24.03.26: Describing objects [3]; metals (iii)

[i] argentum, -ī [2/n]: silver

ex argentō: made of silver

vāsa coquīnāria ex argentō: cooking vessels made of silver

argenteus, -a,  -um: (made of) silver

nummus argenteus: a silver coin

• lectulī … aureī et argenteī (Vulgate): gold and silver couches (couches of gold and silver)
• ecce mīlle argenteōs dedī frātrī tuō (Vulgate) │ Behold, I have given your brother a thousand silver (pieces)

argentātus, -a, -um: silvery; covered with silver

Livy:

• duo exercitūs erant; scūta alterīus aurō, alterīus argentō caelāvērunt; … │ There were two armies; the shields of one they embossed with gold, those of the other with silver … = one had their shields plated with gold, the other with silver

Livy continues by using aurātus and argentātus to differentiate between the soldiers; he has already pointed out that the shields are covered with gold and silver rather than being made entirely from them:

• … tunicae aurātīs mīlitibus vērsicolōrēs, argentātīs linteae candidae (Livy)  │ Literally: for the gold-covered / gilded soldiers multi-coloured tunics, for the silvered ones tunics of white linen = the tunics of the men with gold plated shields were in variegated colours, those with the silver shields had tunics of white linen

The first image shows a Romano-British silver ingot (late 4^th – early 5^th century) found at the Tower of London (British Museum)

[ii] aes, aeris [3/n]: copper; bronze; brass; cuprum, -ī [2/n]: (Late Latin) copper

ē / ex aere: made of bronze

simulācrum ex aere factum │ a statue / image made of bronze

aēneus, -a, -um: (made of) copper, bronze

equus aēneus: a horse made of bronze

aerātus, -a, -um: covered with bronze / brass

• cum classe nāvium …, in quibus paucae erant aerātae (Caesar) │ with a fleet of … ships, some of which were strengthened with beaks of brass; the text merely states that the ships were covered with brass, but Caesar is specifically referring to the rōstrum (literally: beak), the bronze-covered ram at the prow of the ship; the whole ship could not be made of brass – it would sink!

[iii] ferrum, -ī [2/n]: iron

ē / ex ferrō: made of iron

ferreus, -a, -um: (made of) iron

uncus ferreus: an iron hook

ferrātus, -a, -um: covered with iron

hasta ferrāta: iron-pointed spear; the shaft of a Roman spear was made of hardwood, but the spearhead (which could be up to 60cm in length) was iron

portae ferrātae: iron-clad gates

faber, fabrī [2/m] ferrārius: blacksmith

[iv] chalybs, chalybis [3/m]: iron; steel

chalybēïus, -a, -um: (made of) iron / steel

Note: the rare occurrence in a vocabulary list of a diaeresis, two dots above a vowel (ï) to indicate that it is pronounced separately rather than as a diphthong [ka-ly-be-i-us]; the diaeresis exists in English, for example in the names Brontë and Zoë (the last vowel is pronounced) and, sometimes, in naïve. The diaeresis was not used in Classical Latin writing.