Monday, February 9, 2026

04.06.26: Level 1 (review); asking for directions; places in a town [3] vocabulary notes (ii)

One of the characters in this play by Plautus has been searching everywhere!

dī immortālēs, utinam conveniam domī Periphanem, per omnem urbem quem sum dēfessus quaerere: per medicīnās, per tōnstrīnās, in gymnasiō atque in forō, per myropōlia et laniēnās circumque argentāriās.

Good gods! If only I might meet Periphanes at home — I am worn out from searching for him through the whole city: through the doctors’ surgeries, through the barbers’ shops, in the gymnasium and in the forum, through the perfumers’ shops and the butchers’ stalls, and all around the banks.

gymnasium, -ī [2/n]: gymnasium

medicīna: [i] (the practice of) medicine, remedy, cure; [ii] doctor’s clinic, pharmacy

myropōlium, -ī [2/n]: a perfumer’s shop where ointments and balsams were sold

The little video that accompanies the quotation shows you that, despite a 2,000 year gap, things haven’t changed much.


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