Wednesday, May 6, 2026

09.11.26: Level 3+ (Review); P. Cornelius Lentulus: The Story Of A Roman Boy [8] (adapted)

LXVII. PUBLIUS GOES TO ROME TO FINISH HIS EDUCATION

[A] __________

[B] __________

Iamque Pūblius, quīndecim annōs nātus, prīmīs litterārum elementīs cōnfectīs, Rōmam petere voluit ut scholās grammaticōrum et philosophōrum frequentāret. Et facillimē patrī suō, quī ipse philosophiae studiō tenēbātur, persuāsit. Itaque omnibus rēbus ad profectiōnem comparātīs, pater fīliusque equīs animōsīs vectī ad magnam urbem profectī sunt. Eōs proficiscentēs Iūlia tōtaque familia vōtīs precibusque prōsecūtae sunt.

[C] __________

[D] __________

Tum per loca plāna et collēs silvīs vestītōs viam ingressī sunt ad Nōlam, quod oppidum eōs hospitiō modicō excēpit. Nōlae duās horās morātī sunt, cum sōl merīdiānus ārdēret. Tum rēctā viā circiter vīgintī mīlia passuum Capuam, ad īnsignem Campāniae urbem, contendērunt. Veritī nē dēfessī essent Capuae pernoctāvērunt, ut postrīdiē, somnō et cibō recreātī, ab urbe discēderent.

[E] __________

[F] __________

Cum manē ientāculum sūmpsissent, viam Appiam ingressī sunt, quae Capuam tangit et usque ad urbem Rōmam dūcit. Ante merīdiem Sinuessam pervēnērunt, quod oppidum tangit mare. Inde prīmā lūce proficīscentēs Formiās properāvērunt, ubi Cicerō, ōrātor clārissimus, quī forte apud vīllam suam erat, eōs benignē excēpit rogāvitque quō iter facerent.

[G] __________

[H] __________

Hinc itinere vīgintī quīnque mīlium passuum factō, Tarracīnam, oppidum in saxīs altissimis situm, vīdērunt. Iamque nōn longē aberant palūdēs magnae, quae multa mīlia passuum undique patent. Per eās pedestris via est gravis, et in nāve viātōrēs vehuntur. Itaque equīs relictīs Lentulus et Pūblius nāvem cōnscendērunt, et, ūnā nocte in trānsitū cōnsūmptā, Forum Appī vēnērunt.

[I] __________

[J] __________

Tum brevī tempore Arīcia eōs excēpit. Hoc oppidum, in colle situm, ab urbe Rōmā sēdecim mīlia passuum abest. Inde dēclīvis via ūsque ad lātum campum dūcit ubi Rōma stat. Quem ad locum ubi Pūblius vēnit et Rōmam adhūc remōtam, maximam tōtius orbis terrārum urbem, cōnspēxit, summā admīrātiōne et gaudiō adfectus est.

[K] __________

Sine morā dēscendērunt et, mediō intervāllō quam celerrimē superātō, urbem portā Capēnā ingressī sunt.

Question [1] comprehension: Which of the following titles are appropriate for each paragraph? There are two titles for all of them except the final line of the passage.

A coastal route and a famous Roman host

Along the Appian Way and an unexpected meeting

Awe and anticipation near the journey’s end

Careful progress and an overnight stop at Capua

Entering the city

Father and son prepare for a journey to the capital

Publius decides to pursue higher studies in Rome

The first sight of Rome from afar

The first stages of the journey through Campania

The marshes and a night spent in transit

Through difficult terrain by land and water

Question [2] language; ablative absolute constructions

Literally: with X ¦ having been Y-ed

Example: urbe ¦ captāwith the city ¦ having been captured

However, in translation, the construction is most often rephrased using a conjunction introducing time or reason:

after the city had been captured …

when the city had been captured …

since the city had been captured …

Translate the following ablative absolute constructions that occur in the passage:

[i] prīmīs litterārum elementīs cōnfectīs

[ii] omnibusbus ad profectiōnem comparātīs

[iii] itinere vīgintī quīnque mīlium passuum factō

[iv] equīs relictīs

[v] ūnā nocte in trānsitū cōnsūmptā

[vi] mediō intervāllō quam celerrimē superātō

____________________

Notes on the subjunctive

[i] Subjunctive: purpose

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/subjunctive%3A%20purpose

Rōmam petere voluit ut scholās grammaticōrum et philosophōrum frequentāret

  • He wanted to make for Rome in order that he might attend the schools of grammarians and philosophers

Capuae pernoctāvērunt ut postrīdiē, somnō et cibō recreātī, ab urbe discēderent

  • They stayed the night in Capua so that on the next day, refreshed by sleep and food, they might depart from the city.

[ii] Subjunctive: fear

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/subjunctive%3A%20verbs%20of%20fearing

Veritī dēfessī essent, …

  • fearing that they would / might be exhausted

Note: veritus, -a, -um often appears as a participle ‘fearing’

[iii] Subjunctive: circumstance; cum does not primarily indicate time, but introduces a clause that provides background information against which the main action is to be understood

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/subjunctive%3A%20cum-clauses

cum sōl merīdiānus ārdēret

  • while / when / since the midday sun was blazing

cum manē ientāculum sūmpsissent

  • after they had taken breakfast in the morning

[iv] Subjunctive: indirect question; subordinate clauses introduced by an interrogative word have a verb in the subjunctive

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/subjunctive%3A%20indirect%20questions

rogāvitque quō iter facerent

  • and asked where they were going (to)

____________________

[1]

[A] Publius decides to pursue higher studies in Rome

[B] Father and son prepare for a journey to the capital

[C] The first stages of the journey through Campania

[D] Careful progress and an overnight stop at Capua

[E] Along the Appian Way and an unexpected meeting

[F] A coastal route and a famous Roman host

[G] Through difficult terrain by land and water

[H] The marshes and a night spent in transit

[I] The first sight of Rome from afar

[J] Awe and anticipation near the journey’s end

[K] Entering the city

[2]

[i] After the first elements of learning had been completed [i.e. after the rudiments of letters had been mastered]

[ii] When all preparations for the journey had been made

[iii] After a journey of twenty-five miles had been completed

[iv] When the horses had been left behind

[v] After one night had been spent on the crossing

[vi] When half the distance had been covered (as swiftly as possible)

08.11.26: topic; architecture [17]; describing a house; conversation questions

[1] Match the questions with the answers.

[2] Give your own answers.

[i] Habitāsne in aedibus an in insulā?

[ii] Habitāsne in urbe an rūrī?

[iii] Estne tibi domus magna?

[iv] Quot conclāvia domus habet?

[v] Habetne domus multa cubicula?

[vi] Suntne omnia cubicula in summō tabulātō?

[vii] Quālis supellex est in cubiculō?

[viii] Ubi tē lavās?

[ix] Ubi vestēs induis?

[x] Quid facis in culīnā?

[xi] Quālia ūtēnsilia sunt in culīnā?

[xii] Estne tablinum in aedibus tuīs?

[xiii] Quid facis in tablinō?

[xiv] Quid facis in hortō?

[A] Domus mea quinque conclāvia habet.

[B] In aedibus habitō.

[C] In balneō mē lavō.

[D] In cubiculō est lectus et mēnsa et sella.

[E] In cubiculō vestēs induō.

[F] In culīnā cibum parō et edō.

[G] In culīnā sunt olla, cultrī et cochleāria.

[H] In hortō ambulō et lūdō.

[I] In tablinō labōrō et scrībō.

[J] In urbe habitō.

[K] Ita, domus mea magna est.

[L] Ita, omnia cubicula in summō tabulātō sunt.

[M] Ita, tria cubicula habet.

[N] Minime, tablinum nōn est in aedibus meīs.

[i] B; [ii] J; [iii] K; [iv] A; [v] M; [vi] L; [vii] D; [viii] C; [ix] E; [x] F; [xi] G; [xii] N; [xiii] I; [xiv] H

Artist’s impression of a city insula:

https://www.thecollector.com/what-were-homes-like-in-ancient-rome/

07.11.26: Level 1-2 (review): Julia (a Latin Reader) [4] (3)

CERĒS ET PERSEPHONĒ (3)

Tandem Cerēs prope parvam agricolae casam in saxō gelidō sedēbat. Dea maesta diū lacrimābat. Tum ē casā puella parva ad Deam vēnit. Puellae oculī plēnī erant lacrimārum. “Puerum parvum,” inquit, “habēmus. In cūnīs aeger iacet. Lacrimāmus, quod aeger est puer.”

Tum Cerēs lacrimās suās tenuit, et cum puellā ad casam properāvit. Ibi Metanīra fīlium aegrum in gremiō tenēbat. Fīlius Metanīrae Triptolemus erat. Lacrimābant et agricola et Metanīra et puella parva, quod nōn valēbat puer. Tum Cerēs puerō ōsculum dedit, et ecce! statim valuit puer. Mīrum et dīvīnum est ōsculum Deae.

Laetī erant et agricola et Metanīra et puella. Iam laetus et validus puer in cūnīs dormītābat. Tum Cerēs Triptolemum in gremiō suō tenuit. Dea cum tōtā familiā cēnam habuit; in mēnsā erant ūvae purpureae et pōma iūcunda. Adhūc ignōta erant Italīs Graecīsque et vīnum et frūmentum. Deae tamen flāvae grāta erat rūstica cēna. Post cēnam in agricolae casā Dea manēbat et cottīdiē Triptolemum cūrābat.

[1]

Metanīra, -ae [1/f]: Metanira

Triptolemus, -ī [2/m]: Triptolemus

cūnae, -ārum [1/f]: cradle

gremium, -ī [2/n]: lap

saxum, -ī [2/n]: rock

[2]

aeger, aegra, aegrum: sick

gelidus, -a, -um: cold

maestus, -a, -um: sad

ignōtus, -a, -um: unknown

rūsticus, -a, -um: rustic

[3]

teneō, tenēre [2]: hold

valeō, valēre [2]: be strong, be well

dormiō, dormīre [4]: sleep

[4]

tandem: at last

diū: for a long time

ecce: look!

___________________

At last Ceres sat on a cold rock near a small farmer’s cottage. The sad goddess wept for a long time. Then from the house a little girl came to the goddess. The girl’s eyes were full of tears. “We have a little boy,” she said. “He lies sick in the cradle. We weep because the boy is sick.”

Then Ceres held back her tears and hurried with the girl to the house. There Metanira held her sick son in her lap. The son of Metanira was Triptolemus. The farmer, Metanira, and the little girl were weeping because the boy was not well. Then Ceres gave the boy a kiss, and look! immediately the boy became well. The kiss of the goddess is wondrous and divine.

The farmer, Metanira, and the girl were happy. Now the boy, happy and strong, was sleeping in the cradle. Then Ceres held Triptolemus in her lap. The goddess had dinner with the whole family; on the table were purple grapes and pleasant fruits. Wine and grain were still unknown to Italians and Greeks. Nevertheless the rustic meal was pleasing to the golden goddess. After dinner the goddess stayed in the farmer’s house and cared for Triptolemus daily.