DIRECTIONS IN A PESTILENCE
Complete the Latin with the words listed after each of the
three sections.
[i] There are also observances necessary for a healthy
man to employ during a pestilence, although in spite of them he cannot
be secure.
Est etiam observātiō __________ necessāria, quā quis in __________
ūtātur adhūc __________, quum tamen __________ esse nōn possit.
sēcūrus; necessāria; pestilentiā; integer
[ii] At such a time, then, [1] it is necessary [2] to
go abroad, [3] take a voyage [= sail]; when this [4] cannot be [=
it is not allowed / permitted], to be carried in a litter, walk [4] in the
open [= under the sky] before the [5] heat (of the day), [6] gently,
…; further as stated above he should avoid [7] fatigue, indigestion, [8]
cold, [9] heat, [10] sexual indulgence ….
tum igitur [1] __________ [2] __________, [3] __________:
ubi id nōn [4] __________, gestārī, ambulāre [5] __________, ante [6] __________,
[7] __________; …: et, ut suprā comprehēnsum est, vītāre [8] __________,
crūditātem, [9] __________, [10] __________, [11] __________...
aestum; calōrem; fatīgātiōnem; frīgus; lēniter; libīdinem; licet;
nāvigāre; oportet; peregrīnārī; sub dīvō
[iii] At such a time he should not [1] get up early
in the morning nor walk about [2] barefoot, and [3] least so
after a meal or [4] bath… and likewise he should avoid the bath, [5] sweating,
[6] a midday siesta… He should drink, one day water, the next day wine.
[= [7] On alternate days in turn he should drink at one time [8] water
at another wine]
tum neque manē [1] __________, neque [2] __________ ambulandum
est, [3] __________que post cibum, aut [4] __________; …Itemque vītandum
balneum, [5] __________, [6] __________, … [7] __________ invicem, modo [8]
__________, modo vīnum bibendum est.
alternīs diēbus; aqua; balneum; merīdiānus somnus; minimē; pedibus
nūdīs; sūdor; surgendum
Image: The Black Death (1346 – 1353)
And do we ever learn?
A term used with reference to pestilence, although not Latin
but useful to know is miasma from Anc. Gk. μίασμα (míasma: pollution;
stain); first attested in 1665, it referred to the belief that the Plague was
carried by noxious fumes as opposed to the rats. It’s interesting to read
Celsus’ comments on how to deal with pestilence and, in particular, his initial
statement that people could not be secure. 1,600 years later they weren’t much
further forward: “lockdown” was put into force except that they would simply
shut, bar, bolt and nail the entire family into the house irrespective of
whether or not certain members of that family were infected. Self-flagellation
was practised and they thought it would be a good plan to kill all the cats and
dogs – despite the fact that the cats and dogs would have reduced the rat
population, which was the actual source of the Plague.
And here are some other methods of combatting pestilence:
- red soap
- holding your breath for ten seconds
- vodka
- washing your hands in vinegar
- inhaling bleach
- rum, bleach and fabric softener
But they weren’t suggested in 1665; they were suggested in
2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unproven_methods_against_COVID-19
____________________
[i] Est etiam observātiō necessāria, quā quis in pestilentiā
ūtātur adhūc integer, quum tamen sēcūrus esse nōn possit.
[ii] tum igitur oportet peregrīnārī, nāvigāre: ubi id nōn
licet, gestārī, ambulāre sub dīvō, ante aestum, lēniter; …: et, ut suprā
comprehēnsum est, vītāre fatīgātiōnem, crūditātem, frīgus, calōrem,
libīdinem...
[iii] tum neque mane surgendum, neque pedibus nudis ambulandum est, minimeque post cibum, aut balneum; …Itemque vitandum balneum, sudor, meridianus somnus, …Alternis diebus invicem, modo aqua, modo vinum bibendum est.
