45
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Did the Romans use any swear words?
Yes, they used swear words all the time! There's actually a whole book on the subject, The Latin Sexual Vocabulary by J. N. Adams. Cinaedus (a pejorative term for a 'bottom'), mentula (male genitalia),...
cmw♦
- 58.2k
18
votes
Does it make sense to display a decimal number such as 12.34 as Roman numerals? If not, how else?
In general, if you're going for authentic Roman numerals, you'd have to convert the decimal portion into one of the fractions that a Roman would use – or a sum of those fractions. Obviously, this is ...
- 20.8k
15
votes
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Does liberi only refer to free children?
It is generally accepted that liberi “children” is the same word as liber “free, not slave”. So, etymologically liberi are “free-born offspring of either sex”. But it is an error to assume that the ...
- 18k
15
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How did the Romans call their currency?
Question 1
I wouldn't go with "wanted" per se, but fugitīvus (literally "runaway"). This comes from fugiō "to flee" and referred to rebellious slaves and military ...
- 69.3k
14
votes
Accepted
What did a *cellarius* do?
Here is the little I could glean from the literature about the actual tasks of the cellarius. Celarii are mentioned frequently enough in texts but there is very little about their tasks, ...
- 8,741
12
votes
What would the ancient Romans have called Hercules' Club?
I'm not sure we have direct evidence of this particular pendant, but we do have what the Romans called the club and what they called pendants in general.
The club is called the clava. Varro (LL 8.26.6)...
cmw♦
- 58.2k
11
votes
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Why did Roman children call their father 'tata' instead of 'pappa'?
Yes, children did call their fathers papa, though it was not as common as tata was, at least we think.
Both names are inherited from Indo-European as you can see and are even present in English: cf. ...
cmw♦
- 58.2k
11
votes
What is the largest online Latin speaking community?
For actually speaking Latin (or Ancient Greek), I would recommend Latin & Ancient Greek Chat. The chats are hosted by a magister, and the group is very welcoming. Be advised, though, that unless ...
- 3,359
11
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Do Roman numerals stand for something?
My old Latin teacher jokingly taught that it's all based on hands. I for a single finger; V for the shape of the space between the thumb and the fingers when a palm is put up; and X for the shape of ...
cmw♦
- 58.2k
11
votes
Accepted
Hushing with a finger gesture
The Egyptian god Harpocrates was typically depicted as a boy with his finger held to his lips.
Example here.
He makes a few appearances in classical literature, such as Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.692:
...
- 20.8k
11
votes
Hushing with a finger gesture
I found a non-classical reference to this gesture in the Metamorphoses (or Golden Ass) of Apuleius (AD 124-170):
At ille, digitum a pollice proximum ori suo admovens et in stuporem attonitus, ‘Tace,...
- 42.9k
11
votes
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What verb is wine made with?
Cato Maior devotes a large subsection of De Agri Cultura to wine. You can read the entire text here, and as can be expected, he sticks to very simple verbs:
general:
making: vinum Graecum sic facito
...
- 1,470
11
votes
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Did the Romans 'tip' for good service?
It seems that corollarium was used in this sense. Lewis and Short describe the original meaning as "money paid for a garland of flowers", but elsewhere it is described more like money put in a ...
- 8,741
11
votes
Accepted
Does "virtus" apply to women?
Yes, they did, with some caveats. And not just women, but inanimate things as well.
Here's but one example, from Juvenal's sixth satire, showing its more neutral use with which English adopted:
......
cmw♦
- 58.2k
10
votes
Accepted
What did the Greeks and Romans call their pets?
Martial wrote a poem about Publius' dog called Issa. It begins:
Issa est passere nequior Catulli,
Issa est purior osculo columbae,
Issa est blandior omnibus puellis,
Issa est carior Indicis ...
- 8,741
10
votes
What would the ancient Romans have called Hercules' Club?
To add the Greek: the usual word for a club, including specifically Hercules' club, is ῥόπαλον rhópalon.
There are various words for a pendant or amulet, including περίαμμα períamma and περίαπτον ...
- 31.5k
9
votes
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Did the Romans have children's books?
Quintilian, in The Orator's Education (1.1), writes at some length about teaching children, in particular children under the age of seven, how to read.
He feels that they should learn to recognise ...
- 8,741
9
votes
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Did the Romans have a selection game?
Casting lots ("sortition")
The most standard means of making a random selection was drawing lots (sortēs): everyone involved would put their names into a container, then one would be drawn ...
- 69.3k
9
votes
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How did the Romans wish happy holidays?
They did to a certain extent. I'm not aware of general holiday greetings, but at least for Saturnalia, they used the phrase Io, Saturnalia! Compare Martial 11.2.5:
Clamant ecce mei 'Io Saturnialia' ...
cmw♦
- 58.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Did the Romans have a color of mourning?
Black is mentioned as the colour of mourning in several places.
Upon hearing of the death of her sister, Procne:
induiturque atras vestes
put on black clothes
Ovid, Metamorphoses, 6.568a
...
- 8,741
8
votes
Does liberi only refer to free children?
The OLD says: liberi "sons and daughters, children (in connection with their parents)."
First of all, it is important to remember that, as Osgood 2011 puts it,
"... it was of great ...
- 11.8k
8
votes
What is the largest online Latin speaking community?
This is not a full answer, but I can't resist giving it.
If you can specify your question, you are likely to get more specific answers.
The online Latin community I suggest is this site.
As you have ...
- 116k
8
votes
Accepted
How did dogs and wolves compare in the Roman mind?
It seems that interbreeding between wolves and dogs was deemed possible in Roman culture at least at the time of Pliny the Elder (I cent. CE.) But so was the idea of interbreeding between dogs and ...
- 11.6k
8
votes
Did the Romans 'tip' for good service?
It's often held that the practice of tipping began in England around the 16th century, but there's some difference of opinion on the subject. For example:
There are a few versions for the origin of ...
- 11k
8
votes
What did the Greeks and Romans call their pets?
In Petronius, Satyricon 64, Trimalchio's favorite, Croesus, has an 'indecently fat black puppy' (catellam nigram atque indecenter pinguem) named Margarita, which means 'pearl', and Trimalchio himself ...
- 20.8k
8
votes
Accepted
What is Peniculus insinuating with his reference to Samian crockery?
The commentary that I have for the Menaechmi, by P. Thoresby Jones (Oxford U. Press), has this note for the line:
Samiae: i.e. fragile like earthenware. Samian ware was the commonest crockery used at ...
- 20.8k
8
votes
The classical Latin speakers called Vulgar Latin sermo vulgaris, sermo vulgi, and sermo plebeius, but what did plebeians call their language?
This question assumes that "vulgar Latin" and "classical Latin" are two completely different languages. This, however, is untrue. As you said yourself, the classical authors called ...
- 936
7
votes
Accepted
Is *Numidius* an Ancient Roman name?
There are various epigraphical references of Numidius as a nomen:
CIL VIII 23074 (Ain Batria): Aurelius Numidius P[3]nsi[3]
CIL X 3824 (Capua): Cn(aeum) Numidium / Astragalum
CIL XIV ...
- 2,906
7
votes
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Did the Romans have an expression for a national day?
The festival days for the birth of Rome was, at least in the late Republic, the Parilia.
Wikipedia has more:
By the end of the late Republic, the Parilia became associated with the birthday of Rome. ...
cmw♦
- 58.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Were iuvenēs expected to squander the family fortune?
You'll have to be careful with the phrase "expected to." On the one hand, it can give connotations of desire. "I expect you to do well in this position" can mean "I want you ...
cmw♦
- 58.2k
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