07.04.27: Level 1; step-by-step; scaffolding [9] grammar notes (1) declension; gender

The grammatical points covered in the previous posts are explained in greater depth in this post and the subsequent ones.

Key words:

declension

gender

Latin nouns are placed into one of five groups depending on the endings which they have. These groups are called declensions. Here, we are looking at two declensions:

[1] nouns ending in -a belong to the first declension

[2] nouns ending in [i] –us and [ii] –um belong to the second declension

[1] Most nouns in the first declension are feminine in gender although, as you have already seen, a few which refer to occupations that were associated with males are masculine. Nevertheless, they all take the same endings.

ancilla: maidservant

Hispānia: Spain

magistra: teacher (f)

mēnsa: table

Rōma: Rome

taberna: shop

A few examples of masculine nouns in the first declension:

agricola: farmer

aurīga: charioteer

poēta: poet

[2] [i] Nouns ending in -us in the second declension are almost all masculine, although, again, there are a few which are feminine but they take the same endings.

amīcus: friend

calceus: shoe

fīlius: son

lectus: bed; couch

oculus: eye

sagittārius: archer

While there are quite a few second declension nouns in -us which are feminine, many of them are very rare. Below are some more common ones:

Aegyptus: Egypt

fāgus: beech tree

humus: ground

pīnus: pine tree

pōmus: fruit; fruit tree

A small group of nouns ending in -er and -ir also belong to the second declension; they are all masculine, for example:

ager: field

liber: book

vir: man

[ii] Nouns ending in -um in the second declension are neuter.

Eborācum: York

librārium: bookcase; library

Londinium: London

tēctum: roof

tēlum: javelin

vīnum: wine

[5] “masculine”, “feminine” and “neuter” are grammatical terms and they refer not only to animate nouns e.g. human beings, but also to objects and abstract ideas.

Exercise

Take a look at the words below; to which declension (first or second) do they belong? It’s a straightforward task because all you have to do is look at the ending. Don’t be concerned by the meanings of some of these words at this stage; they will all be introduced.

argentārius

armārium

ātrium

Britannia

cubiculum

culīna

discipulus

fenestra

fluvius

galea

gladius

hortus

magister

mēnsa

nūntius

papȳrus

peristȳlium

plaustrum

pōculum

puer

sella

signifer

stilus

tabula

templum

trīclīnium

via

LINKS

(1) 19.02.24: Gender

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/gender-latin-nouns-are-grouped.html

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/394339326510675/

(2) 23.02.24: declensions [1] first and second declension

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/declensions-1-first-and-second.html

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/396107356333872

04.09.26: The Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Anthony Rich)

The Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Anthony Rich)

“Forming a glossary of all the words representing visible objects connected with the arts, manufacturers, and every-day life of the Greeks and Romans with representations of nearly two thousand objects from the antique.”

Published in 1849, and comprising 800 pages, this is a fabulous source of information: detailed explanations, comparisons between objects, illustrations and, crucially, clear references to the Roman authors who talked about them.

It is available at archive.org:

https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00richuoft/page/x/mode/2up

Long before the days when we can find the “answer” - and often wrong - at the touch of a button, this is a monumental work and testimony to the dedication of the author, and others like him, who spent vast amounts of time engaging in careful research.

The original text is perfectly clear; I have just enhanced it a little for this post, and, yes, I did do that at the touch of a button 🙂

06.04.27: Level 1; First Latin Lessons (11); verb sum, esse

I: Incola Britanniae sum. Soror mea incola Hiberniae est. Sed patria nostra est America, et amīcī patriae nostrae sumus.

II: Nunc in Americā es, sed America nōn est patria tua. Cūr nōn amīcus Americae es? Cūr Americam nōn amās?

III: Nunc in Italiā estis. In Italiā sumus. Italia est terra pulchra. Sed Italia nōn est patria nostra. Italiam saepe laudāmus, sed Americam amāmus.

IV: Ex fenestrā meā noctū stellās spectō. Saepe lūnam quoque spectō. Lūna nunc obscūra est, sed stellae clārae sunt.

V: Ex viā fenestram tuam vidēmus. Fenestra aperta est. Soror tua ex fenestrā puellās in viā spectat. Cūr soror tua nōn in viā cum puellīs est?

VI: Soror mea aegra est. Māter mea est misera quod soror mea est aegra.

VII: Nunc incola Americae sum. Fīliae poētae sunt in Hiberniā. In patriā pulchrā estis. In casā cum nautā sumus. Stellās spectō sed lūnam nōn videō.

(1) vocabulary

[a]

In, for example, dictionaries and vocabulary lists, nouns are most often given with two (or three) pieces of information. This is done to classify the nouns according to declension:

lūna, -ae [1/f]: moon

[i] lūna, [ii] -ae (iii) [1/f]: moon

[i] the nominative case

[ii] the genitive case singular; this is the key piece of information since the genitive singular is different for all noun declensions

[iii] the declension number and gender

stella, -ae [1/f]: star

[b]

• amīcī: friends
• aegra: ill
• clāra: bright, clear; famous
• misera: unhappy
• noctū: at night
• obscūra: dim
• quod: because
• spectō: I watch, look at

(2) Latin verbs have three basic descriptions:

[i] person, and [ii] number

[i] The person refers to who is performing the action; this can be a pronoun e.g. I walk, she praises, or a noun e.g. The girl praises.

[ii] The person can be either singular or plural:

Singular: I walk, he learns, the student learns

Plural: we walk, they learn, the students learn

[iii] tense: this indicates when the action happened, happens or will happen. The term ‘tense’ has three broad categories.

Present: I walk / I am walking

Past: (but Latin has several different ways of expressing the past): I walked; I have walked etc.

Future: I shall walk

(2) Latin verbs are conjugated i.e. they have a set of endings that indicate the person, tense and number of the verb, for example:

Stellās spectō | I look at / am looking at the stars.

Cūr Americam nōn amās? | Why do you not like America?

Soror tua puellās in viā spectat. | Your sister looks at / is looking at the girls in the street.

Italiam saepe laudāmus. | We often praise Italy.

Ex viā fenestram tuam vidēmus. | We see your window from the street.

We will begin to look at this in more detail in the next units.

(3) Most Latin verbs are regular i.e. they use a common pattern of endings. There are, however, a few verbs that are irregular: they are formed in their own way. The most important of these is esse (to be). The present tense forms of esse are in bold in the text.

esse: to be; in grammar, this is known as the infinitive i.e. the form of the verb before it is conjugated

sum: I am

es: you (singular)* are

est: he / she / it is

sumus: we are

estis: you (plural)* are

sunt: they are

*Latin has two different ways of expressing the second person (you):

2^nd person singular: talking to one person

2^nd person plural: talking to more than one person

Unlike other languages which also have more than one way of expressing ‘you’ e.g. French (tu, vous) and German (du, ihr, Sie), the choice in Latin is not determined by the age or status of the person. Whether you were talking to one slave or one emperor, the same second person singular form was used. Likewise, when Caesar was addressing his soldiers or the important members of the Senate, he used the second person plural form.

(4) The image shows the key terms used when describing a verb:

infinitive; tense; person (1^st / 2^nd / 3^rd); number (singular / plural)

LINKS

23.02.24: verb esse (to be); talking about jobs

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/verb-esse-to-be-talking-about-jobs-esse.html

____________________

I: I am an inhabitant of Britain. My sister is an inhabitant of Ireland. But our homeland is America, and we are friends of our homeland.

II: You are now in America, but America is not your homeland. Why are you not a friend of America? Why do you not love America?

III: You are now in Italy. We are in Italy. Italy is a beautiful land. But Italy is not our homeland. We often praise Italy, but we love America.

IV: At night I look at the stars from my window. I often look at the moon too. The moon is now dark, but the stars are bright.

V: We see your window from the street. The window is open. Your sister looks at the girls in the street from the window. Why is your sister not in the street with the girls?

VI: My sister is ill. My mother is unhappy because my sister is ill.

VII: I am now an inhabitant of America. The poet's daughters are in Ireland. You are in a beautiful homeland. We are in the house with the sailor. I look at the stars, but I do not see the moon.

03.09.26: Vincent in Colorado

Transcript / translation

Hodiē sōl nūbibus operītur. | Today the sun is covered by clouds.

Est diēs tertius noster in Colōrātō. | It is our third day in Colorado.

Est locus amoenissimus … | It is a most / very beautiful place …

… sed difficile est omnia vidēre. | … but it is difficult to see everything.

Cacūmina montium cernī nōn possunt nunc … |  The peaks of the mountains cannot be seen now …

… propter nūbēs imbremque. | … because of the clouds and rain.

Sed nihil refert. | But it doesn't matter.

Fruimur nihilōminus ambulātiōne. | Nevertheless, we are enjoying a walk.

Quid inest in casulā? | What is inside the cabin [literally: little cottage]?

Ūna intrēmus. | Let's go inside together.

Hīc metallicī habitābant atque labōrābant. | Here miners used to live and (used to) work.

Nunc autem dēsertae sunt hae casulae. | But now these cabins are deserted.

[Roccō, intrā!] | [Rocco, come in!]

Per hanc ipsam fenestram nunc cōnspicimus eōsdem montēs … | Through this very window we now look at the same mountains …

… quōs iī ōlim spectābant. | … which they once looked at / used to look at.

Tempora mūtantur. | Times change.

Montēs manent. | The mountains remain.

____________________

Topical vocabulary

ambulātiō, -tiōnis [3/f]: walk; stroll

cacūmen, -inis [3/n]: peak; summit; top

casula (see note [6] below)

imber, imbris [3/m]: rain

locus, -ī [2/m]: place

metallicus, -ī [2/m]: miner; also: metallārius, -ī [2/m] < metallum, -ī [2/n]: [i] metal; [ii] mine

mōns, montis [3/m]: mountain

nūbēs, -is [3/f]: cloud

sōl, -is [3/m]: sun

Notes

Some key points. I only focus on those features which are common at the earlier stages of learning Latin.

[1] Look out for the imperfect sheep: -ba- / -bā-, indicating:

the imperfect tense: it refers to what somebody (i) was doing or (ii) used to do.

In the video, Vincent is describing what the miners used to do.

habitābant: they used to live

labōrābant: they used to work

spectābant: they used to look at

[2]

ipse, ipsa, ipsum: this has two functions

(i) himself, herself, itself etc. It is emphatic.

Magister ipse hoc dīxit. | The teacher himself [i.e. nobody else] said this.

Note: ipse etc. cannot be used to say, for example, he washed himself. Latin requires a different word to express that idea.

(ii)  the very / the actual; this is the sense which Vincent uses here:

per hanc ipsam fenestram | through the window itself; through this actual / very window

[3] -dem: īdem [masc.], eadem [fem.], idem [neut.]: the same

eōdem tempore: at the same time

eōdem annō: in the same year

[4] -issimus [masc.], -issima [fem.], -issimum [neut.]: creates the superlative form of the adjective, i.e. the biggest, the most beautiful. In Latin, however, it can also convey ‘very’:

locus amoenus: a beautiful place

locus amoenissimus: the most beautiful / a very beautiful place

[5] Vincent tells his dog to enter the cabin: Rocco, intrā! He uses an imperative, also known as a command form of the verb:

intrāre [1]: enter

> intrā: come in (used when speaking to one person – or dog!)

> intrāte: come in (when addressing more than one person)

[6] casa, -ae [1/f]: cottage > casula, -ae [1/f]: little cottage, cabin; -ul- is a common way of forming diminutives, i.e. smaller versions of the original noun

Exercise: complete the rewording of the original transcript by using the words listed below:

(1) Today is Vincent’s third day in Colorado. | __________ est diēs __________ Vincentiī in Colōrātō.

(2) He is walking in the mountains with his dog. | Cum cane suō in __________ __________.

(3) Vincent thinks that the place is very beautiful, … | Vincentius putat __________ __________ esse …

(4) … but he cannot see the tops of the mountains … | … sed __________ montium vidēre __________…

(5) … because it is raining … | quia __________ …

… and the sky is dark and cloudy. | … et __________ __________nebulōsumque est.

(6) He sees a cabin … | __________ videt …

(7) and asks what is in the cabin. | … et rogat __________ in eā casulā insit.

(8) Miners used to live and work in this cabin, … | In hāc casulā __________ et __________ metallicī, …

(9) … but this dwelling is now deserted. | … sed haec habitātiō nunc __________ est.

(10) He tells his dog to come into the cabin. | Canem suum iubet in casulam __________.

(11) He looks through the window … | __________ fenestram spectat …

(12) … and sees the same mountains … | … et __________ montēs cōnspicit …

(13) … which the miners once used to look at. | … quōs ōlim metallicī __________.

ambulat; amoenissimum; cacūmina; caelum; casulam; dēserta; eōsdem; habitābant; hodiē; intrāre; labōrābant; locum; montibus; nōn potest; obscūrum; per; pluit; quid; spectābant; tertius

____________________

Hodiē est diēs tertius Vincentiī in Colōrātō. Cum cane suō in montibus ambulat. Vincentius putat locum amoenissimum esse sed cacūmina montium vidēre nōn potest quia pluit et caelum obscūrum nebulōsumque est. Casulam videt et rogat quid in eā casulā insit. In hāc casulā habitābant et labōrābant metallicī, sed haec habitātiō nunc dēserta est. Canem suum iubet in casulam intrāre. Per fenestram spectat et eōsdem montēs cōnspicit quōs ōlim metallicī spectābant.

05.04.27: Level 1; First Latin Lessons; vocabulary review (1)

Below is the main vocabulary from Units 1 – 10 of First Latin Lessons. Match the English with the Latin in the word cloud or choose from the lists in bold below each section.

[1] Nouns

• daughter
• farmer
• forest, wood
• friend
• gift
• girl
• house
• inhabitant
• language
• letter
• life
• money
• mother
• picture
• poet
• reputation, fame
• road, street
• rose
• sailor
• school
• sister
• story
• window

agricola; amīcus; casa; dōnum; epistula; fābula; fāma; fenestra; fīlia; incola; lingua; māter; nauta; pecūnia; pictūra; poēta; puella; rosa; schola; silva; soror; via; vīta

[2] Verbs [i]

• I love
• I walk
• I see
• I give
• I praise
• you love
• (s)he / it loves
• (s)he / it desires, wants
• (s)he / it gives
• (s)he / it is
• (s)he / it waits, awaits
• (s)he / it has
• (s)he / it praises
• (s)he / it reads
• (s)he / it shows
• (s)he / it tells, narrates
• (s)he / it shows, displays
• (s)he / it writes

amās; amat; ambulō; amō; cupit; dat; dō; est; exspectat; habet; laudat; laudō; legit; mōnstrat; nārrat; ostendit; scrībit; videō

[3] Verbs [ii]

• we learn
• we love
• we praise
• we see
• they are
• they give
• they hurry
• they love
• they see
• they walk

amāmus; amant; ambulant; dant; discimus; laudāmus; properant; sunt; vidēmus; vident

[3] Pronouns, prepositions; conjunctions; adverbs

pronouns

• to me / for me
• to you / for you

prepositions

• from; out of
• in; on
• with

conjunctions

• and
• but

adverbs

• also
• now
• often
• sometimes
• there
• well
• why

bene; cum; cūr; ē / ex; et; ibi; in; interdum; mihi; nunc; quoque; saepe; sed; tibi

06.08.26: you can pick up a lot from one word

obstetrics: the noun has its origins in Latin: obstetrīx, -īcis [3/f]: midwife

Quī tū scīs? an tū fortasse fuistī meae mātrī obstetrīx, quī id tam audācter dīcere audēs? (Plautus)

How do you know? Or were you perhaps my mother’s midwife, that you dare to say that so boldly?

dīxit autem rēx Aegyptī obstetrīcibus Hebraeōrum quārum ūna vocābātur Sephra altera Phua (Vulgate)

The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was called Shiphrah, and the other Puah.

The Latin noun is derived from:

[i] obstō, obstāre [1]: stand before; stand in the way

[ii] -trīx, -trīcis: the suffix creates an agent noun, i.e. one that performs the action in the root – and specifically female. Therefore, in this case, the obstetrīx is the one who stands before the woman giving birth.

Image: we can see her doing that in Ostia Antica.

[iii] suffix: -trīx, -cis

ōrnātrīx, -cis [3/f]: hairdresser < ōrnō, -āre [1]: decorate, i.e. she arranged the hair of her mistress, adorning it with jewelry

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Latin_terms_suffixed_with_-trix

[iv] The masculine equivalent is the suffix -tor, -tōris;  -sor, -sōris

cursor, -ōris [3/m]: runner < currō, -ere [3]: run

scrīptor, -ōris [3/m]: writer < scrībō, -ere [3]: write

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Latin_terms_suffixed_with_-tor

[v] There are many examples of matching pairs:

āctor, -ōris [3/m]: actor | āctrīx, -cis [3/f]: actress

balneātor, -ōris [3/m]: bath attendant (male) | balneātrīx, -cis [3/f]: bath attendant (female)

piscātor, -ōris [3/m]: fisherman | piscātrix, -cis [3/f]: fisherwoman

tōnsor, -ōris [3/m]: barber (male) | tōnstrīx, -cis [3/f]: barber (female)

04.04.27: Level 4; literature; Bread and panthers … without the panthers [5]; Cicero’s reply

Laodiceae; prid. Non. Apr. 50 │ Laodicea, 4 April 50(BC) (see notes)

[1] Dē panthērīs per eōs quī vēnārī sōlent agitur mandātū meō dīligenter.  │ The matter concerning the panthers is, according to my order, being diligently attended to by those who usually hunt.

[i] agitur │ it is being done; impersonal construction = the matter is being attended to

[ii] per eōs ¦ quī vēnarī sōlent; soleō, -ere [2]: be accustomed to; by those ¦ who are accustomed to hunting = those who usually hunt = (less literally) by the usual hunters

[2] Sed mīra paucitās est, │ But there is a remarkable scarcity,

[3] et eās quae sunt valdē aiunt querī  │ and they say that those that there are complain greatly

aiunt: they say; this is known in grammar as a defective verb i.e. a verb that does not have a full set of conjugated forms. The English verb ‘can’ is defective because it has no infinitive; it is not *to can*, but ‘to be able’ i.e. defective. The Latin verb is aiō, aiere (say), but is most commonly found as ait (he/she says or said) and, here, aiunt (they say).

[4] quod nihil cuīquam īnsidiārum in meā prōvinciā nisi sibi fīat. │ because there are no traps for anything / anyone in my province apart from for them

[i] nihil īnsidiārum │ genitive after nihil = no traps; English uses a genitive with abstract nouns e.g. nothing of interest, but its English use is limited; the translation ‘no traps’ could equally be rendered as ‘nothing in the way of traps’ which is the closest equivalent to the Latin

[ii] cuīquam: dative of quisquam; this forms part of the next major topic to be covered at Level 3; quisquam is an indefinite pronoun, the English equivalent being ‘anyone / anything’ and is generally used, as here, in negative constructions: nihil cuīquam īnsidiārum │ no traps for anyone / anything

[iii] it’s a light-hearted response: the panthers are complaining that traps are only set for them i.e. they are referring back to themselves (sibi: reflexive)

[5] Itaque cōnstituisse dīcuntur in Cāriam ex nostrā prōvinciā dēcēdere. │ Therefore, they are said to have decided to depart into Caria from our province.

Cāria, -ae [1/f]: district in SW Asia Minor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caria

[6] Sed tamen sēdulō fit et in prīmīs ā Patiscō. │ Nevertheless, it is being done zealously / with great care, and especially by Patiscus.

sēdūlō: zealously; diligently; carefully

[7] Quicquid erit, tibi erit; │ Literally: whatever there is [ will be], you will have [it will be for you] i.e. However many animals there are, you will have them;

quicquid (or quidquid): whatever;  a further example of an indefinite pronoun

[8] sed quid esset plānē nesciēbāmus. │ but what [i.e. how many] there might be, I obviously don’t know.

See the notes below on this part of the sentence

Notes

[i] PRID. ¦ NON. APR. 50

(1) prid: abbreviation of prīdiē ¦  (2) NON. APR.│ (1) the day before ¦ (2) the Nones of April

See previous post: the Nones is the 5^th of April. Therefore, the letter was written on the day before the Nones / 5^th of April i.e. April 4th

[ii] sed quid esset ¦ plānē nesciēbāmus │ but what / how many there might be, I obviously don’t know

There are three points to note concerning this part of the sentence

(1) nesciēbāmus: Cicero often uses the first person plural to refer to himself

(2) nesciēbāmus: the imperfect tense is used; this is an example of epistolary tense which was discussed here:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/06/011025-level-3-epistolary-tenses-brief.html

The term epistolary tense refers to letters, and – fairly common in the letters of Cicero – it refers to a shift in the uses of tenses. We write letters using the time frame that applies to us, the writers e.g. “I’m not sure how many of those books I have, but, whatever I find, I’ll send them to you.” However, Cicero – as he does here – changes the sentence to the time perspective of the reader, one reasonable interpretation of this style being the lengthy period that would have elapsed from the time the writer in Ancient Rome dispatched the letter until the time the recipient read it i.e. whatever is happening as Cicero writes will have finished by the time the recipient reads about it.

In the example English sentence, Cicero’s epistolary style would most likely change it to “I wasn’t sure (at the time I was writing) how many of those books I had, but, whatever I found, I’ve sent them to you.” Therefore, although the literal translation is “We ( = I) didn’t know …” (because he didn’t know at the point at which the letter was received), the actual translations is “I don’t know …”

The usage isn’t consistent and it only tends to occur when referring to events happening to the speaker at the time of writing.

Both of the points discussed above are also here (refer to the notes at the end of the post):

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/06/041025-level-3-review-irregular-verbs-9.html

(3) sed quid esset ¦ plānē nesciēbāmus │ But how many there might be, I obviously don’t know.

esset is subjunctive; a further use of the subjunctive is with indirect questions e.g. Ubi est templum? │ Where is the temple i.e. a direct question > Nesciō ¦ ubi sit [subjunctive] templum │ I don’t know ¦ where the temple is i.e. an indirect question; English could convey this using an ‘equivalent’ of a subjunctive i.e. “I don’t know where the temple might be” (slightly stilted but correct)

03.04.27: Level 4; literature; Bread and panthers … without the panthers [4]; make a date with a Roman

Scr. Romae iv Non. Sept. a. 703 (51). CAELIVS CICERONI S. ¦ M. CAELIUS RUFUS TO CICERO, Rome, 2^nd September, 51BC

Romae (locative); at Rome

Each Roman month had three principal days:

[i] Kalendae, -ārum (Kal.): the Kalends (Calends); the first day of the month (which involves no thinking at all because it always refers to the first of the month)

[ii] Nōnae, -ārum (Non.): the Nones; [i] seventh day of March, May, July, October; [ii] fifth day of all other months

[iii] Īdūs, -uum (Id.) the Ides; [i] fifteenth day of March, May, July, October; [ii] thirteenth day of all other months; Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March i.e. the 15th

Step-by-step

IV NON. SEPT.

[1] This letter refers to the Nones of September i.e. the 5^th day of the month

[2] The preceding IV [IV NON.] refers to 4 days before and including the Nones itself, and so you start counting backwards from the Nones

Day 1: 5^th │ the Nones of September

> Day 2: 4^th of September

> Day 3: 3^rd of September

> Day 4: 2^nd of September

[3] a(nnō) 703 │ in the year 703

Romans used two different ways of expressing the year, and sometimes both are written in the same text:

[i] Consular dating: two consuls were elected each year, serving together, each with veto power over the other's actions. Roman years were customarily denoted according to the names of the two consuls who held office that year:

C. Fabiō et L. Virgīniō ¦ cōnsulibus │ During the consulship of Gaius Fabius and Lucius Virginius ¦  literally: with GF and LV ¦ (being) consuls  [ablative absolute] = while GF and LV were consuls = during the consulship of GF and LV

L. Genuciō et Q. Servīliō cōnsulibus mortuus est Camillus. │ Camillus died during the consulship of Lucius Genucius and Quintus Servilius.

From the perspective of a 21^st century reader this provides little if any further information; a UK reader may know, for example, what years a person was British Prime Minister but that historical knowledge isn’t guaranteed.

[ii] ab urbe conditā (AUC)│ from the founding of the city

The year was also calculated based on the number of years that had passed since the foundation of Rome i.e. 753BC, and, like the dates, 753 itself is included in the calculation. Therefore, whatever year is expressed, you subtract that from 754: a. 703; 754 – 703 = 51BC

In general, we need to be a little circumspect when dealing with dates referring to events 2000 years ago, and there is not always consistency and / or accuracy in calculation. In the end – despite the date appearing in one of the manuscripts of Pliny’s letter – nobody is really sure when exactly Mount Vesuvius erupted. It is now generally accepted that either Pliny was wrong (there is physical and written evidence that the eruption happened later in the year) or couldn’t remember and felt he had to write something, or a date was added or misinterpreted by a scribe. I have my own thoughts on that one, but I’ll keep them to myself until we look in detail at Pliny’s account of Vesuvius.

02.04.27: Level 4; literature; Bread and panthers … without the panthers [3]; text, translation with accompanying notes to lines [6] – [10]

[6] hoc vehementius labōrō nunc, quod seorsus ā collēgā putō mihi omnia paranda. │ I am all the more concerned about this now, because, apart from my colleague, I think I shall have to prepare everything.

mihi omnia paranda │ all these things (are) to be prepared ¦ by me = I need to / I shall have to prepare everything; gerundive of obligation

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/03/020625-level-3-gerundive-1.html

[7] amābō tē, imperā tibi hoc. cūrāre solēs libenter, ut ego maiōrem partem nihil cūrāre.  │ Please tell yourself to do this / give yourself that order. You’re usually willing to take care of things, as I for the most part take none.

[8] in hōc negōtiō nūlla tua nisi loquendī cūra est, hoc est imperandī et mandandī; │ In this business there is no concern of yours except speaking  – that is, giving an order and a commission / command.

In hōc negōtiō … │ in this business / matter …

nūlla tua … cūra est │ there is no concern of yours …

nisi loquendī (hoc est) imperandī et mandandī │ apart from that of speaking (that is / i.e.) (of) giving an order and (of) giving a commission

loquendī, imperandī and mandandī are gerunds that indicate the act of doing something

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/03/270525-level-3-gerund-1.html

"In this matter, you have no concern except for speaking: giving orders and commissions." To put it more casually: “All you’ve got to do is speak, order and command.”

[9] nam simulatque erunt captae, quī alant eās et dēportent ¦ habēs eōs ¦ ... │ For as soon as they (will) have been captured, ¦ you have these (men) ¦ who will feed and transport them …

…quī alant eās et dēportent; again, this is another example of a subjunctive of purpose; with quī it is used when, for example, saying that somebody has been sent to do something; Cicero already has men there ¦ who will feed and transport the animals i.e. that is their purpose

[10] putō etiam, sī ūllam spem mihi litterīs ostenderis, mē istō missūrum aliōs. │ I think also that, if you show [ = will have shown] me any hope in your letters, I shall send others (other men) to where you are / to your place.

[i] putō … mē … missūrum │ I think … ¦ I shall / am going to send; future active infinitive

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/06/250925-level-3-grammar-of-things-to.html

[ii] istō: to the place where you are; iste, ista, istud (that) refers to something near the person being addressed

Personal comments:

There’s a sense of frustration on the part of Caelius; this isn’t the first time he’s mentioned the matter. While wild animals have been supplied to him from another source, he clearly doesn’t have enough to stage the extravaganza he has in mind. The political position of curule aedile is not insignificant: does Caelius have his eyes of the prize of a consulship?

One feels that Caelius is pressurising Cicero, referring to a local go-between (Patiscus) who sent panthers to the tribune Curio (one of Cicero’s friends) who, in turn, gave them to Caelius as a gift; in the political machinations of Ancient Rome, ‘gifts’ matter – including (somewhat sarcastically expressed) estates in the countryside – and if others can do all that, why can’t Cicero? Cicero himself, in Caelius’ view, will consider it disgraceful (turpe) that he has been unable not merely to match the number of animals already supplied but, indeed, significantly to increase it, which does read as if Caelius is embarrassing him although others interpret the exchange as light-hearted.

Cicero, according to Caelius, has more than enough authority – and offers a little praise of Cicero’s usual willingness to make arrangements – to order this without taking any direct action himself i.e. no effort required on the part of Cicero and, by his own admission, Caelius is not keen on the idea of sorting things out without assistance (and would possibly prefer not lifting a finger to do anything at all). Nevertheless, there are already men in the vicinity on financial matters (a reference omitted in the excerpt here) who can support Cicero in feeding and transporting the animals: quī alant eās et dēportent ¦ habēs eōs │ you have those men to feed and transport them. And Caelius does offer additional assistance when the panthers are caught.

What I find fascinating about this letter, is the importance attached to the hunting show, that Caelius has referred to the animals several times before and has already considered ways in which they can be looked after – and he knows where they can be caught. Panthers, rather than policy, seem to be the concern of this rather pushy political ladder climber. According to Jones and Sidwell, Caelius had been recently elected to this post which, undoubtedly, made it crucial to give a first-rate impression to the spectators of Rome.

I can’t help feeling that, if British politicians were to stage some freebie gladiatorial shows, their ratings would go up – because, as I write, they couldn’t be any lower! Furthermore, if they gave me an estate in the countryside, they’d get my vote.

Freebies, backhanders, use your mate’s influence, be pushy, get someone else to do it, keep the “mob” happy. Sarcasm alert: of course, they’re all things that happened in the past, right? I mean, they don’t happen now, do they?

29.08.26: Vincent; holiday reading

There are some very useful points in this video although I have no expertise in Vincent’s choice of books.

Crās iter faciam | I’ll be travelling tomorrow [literally: I shall make a journey]

et nunc rēs meās parō. | … and now I’m preparing my things.

Quid habeō in capsā? | What do I have in the (suit)case?

Vestīmenta sānē … | Clothes, of course …

…etiam nōnnūllōs librōs portābō mēcum. | … I’ll also bring some books with me.

Quī sunt librī? | What are the books / Which books are they?

Librī ēvangeliōrum quattuor Iuvencī … | Juvencus's four books of the Gospels …

… ut semper cum itineror hunc librum portō mēcum … | … as I always bring this book with me when I’m travelling …

… Dē imitātiōne Chrīstī … | … concerning the imitation of Christ …

… Catēchismus Conciliī Tridentīnī. | … The Catechism of the Council of Trent.

Sānē in itinere nōn poterō perlegere hunc librum … | Of course I won’t be able to finish reading this book / read the whole book on the journey.

… sed fortasse nonullōs locōs animī causā legam … | … but perhaps I’ll read some / a few passages for the sake of enjoyment …

… et parvum Missāle. | … and a small missal.

Nunc cubitum eō. | I’m going to bed now.

In crāstinum. | See you tomorrow.

[1]

legō, -ere [3]: read

perlegere [3]: read through / to the end

per: as a preposition (+ accusative): means ‘through’ or ‘across’

per-: as a prefix conveys:

[i] with adjectives: very, e.g. magnus, -a, -um (large) > permagnus, -a, -um (very large)

[ii] with verbs: indicates that an action is carried out right to the end

permaneō [2]: stay until the end; Engl. deriv: permanent

perdiscō, -ere [3]: learn thoroughly; learn by heart

pernoctō, -āre [1]: spend the night (e.g. be / sleep somewhere through the entire night)

[2]

iter, itineris [3/n]: journey; (Mil.) march; Engl. deriv: itinerary

in itinere: on the journey

iter faciō, -ere [3-iō]: travel (make a journey); march

itineror, -ārī [1/deponent]: (Late Latin) travel

[3] cubitum eō | I’m going to bed [literally: I am going to lie down / sleep]

cubō, -āre [1]; perfect: cubuī; supine: cubitum

cubitum, the supine form of the verb, was actually discussed in the group very recently:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/1033721322572469

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/1033724789238789

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/1033723109238957

In this context, it is used with a verb of motion to indicate the purpose:

cubitum eō | I am going to sleep

A synonym also uses a supine: Dormītum eō. | I am going to sleep < dormiō, -īre [4], dormīvī, dormītum

[4] Quid habeō in capsā? | What do I have in the suitcase?

Vincent uses a Neo-Latin intepretation for the noun:

https://neolatinlexicon.org/latin/suitcase/

The Romans had a very wide range of terms to describe bags, just as we have today. However, they are rarely referred to, and it is sometimes tricky to picture the type of bag they are talking about.

Classical Latin capsa, -ae [1/f] can mean ‘case’ or ‘box’ but it was often used to mean a cylindrical holder for books – and it is depicted in a fresco [see image]. The diminutive form of capsa is capsula (a small box); English derivative: capsule.

A close examination of some words in their original context helps us to formulate some idea. This excerpt from Plautus gives three words in the same speech. Note that the character refers to viāticum, -ī [2/n]: travelling-money; provision for a journey

Nunc ībō in tabernam, [i] vāsa atque argentum tibi referam. rēctē est obsignātum in [ii] vīdulō [iii] marsūpium cum viāticō: id tibi iam hūc adferam.

• I’ll go to the inn now and bring you the bags and cash. Duly under seal in the bag is the wallet with the travelling money. I’ll bring it here to you directly.

[i] vāsa, -ōrum [2/n/pl]: while it most commonly occurs with the meaning of ‘vessels’ or ‘utensils’, it can also refer to baggage, i.e. a plural concept; a synonym is sarcīnae, -ārum [1/f/pl], again denoting more than one item of luggage 

[ii] vīdulus, -ī [2/m]; the noun refers to some form of large travelling case, sometimes defined as a portmanteau. Both here and in other contexts in Plautus, the term is a convincing rendering of our modern concept of a suitcase, and is also listed at the Neo-Latin Lexicon.

[iii] marsūpium, -ī [2/n]: the English derivative is marsupial referring to animals that bear their young in a pouch; a small pouch full of money, translated here as ‘wallet’ – and elsewhere as ‘purse’ – is a valid Neo-Latin rendering even if, in the ancient Roman period, such items did not look the same as they do now.

detail of a wall-painting from Pompeii: 1st c. CE

legal document on a sealed wax tablet next to a capsa holding 7 papyrus scrolls