26.03.24: the imperfect tense [5]; more reading

Britannia antiqua (excerpts) [2]; translation in the comments

“Incolae antīquī insulae nostrae ferī et bellicōsī erant. Hastīs, sagittīs, essedīs inter sē pugnābant. Proelia Britannōs antīquōs dēlectābant. Multī et dīversī erant populī Britannōrum. Multī ex populīs erant Celtae. Celtīs antīquīs, sīcut Germānīs, capillī flāvī, oculī caeruleī, membra magna et rōbusta erant. Sīc Tacitus dē Calēdoniīs narrat. Incolae Cambriae merīdiānae ‘colōrātī’ erant. Sed Rōmānīs statūra parva, oculī et capillī nigrī erant. Ūniversī Britannī, ut Gāius Iūlius affirmat, membra vitrō colōrābant, sīcut nautae nostrī hodiernī. Vestīmenta ex coriīs ferārum constābant. In casīs parvīs circum silvās suās habitābant.”

Vocabulary:

• affirmō, affirmāre [1]: assert; maintain
• bellicōsus, -ā, -um: warlike; fierce
• calēdonius, -a, -um: Caledonian; Scottish
• Cambria (Mediaeval Latin): Wales (Welsh: Cymru)
• Celta (masc. or fem.): a Celt
• colōrātus, -a, -um: coloured
• colōrō, colōrāre [1]: colour; dye
• cōnstō, cōnstāre [1]: cōnsīst
• corium: leather; skin; hide
• essedum: chariot
• ferus, -a, -um: wild; savage
• flāvus, -a, -um: yellow; golden; blond; flaxen.

This is the adjective the text uses here. However, in the descriptions of the Celts by the Roman historian Tacitus, he uses the adjective rutilus, -a, -um meaning “of a yellowish-red” colour, that red hair colour being a characteristic of some Celtic people.

• hodiernus, -a, -um: today’s; of today
• membrum: limb
• meridiānus, -a, -um: southern
• rōbustus, -a, -um: strong
• populus: people; (here): tribe
• sīcut: just like
• ūniversus, -a, -um: whole; entire
• vitrum: woad (ā blue dye used by the Britons)

Notes:

[1] Again the passage describes what the inhabitants of Britain used to do or what they were generally like.

Inter sē pugnābant. │ They used to fight among themselves / they would fight among themselves / they fought among themselves (with the implication in context that it happened more than once)

Incolae …. bellicosī erant. │ The inhabitants were warlike, i.e. this is what generally describes them.

[2] A couple of points of grammar discussed in previous posts appear here, but it would easy to miss them:

(i) Hastīs, sagittīs, essedīs …. pugnābant. │ They used to fight with spears, (with) arrows, and (with) chariots. 

This is the ablative of means / instrument i.e. what was used to perform the action.

Similarly: Ūniversī Britannī … membra vitrō colōrābant. │ All the Britons … would dye (their) limbs with woad.

(ii) Celtīs antīquīs … capillī flāvī, oculī caeruleī, membra magna et robusta erant. 

Dative of possession; │[Literally: To the Celts were blonde hair, blue eyes, large and strong limbs] │ The Celts had blonde hair, blue eyes etc.

Similarly:

Sed Rōmānīs statūra parva, oculī et capillī nigrī erant. │ [Literally: But to the Romans were a short stature, black eyes and hair] │ But the Romans had a short stature, black eyes and hair, or, better English, the Romans were short in stature and had black eyes and hair.

Here’s a reworking of some of the statements made in the text. Look at the imperfect verbs and note nōs, nōbis, nostra: all of these have been talked about in previous posts. Now you can see that, even to be able to read still elementary Latin, words will be fired from all sides.

So, 2000 years ago, ¦ [i] we Celts were wild and warlike, [ii] we had red hair and blue eyes, [iii] we used to dye our limbs with woad and [iv] we used to fight amongst ourselves.

[i] Nōs Celtae ferī et bellicōsī erāmus. [ii] Nōbīs capillī rutilī et oculī caeruleī erant. [iii] Membra nostra vitrō colōrābāmus. [iv] Inter nōs pugnābāmus.

Nothing much has changed (sigh). It’s not surprising Hadrian built a wall across Roman Britain to keep us out!

 

____________________

The ancient inhabitants of our island were wild and warlike. They fought with / amongst each other with spears, arrows, and chariots. The ancient Britons loved battles. There were many diverse tribes of Britons. Many of the tribes were Celts. The ancient Celts, like the Germans, had blond hair, blue eyes, and large and robust limbs. Tacitus talks of the Scots in this way. The inhabitants of southern Wales were 'coloured' [i.e. they had tattoos of woad]. But the Romans were small in stature, and had black eyes and hair. All the Britons, as Gaius Julius states, would dye their limbs with woad, like our present-day sailors. Their clothes consisted of the skins of wild animals. They lived in small houses around their forests.