18
votes
Accepted
What colours did different colour words mean, exactly?
This might not be the best question to ask for this format chiefly because there are so many color words in Latin, and their meanings are not always as simple and exact as English would have you ...
cmw♦
- 52.2k
18
votes
Accepted
Is the prefix "di-" more Latin-like than "bi-"?
di- is Greek and bi- is Latin
The Proto-Indo-European root for "two" is reconstructed as *dw-. The remnants of this w can be seen in English "two", Russian dva, Ancient Greek δύο, ...
- 65.1k
15
votes
12
votes
Is the prefix "di-" more Latin-like than "bi-"?
Your are confused; bi- is Latin and di- is Greek. There is no real difference in meaning between them, but in usage bi- is used with Latin constructions like bisexual and di- with Greek constructions ...
- 4,678
11
votes
Accepted
On the etymology of “discipulus” and “disciplina”
De Vaan (2008) says that the etymology is uncertain and that both of the theories you mentioned have problems. He bases this on the two most commonly consulted etymological dictionaries of Latin, ...
- 19.8k
11
votes
Accepted
Olympic oath : The crown or death (?)
The particular words you were looking for are ἢ στέφος ἢ θάνατον ("either the crown or death," in the accusative case; θάνατος would be the nominative case if detached from its original ...
- 1,332
10
votes
Accepted
Citation needed for "Casta placent superis..."
It is from Albius Tibullus (died 19 BC), Book II, 1.
It would be a little surprising to find the superi in the Vulgate. It means “the heavenly gods” (as opposed to the gods of the underworld).
John ...
- 32.8k
10
votes
Accepted
Books of reading medieval Latin manuscripts
The UK National Archive runs a two part course which gives immediate feedback and quickly introduces .1. dating of mss .2. different styles of writing (book script, private notes, .3. post classical ...
- 8,643
9
votes
What colours did different colour words mean, exactly?
A fantastic read if you're aimed down that rabbit hole would be Guy Deutscher, Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages, New York 2010.
He quotes "Lyons, J. 1999. ...
- 191
9
votes
Accepted
Looking for the source of Cicero quote
Though the wording of the article is unclear, the reference to Sextus Empiricus is only to the question of how many schools the "Academy" has ramified into.
This a direct (albeit somewhat ...
- 39.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Understanding a reference to Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
I haven't completely figured out the book's layout, but it appears that it contains both volumes IX and X. In any case, the numbering starts over at index #160 (pg. 4), and the entry you're looking ...
- 10.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Colors of the rainbow
Since a rainbow is a gradient, there's still no way of knowing which hue a color word refers to. At best we can approximate.
Earl Anderson's Folk-Taxonomies in Early English has a good discussion if ...
cmw♦
- 52.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Ancient sources for singing in a bath
Found one reference!
Petronius, Satyricon, 73
Deinde ut lassatus consedit, invitatus balnei sono diduxit usque ad cameramos ebrium et coepit Menecratis cantica lacerare, sicut illi dicebant, qui ...
- 39.4k
8
votes
Accepted
What is the largest known piece of Etruscan literature?
My guess would be their religious works, particularly pertaining to divination.
In his De Divinatione 33.72, Cicero mentions these books:
Quorum alia sunt posata in monumentis et disciplina, quod ...
- 65.1k
8
votes
Accepted
On the etymology of Lacedaemon
Unfortunately, we just don't know. There is no clear Greek etymology for it, not just the initial Lake- part, but the whole word. This is from Beekes' etymological dictionary:
Λακεδαίμων, -ονος [f.] ...
cmw♦
- 52.2k
7
votes
Is there a Latin source for "He who is able to laugh at himself, is invincible"?
I can't find the exact phrase but perhaps the following capture the spirit of it.
nemo risum praebuit qui ex se cepit
no one becomes a laughing-stock who laughs at himself
Seneca, De ...
- 8,651
6
votes
Books of reading medieval Latin manuscripts
There is one book that you would find more useful than any other, and that is a Latin Bible.
The internet provides access to Manuscripts from the British Library, and the Beinecke (Yale), and the ...
- 8,643
6
votes
Accepted
Are there literary attestations of werewolves in the Classical period?
Here's an example I remember, Verg., Ecl., 8, 96
Has herbas atque haec Ponto mihi lecta venena
ipse dedit Moeris; nascuntur plurima Ponto.
His ego saepe lupum fieri et se condere silvis
...
6
votes
Accepted
How to translate Ἀγαθῶν ἓνεκα οὐ γίνεσθαι
Using the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, I was unable to find that sequence of words in Plato (or elsewhere). I'm also having trouble locating that exact thought in Plato.
The closest direct reference I ...
- 39.4k
5
votes
Is there a canonical list of Latinized names?
I think English-Latin dictionaries are your best choice here. For instance, this dictionary has 6 pages of "Christian names" (and some surnames) in Latin. Other examples are pages 311-2 of this ...
- 12.3k
5
votes
Citation needed for "Casta placent superis..."
The two lines are an elegiac couplet.
This poetic form was common in classical Latin, but not used in the Bible at all.
As very little Christian literature has been written in this metre, it is likely ...
- 111k
5
votes
Where can I look up Mycenaean words?
For mapping Mycenaean Greek words to their meanings, the Linear B Lexicon has a searchable list of terms. Here's the entry for a-ja-me-no:
a-ja-me-no Chadwick & Ventris 1973: inlaid masculine ...
- 10.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Learning Latin through Aeneid (or another text)
Well, there's Latin Via Ovid (2nd ed. 1982):
From the publisher's website:
Using an introduction to mythology by the master storyteller Ovid himself, the authors have prepared a unique teaching tool ...
cmw♦
- 52.2k
4
votes
Is there a Latin source for "He who is able to laugh at himself, is invincible"?
I don't recall seeing that saying anywhere, but here is a translation suggestion:
Insuperabilis est qui se ridere potest.
One might expect ridere sibi instead of ridere se, but ridere appears to ...
- 111k
4
votes
Accepted
Information on the Penates
There is a whole book in Latin on the topic:
https://books.google.it/books?id=PGhXAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=it#v=onepage&q&f=false
The title is De diis Romanorum patriis sive ...
- 879
4
votes
Accepted
Using genitive and infinitive to describe characteristics
Allen & Greenough §343 also lists it as a type of possessive genitive, giving a few examples. Note that this use of the genitive in the predicate is used with infinitives and with clauses:
...
- 39.4k
4
votes
A textbook for Latin
This isn't a definitive "these are the must haves for learning Latin" list, but these are the texts that I have used in the past for my learning.
I was first introduced to Latin through Cambridge ...
- 3,958
4
votes
Reference for "divide et impera"
In Caesar the most relevant passage is the following from Book 2 of the Gallic Wars:
Ipse Diviciacum Haedum magnopere cohortatus docet necesse esse manus hostium distineri, ne cum tanta multitudine ...
- 6,494
3
votes
How do I access the Oxford Latin Dictionary online?
First of all, you must have an institutional subscription to the Latin content on Oxford Scholarly Editions Online.
You don’t need to download anything.
“Select any word in a Latin text and a pop-...
- 11.6k
3
votes
Two Sappho-related reference requests
Puglia 2007
As announced in his comment, AlexB got ahold of Puglia 2007, sent it to the mods, and our tricipitous mod forwarded it to me. I read it, and I can now answer that part of this question.
So,...
- 3,275
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible