Questions tagged [classical-latin]
Questions concerning Latin of the classical era, approximately 75 BCE to 300 CE
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Which modern language is more similar to classical latin?
Since Spanish, Italian and French languages are all romance languages and which one of them is the most similar one to classical latin language? Is it Italian? (Rationally maybe?)
EDIT1: I found this ...
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Is there a pre-Christian Roman story of "coming to faith"?
Is there a story in the Roman literature of someone previously not believing in the traditional Roman gods or a specific deity within their pantheon but later, after a vision or another experience, ...
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Romans and Ancient Greek language [duplicate]
Is there evidence in the inscriptions, that Romans have realised, that Hellenic languages are very close to theirs own language!? It seems to be that the distinguish was applied to the Etruscan ...
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Latin diphthongs, vowel qualities
There is one existing question on the SE (search for 'ae pronunciation'), but there are nothing equal to my interests.
My googling returned to me nothing too.
So, maybe somebody here know:
nowadays ...
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Well, well, well
How to say this expression in Latin!?
Expressing surprise: Well, well, well! It is here (when smth lost and found)!
Expressing sarcasm: Well, well, well... And what now!?
Expressing begining: Well, ...
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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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Res vs Obiectus
What is the difference in meaning between Res and Obiectus (is it merely a matter of Language evolution Classical vs Medieval)?
As a meaning I am interested in that which (the thing that) is related ...
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Furtum est, secundum lege lata, contrectatio rei alienae fraudulenta
How to say this in proper, idiomatic, classical Latin?
Theft is, according to existing law, laying hands on others' (foreign, strange, belonging to others) things fraudulently.
Would one use the ...
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What did the Romans think about new technology?
Are there any attested texts where a Roman comments on some new technology?
The modern world sees a constant flux of them, but technological advancement was slower in antiquity and I do not recall ...
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"Man to Man" in Latin?
I've been spending a lot of time on this one but not quite sure how you would preserve the idiomatic connotation of the phrase "man to man". I'm planning to use it in a sentence like "they were ...
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How does one know when adjectives and participles are used dominantly?
Adjectives and participles can be used dominantly:
aethere summo - (not: the highest heaven, but:) the highest point of heaven
mediis ... Achivis: the middle of the Greeks
virgine caesa: the murder ...
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Mountains and Mountain Ranges: Names
I have been recently enjoying Mark Walker's delightful translation of Professor Tolkien's masterpiece, The Hobbit (Hobbitus Ille). I was especially charmed by Tolkien's maps, translated into Latin (...
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Semantic difference of ablative and accusative cases when following "in"
What is the semantic and conceptual difference of ablative and accusative cases when following in?
Examples:
In dubio pro reo & opinio iuris uniformis et in longo usu
Dubio and longo are in ...
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How would one say "such as" or "like" as prepositions
For example, how would one translate the prepositions in the following phrases: "The man is like a dog" or "We go many places, such as the forum"? What case would "canis" and "forum" be, respectively? ...
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Proper use of "tenaciter servanda"
How would it be proper to characterise (adverbially or adjectivally) longus usus, opinio juris so as to mean a belief of law (belief of a legal requirement) in long use holding uninterrupted and ...
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Why is specifically "Latin America" called that when numerous other regions' languages are also based on the Latin language?
There's an entire major region, spanning the entire South America and parts of North America, called "Latin America". People there tend to speak Spanish and closely related languages. There's also the ...
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What was the classical era word for a bastard?
If a Roman wanted to call another Roman a "bastard", what word would they use? I am curious about both the literal and general usage of the word, so calling someone an illegitimate child and also just ...
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Translate "Before the Fire" and "After the Fire" into Classical Latin
I am translating the phrases "Before the Fire" and "After the Fire" into Classical Latin. These are used for dating in a fashion similar to how B.C.E./B.C. and C.E./A.D. are used ...
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What word did the Romans use to describe a hot, dry, sandy desert?
Did the Romans during the classical era have a word for a dry, hot, desert? There is desertum, but that is more "wilderness" than explicitly desert in the sense we might think of today. ...
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Why do we learn the genitive singular of each Latin noun?
When Latin nouns are listed for memorisation they are listed with the nom. sg., the gen. sg. and their gender. E.g. agricola, agricolae, masculine. Why are each of these forms necessary for ...
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"Aliquid scribere" or "de aliquo scribere"
Scaliger once wrote Manilius nesciebat quid scribebat, by which he obviously meant that Manilius did not know what he was writing about.
In English, there is a big difference between "writing ...
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Manilius nesciebat quid scribebat
When the formidable classicist A. E. Housman published his critical edition of Manilius' Astronomicon, he stated in his infamous preface, "When Scaliger says at v 39 Manilius nesciebat quid scribebat ...
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Livy Book 1 27.1 type of subjunctive, sequence of tenses
Invidia vulgi, quod tribus militibus fortuna publica commissa fuerit, vanum ingenium dictatoris corrupit.
What kind of subjunctive is fuerit and why. What tense is corrupit — perfect with or ...
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Translating “scholar in residence”
I’m looking for a Classical Latin translation of “scholar in residence,” like at a university. Google translate says “scholar in residentiae,” but I want to make sure this is correct. Thanks in ...
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Difference between "Ubi est subject" and "Subject ubi est"?
In LLPSI, there is this line:
Ubi est Nilus? Nilus in Africa est. Rhenus ubi est? Rhenus est in Germania.
In both questions, the wording changed around, as did in the answers. Does this wording ...
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Saying hello to a mixed-gender group
If you were greeting a mixed-gender group, what would have been the most common way to do this in classical era Rome? Would they have said something like salvete amici et amicae, or would they have ...
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Why does Nepos use the accusative here?
My son was assigned an excerpt from the Vitae of Nepos, Lysander 4, and hit a snag at the end of this sentence:
nam cum Lysander praefectus classis in bello multa crudeliter avareque fecisset deque ...
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Is an Ablative Absolute construction like "portā clausā" ambiguous in Early Latin?
As a follow-up question of two previous posts (cf. here and here), I was wondering if an Ablative Absolute construction like portā clausā is ambiguous in Early Latin as it is in Classical Latin. For ...
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commentary of "Arma virumque cano"
In Aeneis commentary (left-below) it is written:
Male explicant: armatum virum; sed disiungenda sunt haec duo vocabula, ut disiunxit Tasso quum diceret: Canto l'arini pietose e 'l capitano; si vero ...
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Ablatives of Agent in Ablative Absolutes in Early Latin?
It is (often) said that participles in Ablative Absolutes in Early Latin have an adjectival nature (e.g., see Ruppel (2013: 124): "the Early Latin Ablative Absolute is not strongly verbal at all"). ...
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Which ancient Latin works survived into the Middle Ages or later but are now lost?
While reading Saint Aldhelm's 'Riddles' I saw a reference to Lucan's Orpheus, a Latin poem written in the first century AD. The seventh century writer Aldhelm had a copy of Orpheus, but it is now lost ...
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Translate "Exit Smiling" into Classical Latin
I am trying to translate the phrase "exit smiling" into Classical Latin to use as message above the front door of our home (on the inside before leaving). The phrase is from 'Catch 22'.
Is "smiling" ...
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First sentence of "De Legibus"
It says "Lucus quidem ille et haec Arpinatium quercus agnoscitur", but shouldn't "agnoscuntur" be used instead? As it says "the grove and those oak trees of Arpinums are recognized(by me)". I'm still ...
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Analysis of Dative in >>Confessions<<
In Caput VI Liber II Augustine wrote:"Quamvis mihi nondum fideli......" (Although I was not a Christian...)
Here he used the dative case (mihi fideli). What's the dative case for? Why is it dative?
...
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Are there unprefixed location verbs in Latin?
Two basic types of prefixed denominal locative verbs can be distinguished in Latin: the ones in (1) can be said to “agglutinate” a prepositional phrase expressing (dis)location, i.e., the place (cf. ...
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Gender and etymology of name "Herena"
I found that Herena is the name of a Christian saint from the 3rd century. Virtually nothing is known about Herena's life, but my question is about the name:
Is it a feminine name or masculine, or ...
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How to translate the phrases "both worlds" and "the best of both worlds" into Classical Latin?
How to properly write the expression "the best of both worlds" and the shorter phrase "both worlds" (meant in the same context as in the larger phrase) in Classical Latin?
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Online Latin Synonyms and Other Crossword Resources
Are there any online searchable synonym lists, i.e. thesauri?
I don't mean scanned versions of books, I mean apps or search
engines that list synonyms given a specific search word.
I am interested in ...
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Was there a standard accent in Latin in the Roman era?
I know that the standard language was Classical Latin and that the average person spoke Vulgar Latin, but was there a standard dialect or pronunciation for Latin? Like the way it was spoken in Rome?
Infinite
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Sideros sidereus
How would one best combine the Latin “sidereus” and the Greek “σίδηρος” in an otherwise-English-language text to refer to meteoric iron? Ideally in a manner that would be authentic to ancient Roman ...
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How can I say "school/university of life" in Latin?
I want to translate "school/university of life" into Latin. Meaning, where you learn about life.
Thank you in advance.
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What is the prerequisite of reading Cicero or Caesar?
Beside grammar, how much vocabulary do I have to know? Should I buy some latin dictionary like Oxford Latin Dictionary? Or is there any word-correction for novice learner?
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Latinisation of a surname. Seeking advice from expert Latinists
I have a need to Latinise a surname (details about that name are provided further down in my question) rather urgently, but with my miniscule knowledge of Latin I cannot do that myself well. I hope ...
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Translation of ab and de in Greek,
How would one best translate ab and de from Latin to Greek in order to capture the different nuances?
In Greek both are usually translated as από.
I am trying to capture the nuances so I am using ...
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How to say 'I am myself'?
I'm still figuring out the difference between the various ways to say 'I', 'me', and 'myself' in Latin. My best guess for this phrase is 'Ego sum memet', but I'm not sure which case the second word ...
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Learning from scratch [duplicate]
I am interested in learning Latin. I have tried to find good resources to do this online but have found a great deal of noise. Does anyone have any good recommendations of how to properly learn Latin ...
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What is the word for "now" in Classical Latin?
I found that the translation for the word "now" is "nunc."
Is it correct that in the Latin language that there only exists capital letters and that the letter "U" is "V"?
If so, would it be correct ...
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Learn Ancient Greek or Latin first?
I am in the beginning stages of thinking about learning both Ancient Greek and Latin. During my initial research, I have encountered some people saying that learning Latin first is what is commonly ...
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What is the longest sequence of ablative/dative nouns ever to appear in Latin texts
I was intrigued by my question to ask this question. In that questions we have a sequence of 2 ablative nouns in a row:
"[Dama] differt a capreis [solis] cornibus ..."
I don't count solis because ...
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How would learning Latin only to read Latin change the way I should learn it?
So I studied GCSE Latin but there was no English to Latin on the Exam, we only ever had to read in Latin or translate from Latin into English. So my question is this: If I wanted to learn to read and ...
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