20.04.24: Verbs describing weather

Latin makes use of impersonal verbs to describe weather conditions, an impersonal verb in English most often using it although that pronoun is not referring to anything in particular, for example: it’s raining (Fr. il pleut; Gmn: es regnet), it’s snowing (Fr. il neige; Gmn. es schneit).

We’ll begin by looking at a range of impersonal verbs used by the authors.

plumbō et saxīs grandinat. (Pacuvius) ¦ it’s hailing with lead and rocks

sī nūbilāre coeperit (Varro) ¦ If it starts to grow dark

At quārē aliquandō nōn fulgurat et tonat (Seneca) ¦ But why is there no lightning sometimes and yet it thunders?

prius quam lūcet adsunt (Plautus) ¦ before it is daybreak they are with me

intereā tōtō nōn sētius aëre ningit (Virgil) ¦ Meanwhile it snows no less over the whole sky

cum pluit in terrīs et ventī nūbila portant (Lucretius) ¦ when it rains on earth and winds bring clouds

cum tonat, … fulminat, cum serēnat. (Minucius) ¦ when it thunders, … lightning strikes, when it’s clear

Ante rorat* quam pluit (Varro) ¦ it drizzles before it rains

*rorat can also refer to the formation of dew

[also: leniter pluit (it’s raining gently)]

And verbs can also be used to describe how people feel and what a particular type of weather is doing:

dum calet, dēvorārī decet iam. (Plautus) ¦ while he's warm, 'tis proper for him to be gobbled up.

Quod tibi suprā scrīpsī Cūriōnem valdē frīgēre, iam calet (Cicero) ¦ I said just now that Curio was much in the cold: well, he is now getting warm

Hic Sīrius alget, brūma tepet (Statius) ¦ Here Sirius* is chill, midwinter is warm.

*the dog-star

Sōl omnibus lūcet (Petronius) ¦ The sun shines on everyone

Iuppiter tonat. Jupiter thunders. (Dickinson reference)

cum ventus spīrat lēnis (Varro) ¦ when a gentle wind is blowing

[also: ventus flat]

And here’s a great one from Petronius, the only Roman author, as far as I know, who actually said it:

et Iovem aquam exōrābant. Itaque statim urceātim plovēbat ¦ and they prayed to Jupiter for rain. And it rained bucketfuls:

Forget “plovebat”; that’s a non-standard reworking of pluēbat (it was raining) to convey the rather vulgar nature of the character talking.

urceātim from urceus, -ī [2/m]: pitcher; jug

urceātim pluit: it’s raining buckets; it’s bucketing