29.03.24: the third declension [1]

First take a look at the images of the bust of the Roman boy and part of the statue of Hadrian and note the vocabulary.

2nd declension

• nāsus: nose
• oculus: eye
• collum: neck
• labrum: lip

From Principia, a little schoolbook written by Peckett and Munday in 1949…and you can tell it was originally developed in a boys’ school! Peckett was the Headmaster and Munday was the Senior Classics master.

RIXA (a quarrel)

pulsō, pulsāre [1]: beat; batter; strike

You can almost hear the pupils reciting these in their classroom…

• Mārcus nāsum Sextī pulsat. │ Macus punches (strikes) Sextus’ nose.
• Sextus nāsum Mārcī pulsat. │ Sextus punches Marcus’ nose.
• Mārcus oculum Sextī pulsat. │ Marcus thumps Sextus’ eye.
• Sextus Mārcī oculum pulsat. │ Sextus thumps Marcus’ eye.

So, nothing unusual about the grammar; oculus and nāsus are 2nd declension nouns and they’re in the accusative.

Now, look at the next sentences:

frōns: forehead

• Mārcus frontem Sextī pulsat. │ Marcus strikes Sextus’ forehead.
• Sextus frontem Marci pulsat. │ Sextus strikes Marcus’ forehead.

auris: ear

• Mārcus aurēs Sextī vellit. │ Marcus tugs Sextus’ ears.

[vellō, vellere [3]: pluck out (e.g. feathers); pull]

dēns: tooth

• Sextus dēntēs Mārcī excutit. │ Sextus knocks out Marcus’ teeth.

[excutiō, excutere [3]: shake out; knock out; drive out]

crūs: leg

• Marcus crūs Sextī torquet. │ Marcus twists Sextus’ leg.
• Sextus crūra Mārcī torquet. │ Sextus twists Marcus’ legs.

[torqueō, torquēre [2]: twist]

caput: head

pēs: foot

venter: stomach; belly

lapis: stone

• Mārcus caput Sextī lapide pulsat. │ Marcus strikes Sextus’ head with a stone.
• Sextus caput Mārcī pede calcat. │ Sextus treads on Marcus’ head with (his) foot.
• Marcus ventrem Sexti pedibus calcat. │ Marcus treads on Sextus’ stomach with (his) feet.
• Mārcus ex capite labōrat. │ Marcus has pain from his head [ = has a headache].

[calcō, calcāre [1]: trample on]

Neither Marcus nor Sextus hit each other in the mouth (ōs), but Plautus tells you to keep your mouth shut:

Opprime ōs, is est (Plautus) │ Shut your mouth! It’s him.

What you have here is the first sight of the third declension of nouns. Third declension nouns have cropped up in earlier posts but they have only been mentioned in passing.

auris (ear), caput (head), crūs (leg), dēns (tooth), frōns (forehead), lapis (stone), ōs (mouth), pēs (foot), and venter (stomach) belong to the third declension.

There are two points to note at this early stage:

[i] Third declension nouns have a range of endings e.g. caput: head, dēns: tooth and, [ii] when they decline many of them will change e.g. dēns (tooth) > dēntēs (teeth), crūs (leg) > crūra (legs); pēs (foot) > pede (with [his] foot); pedibus (with [his] feet)

The greatest number of Latin nouns are in the third declension and, once you have become familiar with how they work, your vocabulary will expand enormously. But there’s quite a hill to climb here and so, over the next few posts, we will look at this slowly and in detail.

28.03.24: the imperfect tense [10]

This is a short follow-up on the previous post; here are examples of the imperfect tense of eō, īre which appear in the works of the authors.

[1] At ego ad tē ībam. (Plautus.) │ But I was on my way to see you

[2] Ībam forte Viā Sacrā (Horace) │ I happened to be going along the Sacred Way

[3] Quō nunc ībās? (Plautus) │ Where were you going just now?

[4] Ībat forte domum (Lucilius) │ He happened to be going home

[5] Quid intereā? ībatne ad Bacchidem? (Terence) │ What <did he do> in the meantime? Did he used to visit Bacchis?

And the verb can have prefixes which change the meaning, but the imperfect will be the same:

[1] Itaque ab¦ībam invītus (Plautus) │ That’s why I was leaving (going away) unwillingly

[2] Ad¦ībam ad istum fundum (Cicerō) │ I was approaching (going to) that estate

[3] Quom [= cum] ex¦ībam domō (Plautus) │ When I was going out of the house

[4] Ubī forās cum aurō illīc ex¦ībant (Naevius) │ As they were going outside from that place with gold

[5] Cum Gallus amōre per¦ībat (Vergil) │ When, for love, Gallus lay dying

[6] Id Helvētiī ratibus ... trāns¦ībant. (Caesar) │ The Helvetians were going across that (river) with rafts.

28.03.24: the imperfect tense [9] imperfect tense of [i] possum, posse [ii] volō, velle [iii] eo, īre; the “domino effect”

Britannia antiqua (excerpts) [4]; translation in the comments

“Multī mortuōs cremābant, sīcut Graecī et Rōmānī: exstant in Cantiō sepulchra cum urnīs pulchrē ornātīs. Exstant etiam nummī Britannicī, aureī, argenteī, aēneī. Esseda quoque fabricābant: nōn plānē inhūmānī erant, sī rotās ferrātās essedōrum et nummōs aureōs aēneōsque fabricāre poterant. Britannīs antīquīs magnus numerus gallōrum gallīnārumque erat; animī, nōn escae, causā curābant, ut Gāius Iūlius affirmat. Sed incolae mediterrāneōrum et Calēdoniī ferī et barbarī erant. Mortuōs humābant. Agrī cultūrae operam nōn dabant; nōn frūmentō sed ferīnā victitābant. Deōrum fāna in lūcīs sacrīs et silvīs ātrīs erant. Sacra cūrābant Druidae. Sacra erant saeva: virōs, fēminās, līberōs prō victimīs sacrificābant. Inter sē saepe pugnābant; captīvōs miserōs vēnumdābant, vel cruciābant et trucīdābant: nōnnumquam simulācra magna, plēna victimīs hūmanīs, cremābant. Populōrum inter sē discordiae victōriam Rōmānōrum parābant.”

Vocabulary

cruciō, cruciāre [1]: crucify

ēsca: food

fabricō, fabricāre [1]: manufacture

fānum: shrine

ferīna: game; flesh of wild animals

ferrātus, -a, -um: fitted with iron

gallīna: hen

gallus: rooster

humō, humāre [1]: bury

inhūmānus, -a, -um: uncivilised

lūcus: grove

mediterrānea: Midlands (not Mediterranean)

onrnātus, -a, -um: decorated

pulchrē: beautifully; adverb < pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum: beautiful

rota: wheel

sacer, sacra, sacrum: sacred; sacra (plural): sacred rites

sacrificō, sacrificāre [1]: sacrifice

sepulcrum: tomb

simulācrum: image; likeness; statue; effigy

sī: if

trucīdō, trucīdāre [1]: slaughter

vēnumdō, vēnumdāre [1]: sell

victima: sacrificial victim

victitō, victitāre [1]: feed (on)

Notes

[1] animī, nōn ēscae, causā curābant

They looked after (these animals) not for the sake of food but for amusement

animus: many different meanings e.g. soul; life force; intellect; mind; spirit

[2] nōn frūmentō [ablative] sed ferīnā[ablative] victitābant: they would not feed on grain but on game

[3] virōs, fēminās, līberōs prō victimīs sacrificābant

prō + ablative: this preposition has many different meanings e.g. [i] for [ii] for the sake of; on behalf of [iii] before; in front of. As is often the case in Latin, you need to see the word in context to get to its meaning. Here, they sacrificed men, women and children as sacrificial victims.

[4] (sī) rotās ferrātās … fabricāre poterant: (if) they were able to manufacture iron-clad wheels..

In a previous post, mention was made of the “domino” effect i.e. once you knock one down, the rest follow, which is a reason why the small number of irregular verbs in Latin really pose little challenge. Once you know the first part, the rest follows:

eram: I was

You have the first part; just add the personal endings

erās: You (sg.) were

erat: he / she / it was

erāmus: we were

erātis: you (pl.) were

erant: they were

And the same applies to other irregular verbs:

• possum, posse: be able

This is the same verb as above with a contraction of potis(able) as a prefix:

pot¦eram: I was able; I could

pot¦erās: you (sg.) were able; you could

pot¦erat: he / she / it could

pot¦erāmus: we could

pot¦erātis: you (pl.) could

pot¦erant: they could

And the domino effect continues:

• volō, velle: want

volēbam: I was wanting

volēbās: you (sg.) were wanting

volēbat: he / she / it was wanting

etc.

• eō, īre: go

ībam: I was going / I used to go

ībās: You (sg.) were going / used to go

ībat: he / she / it used to go

etc.

____________________

Many cremated the dead, as in Greece and Rome: there are tombs in Kent with beautifully decorated urns. There also exist British coins of gold, silver, and bronze. They also manufactured chariots: they were not completely uncivilised if they could manufacture iron-clad chariot wheels and gold and bronze coins. The ancient Britons had a great number of cockerels and hens; as Gaius Julius maintains, they took care of them not for the purpose of food but for amusement. But the inhabitants of the Midlands and Caledonia were wild and barbarous. They buried the dead. They paid no attention to the cultivation of the land. They did not feed on grain but on game. The shrines of the gods were in sacred groves and in dark forests. The Druids took care of religious rites. Their rites were savage: they sacrificed men, women, and children for their victims. They often fought with each other. They would sell the miserable captives, or crucified and slaughtered them. Sometimes they cremated a large effigy, full of human victims. The disagreements among themselves prepared the way for the victory of the Romans.

27.03.24: ille, illa, illud

So, contrary to what we’ve done before, look at the image first, and then look out of the window for the tallest building from which to throw yourself! If you start from the table you may think that it’s too high a hill to climb and go and learn something else. So, don’t start with the table.

[i] ille, illa, illud: what do they mean? Are they still around in other languages?

• French: il (he) < Lat. ille (that [man]; he)
• Fr: elle (she) < Lat. illa (that [woman]: she)
• Spanish: ellos (they [m.]) < Lat. illōs (those [men]; they)
• Spanish: ellas (they [f.]) < Lat. illās (those [women]; they)

So, [i] ille [ii] illa and [iii] illud can mean [i] that [man]; he [ii] that [woman]; she or [iii] that [thing]; it. Their plural forms translate as “those [men, women, things]” or, depending on context, “they”.

In the same way that English says “I like this book”, referring to, something close to you e.g. in your hand, but “I prefer that one”, referring to something further away, Latin makes the same distinction. Hic, haec and hoc – which we have already looked at – refers to something or someone close to you, but ille, illa and illud refers to something or someone further away.

Cuius est hic liber? │ Whose is this book? 

Cuius est ille liber? │ Whose is that book?

Quis est haec fēmina? │ Who is this woman? 

Quis est illa puella? │ Who is that girl?

Quid est hoc? │ What is this (thing)? 

Quid est illud? │ What is that (thing)?

What it doesn’t mean in Classical Latin is “the”; the “mutation” of ille and illa in French also extended to le / la (the) and Spanish el / la (the) but it never translates as “the” in Classical. There was no definite article in CL.

Ille, illa and illud are so common that, rather like omnis (all) in an earlier post, you will pick up the endings through reading rather than only learning a table. The table is posted for reference.

But is it as daunting as it first appears? Most of ille is the same as 1st / 2nd declension nouns and adjectives which have already been covered. Only those parts marked in yellow are different. So, in fact, there isn’t as much to learn as perhaps you first thought.

Below are some examples in short sentences. Don’t be concerned with the endings, but take a look at what cases are involved. Then you can cross-reference to the table. Alternatively, don’t think about the cases; just become familiar with the word in context because it’s easy to spot and understand.

Quam scelestus est ille [nominative] caupō! │ How wicked that innkeeper is!

Et ille [nominative] “Oppida aedificābant,” inquit. │And he said “They did use to build towns.”

Illam [accusative] amābam. │ I used to love her [i.e. that (woman; girl)]

Dīligēbat autem illum virum [accusative] sīcut angelum deī. (St. Augustine) │ But she loved that man like an angel of God.

Illīus [genitive] pecūniam puellae dō. │ I give his money [= the money of that (man)] to the girl.

Illī [dative] pecūniam dō. │I give the money to him (or to her) [that man / woman].

illō [ablative] tempore │ at that time

Quis in illā villā [ablative] habitat? │ Who lives in that house?

Illī [nominative plural] bonī agricolae erant. │ They [those men] were good farmers.

Ille magister [nominative] illōs puerōs [accusative plural] castīgat. │That teacher is punishing those boys.

Illōrum [genitive plural] pecūniam habēmus. │ We have their money [= the money of those (men)]

From Catullus who’s suffering from a, most likely, temporary split with his girlfriend:

Ibi illa [nominative plural] multa cum iocōsa fīēbant … Nunc iam illa [nominative singular] nōn vult (Catullus) │ There, where those many playful things took place … She’s no longer willing now.

And why does Catullus use these words? Those playful things are away from him in time and space ... and she is definitely not near him!

27.03.24: John Comenius

Before the next post on ille, illa, illud, I wanted to share a few more personal thoughts.

How you approach learning in Latin – and not just Latin – can affect your view of the “challenges” you face, and make the task appear far more daunting than it actually is.

One author writes in his introduction that the purpose of his Latin text book is:

"To entice witty children to it, that they may not conceit a torment to be in the school, but dainty fare."

The author, John Amos Comenius, wrote that in 1658.

Comenius was well aware that teaching children had to be done in a different way. His book was a best seller throughout Europe.

The book is available online: https://archive.org/details/cu31924032499455/mode/2up

What’s interesting is that some schoolbooks in the 17th and 18th centuries followed Comenius’ pattern. In an earlier post you saw an excerpt from the work of Charles Hoole; it was Hoole who translated Comenius’ work into English. Furthermore, you can take a look at Learning Latin the Ancient Way by Eleanor Dickey which produces colloquia, dialogues for learners of Latin which date as far back as the 4th century CE.

Of the ancient method of learning Latin Dickey writes:

"They then read easy-reader texts designed for beginners … in which the Latin was divided into narrow columns one to three words wide and accompanied by a Greek translation that matched line for line. Such a translation enabled the ancient learner to understand both what the individual words meant (as with our interlinear translations) and what the sentence as a whole meant.

Of course, once such a translation was provided the students could not be asked to engage with the Latin by translating it; rather they memorized the Latin, using the translation to make sure they understood it. This procedure is not dissimilar to that sometimes used in modern language teaching today, where students memorize a dialogue concerning some activity that they are likely to participate in once they start using the language.

Thus a modern student learning French might memorize a dialogue in which a character goes to a café in Paris and orders a sandwich, and the ancient student learning Latin would memorize one in which a character goes to the baths in Rome and gets someone to watch his clothes while he swims. Many bilingual texts were written specifically for language learners; these are known as “colloquia,” because much of their content (though not all of it) is in dialogue form."

The books by, for example, Comenius and Hoole did not shy away from grammar, but they incorporated it in a way that was both practical and accessible. Then came the Victorians. If you pick up most Victorian textbooks you will, from day one, be subjected to [i] full tables of endings [ii] half a dozen sentences to illustrate the points [iii] half a dozen sentences to translate [iv] highly complex notes and then … on to the next point.

The 19th century attitude towards learning in general was that kids had nothing better to do with their time than learn Latin, recited tables, listened to the word of the schoolmaster, didn’t ask too many questions, were assumed to have understood immediately, and woe betide them if they admitted that they didn’t. In fact, there are textbooks that were published decades later that adopted a similar system.

The excerpts I give from Sonnenschein, Chesnutt and a few others did, however, try to address that, and there are numerous books from the 1920s and 1930s, particularly from the USA, that developed a pattern which is still evident in, for example, the Cambridge Latin Course.

Based on my own experience, you need to tread carefully on all of this. All of the posts so far have introduced concepts gradually, with some practical exercises, reading in context, notes, translations, quotations from authors and, yes, finally, the “dreaded” table as a summary. Simply looking at a table and memorising a shedload of endings does work for some people – but it didn’t work for me any more than it did when I was learning Russian which also contains shedloads of endings. That’s like learning your two times table but not knowing what to do with it!

Seeing concepts in context, reading and understanding them without thinking too much about the endings at the initial stages at least, memorising phrases and short quotations, using visual clues (especially for vocabulary), doing a few exercises, referring to translations, having a go at some translation yourself, doing some online research and asking others i.e. a mixture of approaches rather than only one will go a long way into embedding the language.

And one final point: there were aspects of Latin that I revisited again and again and again. I would have been the Victorian lad who wanted to tell the schoolmaster that I didn’t “get it”. But I wouldn’t have wanted to stay behind after school!

27.03.24: the imperfect tense [8]

Britannia antiqua (excerpts) [3]; translation in the comments

Hīc amita mea “Nōnne in oppidīs habitābant?” inquit. Et ille “Oppida aedificābant,” inquit “sed, sī Gāius Iūlius vēra affirmat, oppida Britannōrum antīquōrum loca firmāta erant, nōn loca ubi habitābant. Sed Britannia merīdiāna crēbra erat incolīs et aedificiīs. Sīc narrat Caesar in librō quintō Bellī Gallicī. Multī ūnā habitābant, ut putō.” “Itaque nōn plānē barbarī erant," inquit amita mea. Et ille: “Incolae Cantiī agrī cultūrae operam dabant, atque etiam mercātūrae. Nam Venetī ex Galliā in Britanniam mercātūrae causā nāvigābant. Britannī frūmentum, armenta, aurum, argentum, ferrum, coria, catulōs vēnāticōs, servōs et captīvōs exportābant; frēna, vitrea, gemmās, cētera importābant. Itaque mediocriter hūmānī erant, nec multum dīversī ā Gallīs.”

Vocabulary

catulus: young dog; puppy

catulus vēnāticus: young hunting dog

firmātus, -a, -um: fortified

frēnum: bridle

locus: place; this noun has two plurals [i] locī (places) [ii] loca: region; geographical area

mediocriter: moderately; tolerably

mercātūra: commerce

plānē: altogether

Venetī: a tribe on the west coast of Gaul

vitreus, -a, -um: made of glass; vitrea (plural): things made of glass i.e. glass vessels

Notes

[1] hīc: blink and you’ll miss it! Hīc with a long /ī/ is not the same as hic [with a short /i/], haec, hoc: this. Hīc with long /ī/ means “here” or “at this place”; in the text the best translation would be “at this point”

[2] inquit: he / she says or said depending on context

Note also: “… inquit amita mea. Et ille: …” ¦ “…my aunt said. And he (said) …”; the word for “said” (inquit) is not repeated. It often occurs in this kind of “he said, she said” exchange. The verb ait [(s)he says / said] is also frequently found.

[3] vērus, -a, -um: true; vēra, literally “true things”: the truth

[4] creber, crebra, crebrum: crowded; followed by the ablative: crēbra erat incolīs et aedificiīs ¦ crowded with inhabitants and buildings

[5] puto, putāre [1]: think; ut putō “as I think” can translate as “in my opinion”

[6] causā: “for the sake of”; follows its noun and takes the genitive: mercātūrae causā ¦ for the sake ofcommerce

[7] nec multum dīversī … and not much different …

See the next post for notes on ille.

Note below and image from Salisbury Museum

“These gold coins from about 100 BC were discovered in south Wiltshire, the only hoard of its type from the area. The coins were minted by the local Durotriges tribe. The use of gold, combined with the elaborate decoration on the coins, point to the wealth and power of this tribe.”

____________________

At this point my aunt said, "They lived in towns, didn’t they?" And he said, "They used to build towns," but, if Gaius Julius is stating the truth, the towns of the ancient Britons were fortified places, not the places where they dwelt. But southern Britain was packed with inhabitants and buildings. Caesar talks about it in that way in the fifth book of the Gallic War. Many lived together, I think.” "And so, they were not altogether barbarians," said my aunt. And he said: "The inhabitants of Kent gave attention to agriculture, and also to trade. For the Veneti sailed from Gaul to Britain for commercial purposes. The Britons used to export grain, cattle, gold, silver, iron, leather, young hunting dogs, slaves, and captives; they would import bridles, glassware, gems, and other things. Therefore, they were tolerably humane, and not much different from the Gauls."

26.03.24: the imperfect tense [7]; simple practice of imperfect verbs

What are the meanings of these imperfect verbs? All of the verbs have appeared in previous posts. You can see the infix -ba / bā – and the personal endings -m. -s, -t etc.

lūdē ¦ ba ¦ nt: they were playing; they used to play. Translate them all with with either “was / were [doing]” or “used to [do]”

What are the meanings of these imperfect verbs? All of the verbs have appeared in previous posts. You can see the infix -ba / bā – and the personal endings -m. -s, -t etc.

ludē ¦ ba ¦ nt: they were playing; they used to play. Translate them all with with either “was / were [doing]” or “used to [do]”

1. labōrā¦ba¦m (I was .... ing; I used to ...)
2. manē¦bā¦s (you [sg.] were ... )
3. docē¦ba¦t (he / she / it used to ... )
4. accipiē¦bā¦mus (we .... )
5. fugiē¦bā¦tis (you [pl.] ... )
6. aperiē¦ba¦nt (they ... )
7. amābāmus
8. audiēbāmus
9. cupiēbam
10. currēbāmus
11. dēcipiēbant
12. dīcēbant
13. discēbat
14. dormiēbam
15. faciēbās
16. habitābās
17. iacēbant
18. legēbās
19. nārrābātis
20. natābat
21. nāvigābant
22. pūniēbat
23. saeviēbat
24. sciēbātis
25. scrībēbam
26. sedēbam
27. surgēbātis
28. terrēbātis
29. timēbāmus
30. veniēbās

26.03.24: the imperfect tense [6]; examples of the imperfect tense from various sources e.g. school textbooks

Note the different ways in which the Latin imperfect is used and different possibilities of translation:

Depending on context:

[a] An action that was ongoing at the time, but not finished:

Tempestās magna mare turbābat. │ A great storm was stirring up the sea.

[b] An action that was frequentative i.e. it happened more than once:

Mediā nocte surgēbam. │ I used to get up at midnight. [I would get up at midnight]

[c] A general situation in the past:

Puerum timēbat │ He feared the boy. [i.e. that was his state of mind over a period of time]

[1] Paucōs annōs cum uxōre suā in eā regiōne habitābat, et in magnō honōre erat apud omnēs Aethiopēs… Magnopere tamen mātrem suam rūrsus vidēre cupiēbat. │ For a few years he (Perseus) lived with his wife in that region, and was in great reputation / honour with all the Ethiopians [= had a great reputation / was held in great honour among...] However, he greatly desired to see his mother again.

cupiō, cupere [3-iō]: desire

[2] Herculēs ā puerō corpus suum dīligenter exercēbat; magnam partem diēī in palaestrā* cōnsūmēbat. │ From when he was boy Hercules would exercise his body carefully; he used to spend most of the day in the gymnasium.

cōnsūmō, cōnsūmere [3]: (here) to spend (time)

[3] Tū iter Rōmam saepe faciēbās. │ You often travelled / used to / would often travel to Rome.

[4] Nōnnumquam in scaphā cum nautīs nāvigābāmus. │ We sometimes used to sail in the little boat with the sailors.

[5] Tempestās magna mare turbābat. │ A great storm was stirring up the sea.

[6] Mediā nocte surgēbam. │ I used to get up at midnight.

[7] Duodecim annōs crūdēlissimō Eurystheō serviēbat. │ For twelve years he was a slave to the very cruel Eurystheus.

serviō, servīre [4]: to be a slave to somebody; the verb is followed by the dative case.

[8] Haud procul ā valle … spēlunca erat, in quā Cācus, horribile mōnstrum, tum habitābat. │ Not far from the valley … was a cave in which Cacus, a horrible monster, lived at that time.

[9] Ācrisius volēbat Persēum nepōtem suum necāre; nam propter ōrāculum puerum timēbat. │ Acrisius wanted to kill his grandson, because, on account of the oracle, he feared the boy.

imperfect tense of volō, velle [irr.] want > volēbam, volēbās etc.

[10] Illam amābam ōlim. │ I loved her at one time.

[11] Cum mātre suā vītam beātam agēbat. │ He led / was leading a happy life with his mother

[12] Herculēs Apollinem praecipuē colēbat. │ Hercules particularly worshipped Apollo.

colō, colere [3]: several meanings including [i] cultivate (land) and, here, [ii] worship

[13] Diū frūstrā quaerēbat; namque nātūram locī ignōrābat. │ For a long time he was searching in vain for he did not know the nature of the place.

[14] Ibi Cēpheus quīdam illō tempore rēgnābat. │ A certain Cepheus ruled there at that time.

*The image shows the palaestra, a wrestling school or place of exercise; this one is of the palaestra outside the Stabian baths at Pompeii.

26.03.24: Vindolanda

Vindolanda is a Roman fort just south of Hadrian's wall. If you go way back to the earlier posts, you saw part of a letter written by a soldier who was stationed there.

26.03.24: map of Roman Britain

Historians, like Classicists, love to argue, but the map gives you an idea of the location of the tribes and main locations in Roman Britain. Hadrian's wall - not as high now, of course, than it first was - finally marked the most northern outpost of the Roman Empire.

26.03.24: Tacitus and Britannia

The Roman historian Tacitus never went to Britain, but his father-in-law did. Gaius Julius Agricola was governor of Britain from 77 or 78 CE until 83 / 84 CE. Tacitus’ work “De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae” (On the life and character of Julius Agricola) – which is a short work and worth reading even in English – describes the actions of his father-in-law but also gives descriptions of the geography and ethnography of the tribes inhabiting Britain. The image shows the title page of a manuscript dating from between 800 and 900:

CORNELII TACITI DE VITA IVLII AGRICOLAE LIBER INCIPIT

Cornēliī Tacitī [genitive] ¦ dē vītā [ablative] ¦ Iūliī Agricolae [genitive] ¦ liber incipit.

The book ¦ of Cornelius Tacitus ¦ about the life ¦ of Julius Agricola ¦ begins.

incipiō, incipere [3-iō]: begin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricola_(book)

English version online:

https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/TacitusAgricola.php

26.03.24: Caesar and Britannia

Julius Caesar did not conquer Britain; it did not become a Roman province at that time. That happened over a hundred years later under the rule of Emperor Claudius. There were, however, two invasions led by Caesar in 55 and 54 BCE respectively, and Caesar did write about Britain as part of his accounts of the Gallic Wars [the first page of a manuscript of the work is posted]. Our group focuses on the language rather than the history, but below is a link which will give more information on the invasions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar%27s_invasions_of_Britain

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, -a, -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]: consist
• 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 (a 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. 

26.03.24: the imperfect tense [4]; pointing to the past

Some adverbs and adverbial phrases of time – not exclusively used with the imperfect tense - can be used almost as ‘signposts’ indicating that the events being described are set firmly in the past (and distinguished from the present) without giving any precise detail as to when the events took place.

• anteā; antehāc; prius: before; formerly; previously
• quondam; ōlim: at one time; formerly
• ōlim can be used at the beginning of a fairy tale: ‘once upon a time’

The expressions below can also refer to a specific point in time in the past.

• eō / illō tempore: at that time
• tum; tunc: then; at that time

Again, here are some examples from the authors. The imperfect tenses are marked in bold and the time expressions are in italics

[1] Hunc audiēbant anteā. (Cicero) │ They used to hear of him before.

[2] Quod antehāc imperitābam, nunc tē ōrō (Plautus)* │ What formerly I used to command you, I now beg of you.

[3] Atque antehāc quidem spērāre saltem licēbat, nunc etiam id ēreptum est. (Cicero) │ And up to this time indeed it was at least possible to hope: now even that is snatched from us.

[4] Quem cōnstābat eō tempore in Macedoniā fuisse (Cicero) │ It was well-known at the time that he was in Macedonia

[5] Mē benignius omnēs salūtant quam salūtābant prius (Plautus)* │ They all greet me more heartily than they used to greet me before.

[6] Ubi quondam aedem Diānae adluēbat. (Pliny the Elder) │ Where once <the sea> used to wash up to the temple of Diana

[7] Dīcēbās quondam sōlum tē nōsse Catullum, (Catullus) │ You once used to say that you only knew Catullus.

[8] Ibi illa multa tum iocōsa fīēbant, (Catullus) │ At that time many playful things took place there,

[9] Ex equō tum forte Mettius pugnābat. (Livy) │ At that time (i.e. the time of his death) Mettius happened to be fighting on horseback.

[10] From Ritchie’s Fabulae Faciles:

Aper illō tempore agrōs Erymanthiōs vastābat et incolās huius regiōnis magnopere terrēbat. │ At that time a boar was laying waste to the lands of Erymanthus and (was) frightening the inhabitants of this region.

*Good old Plautus! He often comes up with exactly what you're looking for. Here are two examples from the ones above showing you the present and imperfect tenses in the same sentence:

[i] Quod antehāc imperitābam [imperfect], nunc tē ōrō │ What formerly I used to command you, I now beg of you.

[ii] Mē benignius omnēs salūtant [present] quam salūtābant [imperfect] prius │ They all greet me more heartily than they used to greet me before.

26.03.24: the imperfect tense [3]

Below are a few quotations from the authors where the imperfect tense is used. The best way I can explain my view of this is like "knocking on the door" of Latin literature, rather than going in like a bull in a grammatical china shop! Don't be distracted by word forms with which you're not yet familiar: focus on the verbs and the translations.

[1] Pliny, describing the effects of Vesuvius states:

Hunc identidem excutiēbāmus │ We repeatedly shook it off (i.e. the ash)

[2] Neque lēgātōs ad Caesarem mittere audēbant (Caesar) │  And they did not dare send envoys to Caesar. [i.e. this was a general state of affairs]

[3] Āra vetus stābat. (Ovid) │ An old altar stood [was standing] there. [i.e. It wasn't standing there and went off somewhere else. It's a general statement as to where it was.]

Three quotations from Cicero:

[4] Nēquam esse hominem sciēbam. │ I knew the man to be worthless [i.e. again, it wasn't something that he suddenly knew, but which he had known for some time]

[5] An tum erās cōnsul cum in Palātiō mea domus ārdēbat nōn cāsū aliquō │ Were you consul when my house on the Palatine Hill was burning, not by any accident ...

[6] tū illō ipsō tempore apud socrum tuam prope ā meīs aedibus ... sedēbās │ But you at that very time were sitting in the house of your mother in law, close to my house ...