Monday, September 8, 2025

04.12.25: Comenius (1658) LVIII: a Banquet [2] Part 2: text, notes and vocabulary; “Breaking up the Good Cheer”

The Guests being brought in by the Host, 11. wash their Hands out of a Laver, 12. or Ewer, 14. over a Hand-basin, 13. or Bowl, 15. and wipe them on a Hand-towel, 16. then they sit at the Table on Chairs, 17.

Convīvæ intrōductī ab Hospite, 11. abluunt manūs ē Gutturnīō, 12. vel Aquālī, 14. super Malluvium, 13. aut Pēlvim, 15. terguntque Mantīlī, 16. tum assident Mēnsæ per Sedīlia, 17.

The Carver, 18. breaketh up the good Cheer,* and divideth it.

Strūctor, 18. deartuat dapēs, & distribuit.

Sauces are set amongst Roast-meat, in Sawcers, 20.

Embammata interpōnuntur Assatūris in Scutellīs, 20.

Notes

[i] *“the good cheer” something that promotes good spirits especially food; the Latin describes the carver cutting up the the meat of the feast (daps) itself and handing it out to everybody present

[ii] passive forms

convīvæ intrōductī ab hospite │ the guests (having been) brought in by the host …

embammata interpōnuntur assatūris │ sauces are put between the roast meats

[ii]

tum assident mēnsæ per sedīlia │ then they sit at the table on chairs

manūs … terguntque mantīlī │ and they wipe their hands with a hand-towel

sedīle, -is [3/n]: chair

mantīle, or mantēle, -is [3/n]: cloth to wipe the hands or mouth; towel; napkin; see mappa in the previous post

Both are neuter i-stem nouns

Link: 14.06.25: Level 3; Sonnenschein; Prō Patriā [3]; Cunobelīnus [4]; review: i-stem nouns (3)

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/03/140625-level-3-sonnenschein-cunobelinus.html

[iii]

tum assident mēnsæ [dative] │ then they sit at the table

embammata interpōnuntur assatūris [dative]the sauces are placed among the roast meats

assideō (or adsideō), -ēre [2]: to sit at, by or near something

interponō, -ere [3]: put / place between or among

Both of these verbs are compounds, formed with a prefix (ad-, inter-) which, when standing alone, act as prepositions; in these verbs the original physical meaning of the preposition is retained. However, many compound verbs in Latin are followed by the dative case; ad and inter as prepositions are followed by the accusative case, but not when attached to the verb as prefixes.

That Comenius put two of them in the text does show what he wanted: he wanted the teacher to explain them.

Link: 13.04.25: Level 3; Verbs with the dative case [1]: compound verbs

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/02/130425-level-3-verbs-with-dative-case-1.html

Vocabulary

[1]

convīva, -ae [1 m/f]: guest

daps, dapis [3/f]: meal; banquet; feast

deartuō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]: dismember

hospes, hospitis [3 m/f]: host (or guest)

strūctor, strūctōris [3/m]: server; carver of food

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:entry=structor-harpers

[2] There are many words in Latin that describe vessels for containing, transporting and pouring liquids, two of which are not in the text but which should be noted:

[i] amphora, -ae [1/f]: two handled clay vessel usually with a blunt end for storage in sand or against a wall or on a ship; wine and garum or liquāmen (fish sauce) were products commonly stored and transported in an amphora, but they would be far too big to pour a small glass of wine at a dinner table!

[ii] urceus, -ī [2/m]: any sort of jug with one handle; image #3 from the  House of Aulus Umbricius Scaurus in Pompeii shows a one-handled garum bottle that would be described as an urceus.


From the text:

[iii] gutturnium, -ī [2/n]: narrow-necked ewer; from guttur, -is [3/n]: throat; neck; the translator uses the older term ‘laver’ which doesn’t quite match the Latin original, a ‘laver’ referring to a washbasin

Also: gūtus (or: guttus) [2/m]: narrow-necked jug or flask to pour small drops of liquids e.g. oil; the word is derived from gutta, - ae [1/f]: drop (of liquid); teardrop; Engl. deriv. gutter

[iv] aquālis, -is [3/m]: vessel for washing e.g. wash-basin, ewer

[v] malluvium, -ī [2/n] wash-handbasin; also: (1) labellum, -ī [2/n]: small water basin; (2)  lābrum, -ī [2/n]: basin; large water container for bathing

Labrum, R. (lit. a lip). A general term to denote any kind of vessel the brim of which turned over on the outside like the lip of the human mouth; a wide flat basin which stood in the thermal chamber or Caldarium of the Roman baths.” (Mollett: An Illustrated Dictionary of Words used in Art and Archaeology)

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/67629/67629-h/67629-h.htm

[vi] pēlvis, -is [3/f] (acc. -im): shallow bowl or basin, often associated with the washing of feet:

Deinde mittit aquam in pēlvim, et coepit lavāre pedēs discipulōrum (Vulgate) │ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet

Puerī capillātī attulērunt unguentum in argenteā pēlve pedēsque recumbentium ūnxērunt │  some long-haired boys brought ointment in a silver basin, and anointed our feet as we lay (Petronius)

[vii] abluō, -ere, abluī, ablūtus [3]: wash (off / away); cleanse; purify




[3]

[i] assatūra, -ae [1/f]: (Late) roasted meat

assō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]: roast

assus, -a, -um: roasted; baked

[ii] embamma, embammatis [3/n]: sauce < Anc. Gk. ἔμβαμμα (émbamma); also: iūs, iūris [3/n]: gravy; sauce; juice

From the Apicius cookbook:

iūs in cervō │ venison sauce

embamma in cervīnam assammarinade for roast venison

[iii] scutella, -ae [1/f]: small, shallow bowl; the translator gives this as ‘saucer’. However, the 17th century term here does not refer to the saucer you place under your coffee cup, but a small food container used for putting different sauces on a table; Classical definition: “a small tray or salver on which cups could be placed, and not a saucer or dish like its French derivative écuelle” (Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities)

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