in Catullus 85 came to the interesting conclusion that Odi et amo in the following famous poem by Catullus (LXXXV) ...
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How would the term golden shaft be translated in Latin?
There is a epithet for the greek goddess Artemis, Khryselakatos (Χρυσηλάκατος), which means "of the Golden Shaft." How would one translate that into Latin? The closest I can determine would ...
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