11.05.24: Iōsēphus et Titus servī sunt; notes on the video [1]

This video shows some of the absolute basics of the language that were covered a long time back in the group; as always, you can scroll back or go to the other site. The video itself also has explanations at the end.

In a dialogue that lasts just under two minutes, there is a lot of very useful information and so, I’ll summarise the key points to take from it in two posts:

[1] Nouns of the 1st and 2nd declension

ancilla, -ae [1/f]: maidservant

domina, -ae [1/f]: mistress

familia, -ae [1/f]: family

fīlia, -ae [1/f]: daughter

__________

dominus, -ī [2/m] master

fīlius, -ī [2/m]: son

numerus, -ī [2/m]: number

servus, -ī [2/m]: slave

līberī, -ōrum [2/m/pl]: children

[2] Verb

sum, esse: be

[3] 1st / 2nd declension adjectives and possessive adjectives:

cēterus, -a, -um: the rest

magnus, -a, -um: large; great

parvus, -a, -um: small

multus, -a, -um: much (pl. many)

paucus, -a, -um: few

meus, mea, meum: my

tuus, tua, tuum: your

[4] Case usage

[i] Nominative

Dominus meus est Iūlius. │ Julius is my master.

Aaemīlia domina mea est. │Aemilia is my mistress.

Vīgintī nōn est parvus numerus. │ Twenty isn’t a small number.

And the two speakers deliberately express them in different ways to show the flexibility of the word order.

singular > plural

servus

> multī servī │ many slaves

> cēterī servī │the other slaves

> quot servī? │how many slaves?

ūnus fīlius > duo fīliī: two sons

paucī līberī: few children

ancilla > decem ancillae: ten maidservants

Quot servī et quot ancillae* …? │ How many slaves and how many maidservants …?

decem servī decemque ancillae* │ten slaves and ten maidservants

*They make a small pronunciation error here:

Latin, like English, has stressed syllables e.g. háppy, ínteresting, impórtant, begín; the last one – be-GIN has a stress on the final syllable. In Latin, however, a word is not stressed on the final syllable e.g.

valē /ˈu̯a.leː/

servus /ˈser.u̯us/

ancillae /anˈkil.lae̯/

quoque /ˈkʷo.kʷe/

duo /ˈdu.o/

[ii] Genitive

Iūlius > familia ¦ Iūliī [literally: the family ¦ of Julius]: Julius’ family

dominus meus > familia ¦ dominī meī [literally: the family ¦ of my master]: my master’s family

līberī > numerus ¦ līberōrum │ the number ¦ of children

servus > numerus ¦ servōrum │ the number ¦ of slaves

[iii] Ablative

familia tua > Quot servī sunt ¦ in familiā tuā? │ How many slaves are ¦ in your family?

And here are both cases working together in two of the questions.

Quot sunt līberī ¦ in familiā ¦ Cornēliī? │ How many children are ¦ in the family ¦ of Cornelius?

Quot servī et quot ancillae sunt ¦ in familiā ¦ dominī tuī? │ How many slaves and how many maidservants are ¦ in the family ¦ of your master?

[iii] Vocative: his name is Titus but when Iosephus addresses him directly -us > -e

Valē, Tite │ Goodbye, Titus.

11.05.24: Latin tutorial; future tense of 3rd, 3-iō and 4th conjugation verbs

Before moving on to the second type of future tense, you might want to take a look at this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FTBG0Jg6Cg

As examples he uses the verbs trahō, trahere [3]: drag; pull, and audiō, audīre [4]: hear

11.05.24: review; future tense [3]; working with different tenses; the sī clause [3]: Julia: a Latin Reader [3]

Identify the present tense verbs and the future tense verbs from this passage.

1. they will fight

2. they will have

3. they will kill

4. we have

5. we live

6. we love

7. we will be

8. And the imperative / command form: Farewell! Be well!

____________________

“in casīs Rōmānīs laetae et placidae habitāmus; līberōs cārōs habēmus et vehementer amāmus; et Sabīnōs et Rōmānōs amāmus. "Sī Rōmānī cum Sabīnīs pugnābunt, Rōmānī Sabīnōs, Sabīnī Rōmānōs necābunt. Tum Sabīnae nec virōs nec patrēs nec frātrēs habēbunt. Ō patrēs, valēte! Nōn iam Sabīnae sed Rōmānae semper erimus fīliae vestrae."

____________________

Vocabulary and notes

nec … nec: neither … nor …

nōn iam: no longer

As you go on reading Latin, features will “turn up” that, from my own experience, if you try to deal with all of it at once, it’s too much information at one time and, to be honest, of little help if you’re not seeing it in context.

This little text is a case in point:

"Sī Rōmānī cum Sabīnīs pugnābunt, Rōmānī Sabīnōs, Sabīnī Rōmānōs necābunt. │ If the Romans fight with the Sabines, the Romans will kill the Sabines and the Sabines (will kill) the Romans.

Sī (if) introduces what in grammar is known as a conditional clause.

If I have time, │I will go to the bank.

If I have time, both in English and in Latin, is called a conditional clause. That part of the sentence e.g. an action or a set of circumstances has to exist before │ the main action of the sentence can take place.

If he doesn’t do his homework (conditional clause) │I’ll be really angry (the outcome).

[i] The standard format for that construction in English is:

If it rains [present tense] tomorrow │we will not go out  [future tense].

But you also see this:

[ii] If he won’t tell [future] you the answer │then it’ll be [future] your problem and not mine.

Now look at the Latin example; in this type of conditional sentence, Latin uses the future tense in both parts of this sentence.

Sī Rōmānī cum Sabīnīs pugnābunt, │ Rōmānī Sabīnōs, Sabīnī Rōmānōs necābunt.

If the Romans (will) fight with the Sabines │ the Romans will kill the Sabines, (and) the Sabines will kill the Romans.

Step-by-step: that’s by no means the whole story. Conditional sentences in Latin are a big topic that involve a lot of focus on verbs and so simply be aware that tense usage between English and Latin does not always match.

____________________

We live, happy and peaceful, in Roman houses; we have our dear children and love them very much; we love both the Sabines and the Romans. If the Romans fight with the Sabines, the Romans will kill the Sabines, (and) the Sabines will kill the Romans. Then the Sabines will have neither husbands, nor fathers, nor brothers. O fathers, farewell! No longer Sabines but Romans, we will always be your daughters.

10.05.24: follow-up on the previous post

The history of Ancient Rome is massive and complex. When I started, my knowledge of Roman history was vague. But certain stories came up – again and again – in the old school textbooks. In an earlier post, an excerpt referred to Aeneas’ escape from Troy. Two posts back reference was made to Romulus.

Long before I could look at these stories in original Latin, I learned about early Roman history – and the characters who figure in them – by using books such as Julia, a Latin reader, because they tell the stories in simpler language.

In earlier posts I have used many excerpts from:

[i] Helen Chesnutt’s The Road to Latin; they give a lot of background to the lives of the Romans

[ii] Sonnenschein’s Ora Maritima; the author talks a lot about the history of Roman Britain, and you can review basic Latin while you're doing it.

https://archive.org/details/cu31924031202850

Slowly, I identified areas of Roman history that were of significance and, gradually, I began to read more detailed works, first in English and then in Latin. What were the major events – both historical and in legend? How do some of these narratives forge the Romans’ mindset? What was their ‘value system’, and who were the ‘major players’ – good and bad?

I think that Reading Latin by Jones and Sidwell [image #1] is a fabulous ‘step up’ into the world of Roman history and literature in Latin. Jones and Sidwell, starting from Plautus, choose parts of original texts – and they provide extensive notes and vocabulary. An example in the book is the trial against Gaius Verres for his gross mismanagement of Sicily. Cicero was the prosecutor. The entire trial is monumental in length, but Jones and Sidwell pick out significant parts of it in Latin, and give the historical background and some insight into how the Romans viewed provincial management.

In the way that I referred to Wiktionary as being the ‘middle man’ in terms of dictionaries, for me Jones and Sidwell are the ‘middle men’ in accessing the literature and the history in the original language.

Here is the link again to Julia – a Latin reader, the entire basic book that I’m using at the moment for these posts if you want to read more for yourself; there, among others, you'll find Romulus and Remus, the Sabines, Mars, and the Trojan horse.

https://www.fabulaefaciles.com/library/books/reed/julia

Although not mentioned by name in the first excerpt in the previous post, the incident being described concerns Horatius on the bridge.

The second text refers to an event in the legendary history of early Rome which is known by the ugly term ‘The rape of the Sabine Women’ although it is sometimes translated as ‘abudction’ or ‘kidnapping’. Personally, I think that, in the context of that event, ‘rape’ is too provocative, whereas in relation to the rape of Lucretia – another major story in the early history / legend of Rome - the word means precisely that. The rape / abduction / kidnapping (delete as applicable) of the Sabine women was a story known to all the Romans. More information is at the link below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women

More than that, they “commemorated” it on their coins [mages #2 and #3] And the coins too can be part of the ‘jigsaw’ of getting to know the Romans.

In an earlier post there was a discussion on the coin depicting Aeneas escaping from Troy, his father on his shoulder and the household god in his right hand, symbolic of Rome’s earliest history, bravery, duty to the gods and duty to the family.

Another post also looked at the Ides of March coin commemorating the murder of Julius Caesar in, for me, a blatant political manoeuvre, since it was minted on the order of Brutus, one of the men who had stabbed Caesar to death.

But why would a coin commemorating the abduction of women be minted? What was in the psyche of the Romans that a coin like that would "celebrate" such an event - whether true or legendary? I don’t know the “answer”, but I suspect that it embedded the idea that the Romans could take whatever they wanted. And, judging by the size of the Roman Empire at its height, they kept on doing it.

10.05.24: review; future tense [2]; working with different tenses: Julia: a Latin Reader [2]

[1]

"Ego cum duōbus amīcīs contrā hostēs in angustō locō pugnābō. Ita omnēs prō ārīs templīsque Rōmānīs, prō uxōribus līberīsque, prō sacrīs virginibus pugnābimus. Ita urbem Rōmam cōnservābimus. Quis mēcum in extrēmō ponte stābit et contrā Etrūscōs pugnābit?"

Tum Lartius, "Ego," inquit, "ā dextrā stābō, et pontem tēcum cōnservābō"; et magnā vōce Herminius, "Ego," inquit, "ā sinistrā stābō et pontem tēcum cōnservābō."

[A] Vocabulary and notes

[i] 1st / 2nd declension adjectives in -er

sacer, sacra, sacrum: sacred; holy

dexter, dextra, dextrum: right

sinister, sinistra, sinistrum: left

[ii] prepositions with the accusative:

contrā: against; contrā Etrūscōs │against the Etruscans

[iii] uses of the ablative case

prepositions

in angustō locō │in a narrow position

in … ponte │on the bridge

cum … amīcīs │with…friends

mēcum: with me; tēcum: with you, i.e. written as one word with the preposition attached to the pronoun

prō: [i] in front of; before [ii] for; on behalf of:

We will fight …

prō ārīs templīsque Rōmānīs… │for the Roman altars and temples (or standing in front of / before the altars and temples; either way, they intend to protect them)

prō uxōribus līberīsque │for (our) wives and children

ā / ab: (away) from, but here:

ā dextrā │on the right

ā sinistrā │on the left

But we have the same idea in “The enemy attacked from the right.”

Other uses of the ablative case have been discussed as the group has gone on. Here is an example from the text.

magnā vōce │ (he said) in a loud voice; the ablative expresses the way in which he said it

[B] Find the Latin from the text.

1. I shall fight

2. I shall preserve.

3. I shall stand.

4. Who will fight?

5. Who will stand?

6. We will fight.

7. We will preserve.

Much of what you read in Latin will be in different tenses at the same time. Here are some “gentle” examples.

[2]

"Ō cīvēs," inquit, "nūllās fēminās habēmus, sed Sabīnī cīvitātem fīnitimam habitant. Sabīnī fēminās multās et fōrmōsās habent. Sabīnōs igitur cum fēminīs ad lūdōs invītābimus, et virginēs raptābimus."

cīvitās, cīvitātis [3/f]: multiple meanings e.g. state; city and surrounding territory; kingdom; tribe

fīnitimus, -a, -um: neighbouring

[3]

Vōs quoque fortasse ad Ītaliam Graeciamque ōlim ipsī nāvigābitis, et illa loca oculīs vestrīs vidēbitis, ubi poētae habitābant.

From [2] and [3]:

Find the Latin

[i] Present tense

The Sabines … have many beautiful women

The Sabines … live

We have…

[ii] Imperfect

The poets used to live

[iii] Future

You [pl.] will sail

You [pl.] will see

We will abduct

We will invite

___________________

[1] I will fight with two friends against the enemies in a narrow place. Thus we will all fight for the Roman altars and temples, for our wives and children, for the sacred (Vestal) virgins. Thus we will preserve the city of Rome. Who will stand with me at the end of the bridge and fight against the Etruscans?"

Then Lartius said "I will stand on the right, and maintain the bridge with you." and Herminius with a loud voice said "I will stand on the left and guard the bridge with you.”

[2] "Oh citizens," he said, "we have no women, but the Sabines live in a neighbouring state. The Sabines have many beautiful women. Therefore we will invite the Sabines with the women to the games, and we will abduct the young women."

[3] Perhaps you yourselves will also sail to Italy and Greece one day, and will see with your own eyes those places where the poets used to live.

 

09.05.24: review; future tense [1]: Julia: a Latin Reader [1]

The future tense translates as “I shall / will, you will” etc.

Latin forms its future tense in two different ways depending on the conjugation to which a verb belongs.

This post and the next one show the first form which is used with 1st and 2nd conjugation verbs.

Both the 1st and 2nd conjugation verbs do the same: take the infinitive e.g. amāre [1] and habēre [2], get rid of the infinitive ending -re and then add the future tense endings.

1st conjugation

amā│re: love

> amā -

ama│bō: I shall love

ama│bis: you (sg.) will love

ama│bit: he / she / it will love

ama│bimus: we will love

ama│bitis: you will love

ama│bunt: they will love

2nd conjugation

habēre: have

> habē-

habē│bō: I shall have

habē│bis: you (sg.) will have

habē│bit: he / she / it will have

habē│bimus: we will have

habē│bitis: you will have

habē│bunt: they will have

Look at the parts in italics: they are the ‘markers’ for the future tense of these conjugations.

-bō / -bi- / -bu-

Image #1: the endings of the future tense for the first / second conjugation

Image #2: example of the first conjugation verb amō, amāre [1]: love

Image #3: example of the second conjugation verb moneō, monēre [2]: warn

image #4: the irregular verb sum, esse: be; in all three tenses covered so far

The two excerpts below, both from Julia: a Latin Reader (Reed) show the future tense of the first and second conjugation verbs in context. The originals are also posted as images.

[1] “Nunc in caelō et in stēllīs cum patre tuō cēterīsque dīs rēgnābis. Fīlium meum ad caelum portābō."

["Now you will reign in heaven and in the stars with your father and other gods. I will take my son to heaven."]

[2] Sed Rōmulus verbīs benignīs, "Ō Iūlī," inquit, "nūlla est causa timōris. Nunc Quirītēs nūmen meum adōrābunt et Rōmulum Quirīnum vocābunt. Templa et ārās aedificābunt, et ad ārās dōna apportābunt. Semper artem bellī et arma cūrābunt, et corpora in armīs dīligenter exercēbunt. Ita Quirīnus Populum Rōmānum servābit."

[But Romulus, with kind words, said, "O Julius," said, "There is no cause for fear. Now the Quirites* will worship my divine will and will call Romulus Quirinus**. They will build temples and shrines, and will bring gifts to the shrines. They will always take care of the art of war and weapons, and they will diligently train their bodies in weapons. Thus Quirinus will save the Roman people."]

*Quirītēs: a term used to refer to the Roman people

**Quirīnus: the name given to Romulus after he was deified

09.05.24: review; Initium [4]

An incident at the market …

Senex quīnque pullōs gallumque ūnum in sportā portat.

Senex: Quis pullōs emere vult?

Ēmptor: Pullōsne dīcis? Ubi sunt? Ō nōs miserōs! Taurum cavē! Ut terribilis est aspectū!

Agricola: Nōlī timēre, domine! Taurus nōn tē cornū petet.

Senex: Hī sunt pullī, domine, sed quō aufugit ille ēmptor, quī pullōs emere vult? Cavē! Cavē! Taurus mēcastor iterum hūc ruit! Tot rēs molestās numquam anteā ūnō diē percēpī!

____________________

Vocabulary

aufugiō, aufugere [3-iō]: run away

percipiō, -ere [3-iō]: perceive; observe; notice; (here) ‘see’ would work

petō, petere [3]: (here) attack

ruō, ruere [3]: rush

tot: so many

Notes:

[1] In this text and in the previous post from Initium, Appleton and Jones are setting the ‘targets’ i.e. the basics, the conjugations and, here, the five noun declensions.

sporta, -ae [1/f]: basket; hamper

dominus, -ī [2/m]: master

gallus, -ī [2/m]: rooster

pullus, -ī [2/m]: chicken

taurus, -ī [2/m]: bull

ēmptor, emptōris [3/m]: purchaser; buyer

senex, senis [3/m or f]: old man / woman

aspectus, -ūs [4/m]: appearance

cornū [4/n]: horn

diēs, -ēī [5m/f]: day

rēs, -eī [5/f]: matter; thing

[2] I chose this excerpt partly to show these:

1. Ut terribilis est aspectū! │ How terrible he looks = how terrible he is in appearance

2. Tot rēs molestās numquam anteā ūnō diē percēpī! │ I have never before seen so many annoying things in one day.

3. Taurus nōn tē cornū petet. │ The bull will not attack you with its horn.

4. And from the post before this: Quid enim arbore pulchrius esse potest? │For what can be more beautiful than a tree?

All three use the ablative case and you can see that it has many different functions. I have uploaded a file that summarises them. What’s useful about that file from latinlibrary.com is that it gives one example of each. For me, that was the best way of learning them, and I didn’t learn them all at once.

[3] Quis pullōs emere vult? │ Who wants to buy chickens? The irregular verb: vōlō, velle: want.

[4] If the Romans were surprised or annoyed by something, they had various ways of expressing it:

mēcastor!; ēcastor! [literally: by Castor!]; ēdepol! [literally: by Pollux!]: my goodness! oh my! Heavens above!

‘mecastor pulcher est’ (Plautus) │ By my troth, but he is a handsome man. [Well, that translation was written in 1895!]

[5] From this text and from a previous one: if you’re feeling sorry for yourself …

Ō mē miserum! [male speaking]; Ō mē miseram! [female speaking] │Oh, poor me!

And if there’s more than one person feeling sorry for themselves …

Ō nōs miserōs! │ Oh poor us!

____________________

An old man is carrying five chickens and one rooster in a basket.

Old Man: Who wants to buy chickens?

Buyer: Chickens, you say? Where are they? Oh, poor us! Look out for the bull! How terrible it looks!

Farmer: Don’t be afraid, master (sir)! The bull won’t attack you with its horn.

Old Man: These are the chickens, master, but where’s that customer running away to, who wants to buy the chickens? Be careful! Watch out! My goodness, the bull is rushing again (to) here. I have never before seen so many annoying things in one day.

09.05.24: See what Vergil (more or less) saw …

Fraxinus in silvīs pulcherrima, pīnus in hortīs,

pōpulus in fluviīs, abiēs in montibus altīs

[Ecloga VII.65-66]

__________

Most beautiful ash tree in the forests, pine tree in the gardens

Poplar by the streams, fir on the high mountains

09.05.24: review; Initium [3]

In āere volant avēs; in marī sunt piscēs. Vidēsne quoque magna illa mōnstra quae in marī natantia lītorī appropinquant? Haec nōmināmus bālaenās, quae dum natant aquam in āera ēiciunt. Nōnnūllī hominēs quoque in marī natāre temptant. Ipsā in terrā multae et pulcherrimae crēscunt arborēs. Quid enim arbore pulchrius esse potest? Nōnne Vergilius poēta dīcit:

Fraxinus in silvīs pulcherrima, pīnus in hortīs,

pōpulus in fluviīs, abiēs in montibus altīs

[Ecloga VII.65-66]

Most beautiful ash tree in the forests, pine tree in the gardens

Poplar by the streams, fir on the high mountains

____________________

Vocabulary

abiēs, abietis [3/f]: fir tree

bālaena, -ae [1/f]: whale

nōminō, nōmināre [1]: name; give a name to

nōnnūllus, -ae, -um: some; several; a few

Notes

[1] the vast majority of 2nd declension nouns in -us are masculine, but a few are feminine including the names of certain trees

frāxinus, -ī [2/f] ash tree

pīnus, -ī [2/f]: pine tree

pōpulus, -ī [2/f]: poplar tree [populus, -ī (2/m) means people]

[2] ipse, ipsa, ipsum: himself, herself, itself; If we say “He’ll do it himself” we’re creating emphasis:

ipsā in terrā │ on the land itself

[3] As you go on in Latin, features will crop up that just need noting:

Vidēsne quoque magna illa mōnstra quae … lītorī appropinquant? │ Do you also see those great monsters which … are approaching the shore?

Sometimes, verbs don’t do what you expect:

appropinquō, appropinquāre [1]: approach, but in Latin that verb takes the dative case i.e. literally they are coming near to the shore.

[4] Small point: the letter /e/ with the two dots above it in the original text - āëre is called a diaeresis; you see it in, for example, French naïf and Noël and is used to indicate that the two vowels are pronounced separately. Therefore, āëre is pronounced a-e-re and not /ai/ as in puellae. It wasn’t used in Classical Latin and, nowadays, it’s rare to find it in textbooks, but some of the older ones e.g. this one from 1916, did sometimes use it.

____________________

The birds are flying in the air; fish are in the sea. Do you also see those great monsters which, swimming in the sea, are approaching the shore? We call these whales, which, while they are swimming, throw water up into the air. Sometimes people also try to swim in the sea. Many very beautiful trees grow on the land itself. For what can be more beautiful than a tree? Does not the poet Virgil say:

08.05.24: review; Initium [2]

Ō mē miserum! Pultem nōn amō. Sed necesse est edere. Ad lūdum hodiē nōn ībō, quia pēnsum meum nōn fēcī. Ego in lectō iaceō; Sextus et Quīntus in lūdō sunt. Illī scrībunt et recitant, iterum recitant, iterum scrībunt. Ego in lectō iaceō et dormiō.

Vocabulary

pēnsum, -ī [2/n] task; duty; assignment i.e. (here) homework

puls, pultis [3/f]: porridge

Notes

One short paragraph shows you all the Latin verb conjugations; they’re part of the foundations.

• amō, amāre [1]: love
• recitō, recitāre [1]: recite
• iaceō, iacēre [2]: lie
• edō, edere [3]: eat
• scrībō, scrībere [3]: write
• facīo, facere [3-iō]: do
• dormiō, dormīre [4]: sleep

And they throw in an ‘irregular’ one:

• eō, īre: go

A few questions on the text:

1. He hates porridge but why does he eat it?

2. Rather than ‘face the music’ Marcus says he will not go to school today. How does Marcus say it?

3. He hasn’t done his homework! How does Marcus say it?

4. Sextus and Quintus are at school: what are they doing?

5. What does Marcus prefer to do rather than go to school?

Google translation alert! If you throw this paragraph into Google translate, here are the highlights you’ll get.

• I don't like sausage.
• To-day I will not go to sin, because I have not done my duty.
• Sextus and Quintus are in the game.

To be honest, using Google Translate is like playing Russian roulette.

____________________

Oh, poor me! I don't like porridge. But it is necessary to eat [I have to …]. Today I won’t go to school, because I have not done my homework. I’m lying in bed; Sextus and Quintus are at school. They are writing and reciting, reciting again, writing again. I’m lying in bed and sleeping.