LATIN 3A WORD
STUDY SET 1
As you read through each word study, evaluate
each element on the following scale:
1 = (truly excellent) — I’m humbled and amazed
Do NOT evaluate your own word
study! Skip the rating grid and leave
the comment box completely blank
2 = (good) — something got my attention
for YOUR word study.
3 = (neither here nor there) —got the job done only
4 = (not a good job) — poor work indeed.
Proceed with caution.
Evaluations must be completed no
5 = evaluation element missing entirely
Feedback from all of us SHOULD accurately reflect
the work at hand. While being polite and tactful
are absolutely required, you are not helping your
fellow writers if all you say is, “great job!” and dish
out s “1” for everything. Your instructor will give final
grades. YOU give actual feedback with care and
honesty.
later than 7 pm ON
October 18
Go here to submit your evaluations:
http://www.quia.com/sv/757933.html
FOR BEST RESULTS, TYPE YOUR COMMENTS IN A WORD PROCESSING PROGRAM, SAVE
THEM ON YOUR COMPUTER, THEN COPY/PASTE THEM HERE! You must use your name when
submitting this survey form or you will not get credit for having completed this portion of the
assignment.
These are the things you’ll be ranking:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Provided good examples so that I better understand how the word is used
Provided good translations and citations so that I can go and find the word
Defined the word clearly based on examples (adapted well to the data presented)
Analysis of the word was helpful -- made good observations and drew relevant and
appropriate conclusions
5. Final overall impression of this word study (1=100, 2=90, 3=80, 4=70, 5=fail)
FREE RESPONSE:
1
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
On the survey form there is also a “Free Response” section for each essay. This section is for
feedback to help each writer improve his or her word study next time. While such comments
should be polite, find at least ONE positive thng to say and at least ONE recommendation for
improvement next time. Those who are skilled at math will deduce that I expect a minimum of two
articulately written sentences (minimum) for each review you complete.
Group 1 – evaluate LETTER
“X” essays
Elinor Yeo
Ellie Goulding
Elizabeth Plotner
Emily Kam
Gabe Quintero
Isabella ruz
Jason Holtkamp
Mack Cleveland
Thais Belloncle
Group 2 – evaluate LETTER
“Y” essays
Abby Smith
Ariadne Pojedinec
Bethany Brinson
Carrie Willson
Declan Smith
Dinah McCahan
Erica Mendez
Gavin McBride
Grant Oskroba
Greta Dornbirer
Group 3 – evaluate LETTER
“Z” essays
Hannah White
Jack White
Jenya Lestina
Joseph White
Katherine LeFevre
Kora Johnson
Roman Parker
Zoe Wu
Andrew Plotner
Connor VanFarowe
*If you failed to submit this assignment you may recoup UP to 75% of your lost points by carefully reviewing
ALL essays giving each one your fullest attention. This is your only shot at redemption because otherwise a
zero weighs ever heavy on your semester score. I never drop writing scores in this class.
**BONUS TIME! You may earn 3 bonus points toward this word study score if you review all reports.
Notify me by email AFTER you have done the work (not before) so I’m sure to check all reviews for
your evaluation. (3 points can raise a B+ grade to an A- grade, for example).
Before you begin, please WRITE DOWN your own essay number. Don’t review it NOR click on any of
the circles in the ranking grid. Once you have clicked you can’t unclick!
2
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
WORD STUDY 1X
In Latin, the word carus denotes valuing something or someone somewhat highly. The word frequently
connotes emotional attachment to a person, place, or thing, but can also indicate a more material, often
self-serving estimation of value. Sometimes carus can be translated as “expensive,” but clearly not very
frequently, as an example did not turn up for this word study. It often is used in superlative forms, like
carissimi, particularly in the Vulgate—translated as the familiar “beloved” or “dear friends” in our
modern English Bibles. Iob Deo carus, “Job (who was) dear to God,” is a late fourth-century use of carus
that’s well known in English (Jerome, Espistulae 22.11).
Over time, carus as a term of endearment lost its luster. It became used so frequently that by the times
of Medieval Latin carissima it had become a more casual indication of warm feeling. In “The Three
Caskets,” the emperor calls the girl “carissima,” “dearest” more than once (Gesta 138, 150). The sailors
traveling with the girl call her and her entourage” carissimi,” though they can’t be more than friends
(Gesta 115). This shows potency of the word beginning to slack. In the situation of the servant Lygdus,
the emotionless and material aspect of carus is harshly evident: quod is Lygdus aetateatque forma carus
domino interque primores ministros erat, “The aforementioned Lygdus was valued by his master and
among the foremost ministers for his (young) age and beauty” (Tacitus, Annales 4.10). Clearly his
master’s attachment to him is not one of personal endearment and emotional affection.
Carus also parallels the English word dear on multiple levels. The superficial denotations of the two
words line up, equating to personal or monetary value of a person place or thing. Both also (especially in
British English) can mean expensive, costly, or valuable. Furthermore, they convene in usage: both are
used most frequently as terms of endearment, and dear as a term of endearment has become somewhat of
a tossaway, thrown around like love and awesome.
Boiled down, carus means valued. The object being valued can be valued for its monetary price, its
usefulness, its beauty, the emotional investment placed in it, or any other reason a thing might be deemed
important. In some Latin contexts, it might be prudent to remain wary of the three main facets of carus
while translating: the more superficial, the more emotional, and the more material.
WORD STUDY 2X
Author: Please carefully follow all formatting rules from the assignment sheet. Do not add additional
line spaces between paragraphs! Be sure to omit them if your word processing program adds them.
Seal the Deal or Stamp the Deal?
The Latin word, signum, is hypothesized to be based off of the Proto-Indo-European language, the
ancient form of the modern Indo-European languages. This unrecorded language is the one that
comparative philologists believe to be the common ancestor of Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin. This word is
still used in modern times in the form of sigillata. Terra sigillata, roughly meaning sealed earth, is a
refined clay slip used to cover dry pottery with a light sheen. This has been used by mostly Greeks and
Romans for hundreds of years to seal the famous ancient black and red pottery (Dassow, Terra Sigillata
101).
3
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
Signum has a number of branching forms like sigilla, signifer, and significo, all of which have a
definition based on a sign, mark, figure, or seals. In The Story of the Three Caskets from The Gesta
Romanorum, a form of signum, sigillata est, is used. “Statim de conventione charta sigillata est.”
(Wheelock, Wheelock’s Latin Reader) This translates to “The agreement was immediately sealed,”
speaking about the meeting between the emperor and king to marry their children in order to obtain peace
between their countries. This use of signum is actually a diminutive, sigilla, which is the neuter plural
form of the adjectival sigillatus (Simpson, Cassell’s Latin Dictionary). Meaning that the use of sigillata
instead of signum is used to give a meaning more towards “stamped” or “sealed” instead of “signed” or
“marked” with est implying a verbal use of “was.” Had signum been used instead of sigillata est, the
sentence would have translated to English as with two nouns and no verb.
The form of signum, signifer -fera -ferum, takes the root of the original noun and adds on a -fero suffix
to change the meaning (Simpson, Cassell’s Latin Dictionary). Fero, on its own and connected as an
ending, is used to express a transitive action, “to bear, bring, carry.” Therefore, signifer is used to express
the bearing of a sign or figure. In the Roman legions, a signifer was the person, or standard bearer, who
would carry the military emblem of that individual unit. Signifer is also used to describe the sky as
“covered with constellations.”
In Bellum Gallico, Julius Caesar uses insigne as well as signum in the second book while describing a
battle scene: Caesari omnia uno tempore erant agenda: vexillum proponendum, quod erat insigne, cum
ad arma concurri oporteret; signum tuba dandum; ab opere revocandi milites; qui paulo longius aggeris
petendi causa processerant arcessendi; acies instruenda; milites cohortandi; signum dandum “Caesar
had everything at one time: the standard to be displayed, which was the sign, when it was necessary to run
to arms; the signal given by the trumpet; soldiers to be called from work; he proceeded to take longer
ramps to be brought forward; line instruction; soldiers to be encouraged; to give the signal” (Caesar,
Gallic Wars 2.20.1). Insigne is used here to describe the sign displayed by a standard bearer along with
the general use of signum to mean “sign(al).” Overall, signum has a multitude of different forms and
implied meanings that spread out over a wide variety of translations.
Works Cited:
Caesar, Julius. Gallic Wars. Book 2, paragraph 20, line 1.
Simpson, Donald Penistan. Cassell’s Latin Dictionary. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1968. p. 554
Von Dassow, Sumi. “Terra Sigillata 101: How to Make, Apply, and Troubleshoot Terra Sig.” Ceramic Arts Daily. Published July
11th, 2016.
Wheelock, Frederic M. Wheelock’s Latin Reader. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. p. 303
WORD STUDY 3X
Carissimi: A Dear Little Word
The Latin word carissimi is a descriptor and a frequent form of address; it has been used in a variety of
ways, from respect to endearment. It is a very common word, and appears numerous times in ancient and
medieval Latin literature. It is a superlative of the word carus, which has a somewhat broader meaning
(expressing the value and cost of something as well as the dearness). However, carissimi typically refers
more to the emotional rather than the material value of something or someone.
In The Story of the Three Caskets (from the Gesta Romanorum), carissimi is frequently used as an
address. Imperator, cum eam vidisset, ait, “Carissima filia, bene tibi sit nunc et in perpetuum”, “The
4
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
emperor, when he saw her, said, “Dearest daughter, may it be well for you now and continually” (The
Story of the Three Caskets, 138-139). However, carissimi could also be used as a form of address to
those whom one would not expect to be “dear” to the speaker. Miles, cum vocem puellae audisset, ait
servis suis, “Carissimi, latus ceti aperite et videamus quid lateat interius”, “The soldier, when he heard
the voice of the girl, said to his servants, “Dearest ones, open the side of the whale and we may see what
lies hidden inside” (The Story of the Three Caskets, 129-131). Since one’s servants are not typically
“dear” to one, this passage shows that carissimi can imply esteem and respect as well as affection.
This word also appears in the works of ancient authors. In the following passage, the person is dear in
a loving, intimate kind of way. Nullam habere imaginem filii carissimi voluit, nullam sibi de illo fieri
mentionem, “He wishes to have no portrait of his very dear son, to make no mention about that one to
him” (Seneca, De Consolatione ad Marciam 6.2). In the following passages by Cicero and Quintilian,
carissimi refers more to esteem and respect than to an intimate love. Praeclarum illud est et, si quaeris,
rectum quoque et verum, ut eos, qui nobis carissimi esse debeant, aeque ac nosmet ipsos amemus, And
that thing is clear, if you ask, also right and true, that they, who ought to be very esteemed by us, should
also love us equally (Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes 3.73). …laudati gaudebunt, ut sint carissimi,
studio merebuntur, “They will rejoice that they have been praised, in order that they might be greatly
respected, obtained by zeal” (Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria 2.9). In these passages, carissimi is used as
an adjective, rather than as an address.
According to these passages, carissimi is a form of address or a descriptor that implies the dearness or
estimation that the speaker attaches to someone or something. English derivatives of this word include
“caring,” “careful,” and “caress,” all of which signify affection and/or attention to the well-being of
someone or something. In Italian, the word for “dearest” is “carissimo.”
Carissimi is an extreme form of carus. Thus, when it is used, it implies that something is particularly
precious. Thus, it is significant when Latin authors use this word, because, instead of simply writing a
word like carus, they have paid special attention to make sure a certain person or thing is conveyed as
especially dear or valuable.
WORD STUDY 4X
Septentriones
Septentriones entered the Latin vocabulary as a mash-up of two words—septem and triones. The
word septem means “seven” and the word triones translates roughly to mean “oxen”. These two words
eventually combined to form the word septentriones (rare sg. septentrio) or the rarer alternate spelling
septemptriones, which meant literally “the seven oxen”. “The seven oxen” was what the ancient Romans
called the constellation we now know as the Big Dipper because the constellation was made up of seven
bright stars. The Romans eventually turned Septentriones into a proper noun and the word simply became
the name for the constellation. The Romans knew that the North Star could be easily found if they knew
where the constellation Septentriones was. Because of its connection with the North Star, the word
septentriones was also used in common noun form by the Romans to mean the direction north.
In Cicero’s book, Lucullus, published c. 45 BC, we find Septentriones in its proper form,
describing the constellation which the Phoenicians used to help them navigate. Fidunt duce nocturna
Phoenices in alto, ut ait Aratus, eoque derectius gubernant quod eam tenent quae cursu interiore brevi
5
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
convertitur orbe, sed HeHcen et clarissimos Septemtriones, id est rationes has latiore species. “The
Phoenicians trust the night to guide them in the deep. So Aratus said, and they lead straighter because
they hold her who is revolving on a brief inner orbit, but by Heuce (?) and the brightest Septentriones,
that is these reasons of wider notion.” (Cicero Lucullus II.xx)
Livy’s book, History of Rome, written somewhere between 27 and 9 BC, used the common noun
form of septentriones to mean the direction north, although this passage uses the word’s alternate spelling,
septemptriones. In sedecim partes caelum in eo spectu divisere Tusci: prima est a septemptrionibus ad
aequinocti alem exortum secunda ad meridiem tetia ad aequi noctialem occasum obtinet quod reliquum
est ab occasu ad septemptriones. “In seeing this the Tuscans divided heaven into sixteen parts: The first is
from the North to the sunrise (east), the second to the South, the third to the sunset (West), and the fourth
has the remaining space from the West to the North.” (Livy History of Rome 2.143-147).
In Caesar’s Commentary on the Gallic Wars (written c. 50 BC) we can see that septentriones
again dons its common noun form. The word is used twice in this passage to show the direction north.
Garumna flumine Oceano finibus Belgarum. Attingit etiam ab Sequanis et Heluetiis flumen Rhenum.
Vergit ad septentriones. Belgae ab extremis Galliae finibus oriuntur. Pertinent ad inferiorem partem
fluminis Rheni. Spectatnt in Septentriones et orientem solem. “The Garonne River continues to the Ocean
at the border of the Belgians. The Rhine River also reaches from the Seine and the Helvetia. It lies to the
North. The Belgians rise from the furthest border of Gaul. They reach to the lower part of the Rhine
River. They look on the north and the rising sun. The Aquitani reach from the Garonne River to the
Pyrenees Mountains, and that part of the ocean which is by Spain. It faces between the setting sun and the
North.” (Caesar Gallic Wars 1.13-15)
In conclusion, septentriones evolved throughout the Latin language from a simple combination of
two words to the proper name of a constellation as well to mean the direction north. The constellation,
today known as the Big Dipper, continues to play a role in our society, even featuring on the Alaskan flag.
It is one of the most recognizable constellations and is still used as a quick way to locate the North Star.
WORD STUDY 5X
Acer, “sharp” has three key interpretations: the physical, the emotional, and the intellectual. One
may use it to describe massive ranges of sensations, sights, and objects. In fact acer often shows its most
artistic facets when applied to people or actions. The term sharp is often associated with pain, but is the
physical sharpness that allows a knife to cut through tasty beef roast all that different from the mental
precision seen in those who take time to hone their intellect? Acer epitomizes how one word can mean
many different things, yet somehow simply mean acer.
The physical aspect of acer is used to describe not only a knife that cuts you but also anything
that causes sudden “sharp” pain, for example: Flammis acribus addictis (Thomas, “Dies Irae” 1.439).
“Doomed to the harsh blaze.” The sensation of a flame is markedly different from that of a knife, yet one
would certainly describe the pain from a burn as sharp. One must not limit the meaning sharp to painful,
when it also illustrates the crisp lines of modern art and countless architectural pieces. Furthermore
flavors can be described with acer, “sour, bitter”. One could even use acer to describe a strict teacher or
severe grandmother. From clean to painful, acer artfully paints the ability to draw blood right along with
the unyielding authority figure.
6
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
The next side illustrates emotional facets of acer. It illustrates harsh character and bitter actions
towards others. However it often conveys aggression with a more courageous overtone. Vix me patiuntur,
ubi acres incaluere animi, cervixque repugnat habenis. “They suffer my control, when their fierce spirits
are hot, and their necks resist the reins(Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses, 2.86).” The emotional aspects of
acer range from these proud tones to bitter and cruel, depicting merciless master as well as courageous
slaves. The physical aspects of acer describe things which inflict pain, the emotional aspect describes
people who have suffered pain. The suffering of one who has been mistreated often manifests itself in
cruelty and bitterness. Hurt people hurt people.
Finally, the intellectual side, acer portrays a sharp mind and the keen intellect. A sharpened mind
has the power to cut into the juicy meat of literature and explore stimulating mathematical concepts at
one’s leisure. Ad illa mihi pro se quisque acriter intendat animum, quae vita, qui mores fuerint, “To these
questions I would have a reader keenly extend their mind ( Livy, The History of Rome, 1.9).” It is
intriguing that both Latin and English have the same idiomatic definition of sharp. Sometimes the mind is
sharper than the sword.
Acer, “sharp” shows a massive range of interpretations. A single word means sharp, smart, sour,
severe and savage, but the true beauty of learning a language is the satisfaction one achieves when a word
goes beyond mere dictionary denotation. Acer means more than “sharp, keen, fierce, severe.” When one
understands the meaning it replaces the definitions and a word means itself. Frankly, Acer simply means
acer.
WORD STUDY 6X
The Meaning of Curo
The Latin verb curo has several different definitions. It can mean “manage”, “care(for)”, and “take
care”. Caesar uses it in his Commentaries of the Gallic Wars. Hoc proelio facto, reliquas copias
Helvetiorum ut consequi posset, pontem in Arari faciendum curat atque ita exercitum traducit, “When
this battle has been done, so that he might be able to follow the remaining troops of the Helvetii, he
attends to a bridge about to be done on the Saone river and also leads the army across” (Caesar, de Bello
Gallico 1.13). In this context, curo, in the form curat, is translated as “manages” or “attends to”, in a
businesslike or official sense. Used at a much later date (originally recorded in 1230 CE), in the Medival
Latin song In Taberna, curo has a much different meaning. In taberna quando sumus, non curamus quid
sit humus, sed ad ludum preperamus, cui semper insudamus, “When we are in the tavern, we do not care
what may be in the ground, but we hurry to gambling, which we always sweat over” (author unknown,
Carmina Burana 196). As used in In Taberna, curo is translated as “care” or “care for”, in contrast with
the usage in Caesar’s Gallic Wars.
The Carmina Burana, the first written record of In Taberna, was written in 1230 CE, while the first
book of Caesar’s Gallic Wars was published in 58 BCE, producing a time gap of over 1,200 years. This
would suggest that the way cura was used changed over the course of time. However, the Roman author
Martial, who lived much closer in time to Caesar, uses cura in a way similar to its use in In Taberna. Non
nimium curo, nam cenae fercula nostrae malim convivis quam placuisse cocis! “I do not care too much,
for I would prefer that the courses please our dinner-guests more than the cooks!” (Martial, Epig. 9.81).
7
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
Furthermore curo can be translated as “take care”. This usage is employed by Seneca, also a Roman
author, who was born almost fifty years before Martial. Ante senectutem curavi ut bene viverem; in
senectute curo ut bene moriar, “Before old age I took care to live well; in old age I take care to die well”
(Seneca, Letter LXI 2). Curo can also be translated as “rest” or “cure” when used to talk about medicine,
and “provide” when used to talk about business. It has been passed down from Latin to English, where it
survives in cognates like “cure”, “curator” and “curative”. Cura also has cognates in French like
“curatif”.
Although the English translations of the verb vary greatly, the core meaning of the cura does not.
While English speakers need multiple words to explain a concept, Latin only uses one. Sometimes it is
translated as “attends to” based on the example of Caesar’s Gallic Wars, sometimes it means “care (for)”
based on the examples of In Taberna and Martial’s epigram, and sometimes it means “take care” based on
the example of Seneca’s letter. However the essential meaning of curo can be concluded to mean “I am
concerned” as in “I am concerned”… with management, with nothing, for them.
WORD STUDY 7X
Ille: An Ancient Ping Pong Game
There are thousands of Latin words that had evolved over the many years in which Latin was still
spoken fluently by whole countries. Some have changed in meaning, and some in spelling, some have even
changed in the emphasis the meaning of the word has. Ille is one among many of these, a word which has
changed in meaning, staying consistent in the way of spelling the forms as well as the stress put onto the
word.
In the writings of authors from 1000-400 B.C., ille can be translated as “that.” Like in the following
example: Personam tragicam forte vulpes viderat. “O quanta species,” inquit, “cerebrum non habet!” Hoc
illis dictum est quibus honorem et gloriam Fortuna tribuit, sensum communem abstulit. “A fox saw a tragic
mask perchance. ‘Oh how many forms,’ he said, ‘the brain does not have!’ This is said to those whom
fortune grants honor and glory, but takes away common sense (Phaedrus, Fabulae 4.3).”
During approximately the 4th century, ille could be translated as “he/she/it.” One example of this
translation is, Deus intellegit viam eius, and ipse novit locum illis. “God understands the way to it, and he
alone knows its location (Job 28.23).”
Throughout the 13th-16th centuries, ille was once again translated as “that” considering the
following examples. Lacrimosa dies illa / qua resurget ex favilla / Iudicandus homo reus / Huic ergo parce,
“Sad will be that day, which again will rise out of the ashes. The man judged a sinner: Therefore spare this
man, God (Dies Irae 18.444-447).” Also, Deus at ille, “Bene placet mihi.” “And that man, ‘It pleases me’
(Gesta Romanorum 6.164).”
I’ve noticed that around these years, the meaning of ille did not differ much from that of iste, leaving
no way of knowing the difference except for the spelling. Bibit ista, bibit ille “That woman drinks, that man
drinks (In Taberna 6.260).” Later on, iste evolved to have more emphasis, leaving ille to stay the same. I
have also noticed how ille seems a lot more frequent in early Latin writing, the Vulgate for example, than
iste.
Through the years, the meaning of ille has been tossed back and forth, somewhat like an ancient
game of ping pong, between “that” and “he/she/it,” though either meaning could have worked for all
8
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
translations. Given the above examples, I believe that the meaning of ille depends on the context it has in
the sentence. If you were to replace “that,” with a personal pronoun, or vice versa, the sentence would not
lose its meaning.
WORD STUDY 8X
A study in impleo, ere, evi, etum
In this study, we shall examine the use of Impleo (ere, evi, etum) in various sentences, make a quick
comment on each sentence, and then draw conclusions on the core meaning of the word at the end.
The first case of “Impleo” being used that we will look at today is in 70 B.C., during Cicero’s
orations against Verres, the corrupt governor of Sicily. In his speech, he mentions a certain Piso: Piso
multos codices implevit earum rerum in quibus ita intercessit, quod iste aliter atque ut edixerat
decrevisset,“Piso filled many ledgers of the affairs in which he had intervened, because that man [Verres]
had decreed other than what he had ordained.” (Cicero, Against Verres 1.119).
Here the idea being conveyed is that of volume; Piso is trying to write down as much as possible onto
those ledgers. The use of implere here gives a quite nice impression of how Piso stuffed his ledgers.
The next instance in which we find Implere used is at around 20 B.C. in the works of Vitruvius
Pollio, a military and civil engineer. In this sentence, he is describing the foundational layers of rock and
mortar for various flooring: Tunc insuper statuminetur ne minore saxo, quam qui possit manum implere,
“Then it is supported on top by broken rocks, no smaller than those which can fill the hand”(Pollio, De
Architectura 7.3)
As only 50 years have passed, the meaning of the word has not changed much. It is still used for the
measurement of volume.
The third sentence which we shall look at is a conversation between emperor Galba (the first in
the Year of Four Emperors) and Piso (his chosen successor) written down by Tacitus. In his
conversation, Galba tells Piso how to run the empire and how they must be very careful to not make the
populace wish that they had Nero back. He concludes with this sentence: Monere diutius neque temporis
huius, et impletum est omne consilium si te bene elegi, “To advise longer is not necessary, and all my
purpose is fulfilled if I have made a good choice in you.” (Tacitus, Historiae 1.16)
In the 100 years in between the last two sentences, Implere has morphed to take on a sense of completion.
This fourth sentence is from the Latin Vulgate, translated from its original Hebrew and Greek by
Saint Jerome at around 400 A.D. This is part of Second Book of Chronicles: nunc igitur Domine Deus
impleatur sermo tuus quem pollicitus es David patri meo tu enim fecisti me regem super populum tuum
multum qui tam innumerabilis est quam pulvis terrae, “Therefore, Lord God, let the declaration which
you promised to my father David be fulfilled now for you have made me king over your great people who
are more countless than the dust of the earth.” (Jerome, 2 Chronicles 1.9).
The word is used in a virtually identical manner as the last sentence in that it takes on the sense of a
completed duty.
Our last sentence comes from part of a collection of tales that were compiled into what is known
as the Gesta Romanorum sometime in the early 14th century A.D.. In this particular story, known as the
“Three Caskets”, a ship (and its crew) has been swallowed by a whale, but one of the passengers, a girl,
has proposed a plan of escape. After hearing out her advice, the men on the ship decide to try out her
9
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
plan: Illi vero consilium puellae per omnia impleverunt, “Truly, those men carried out the plan of the girl
in all of its details.”(Gesta Romanorum, page 305)
Slightly different from the last two, this word now has taken on the sense of a completed action.
Through these five usages of Implere the translations vary but the basic core meaning stays the
same. In the first two examples, the authors are dealing with objects being completely filled. The last
three use the word to bring a sense of completion or action.
Based on these five sentences, I would place the core meaning of the word as something to be
wholly done, whether it is for a book to be completely filled in with notes, a vow to be completed, or for
an action to be done.
Compared with other latin verbs, implere has done a good job at staying constant throughout the ages, this
can be seen even in its English cognate, “Implement”.
WORD STUDY 9X
Jesus, Shakespeare, and Italian Cars: Latin Facere Throughout History
In his Vulgate translation of the Bible, St. Jerome, a scholar of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D.,
endeavored to create a work readable by the vulgus, or the “common.” In one of History’s little ironies,
that work has now become the subject of today’s research and translation. One word they translate proves
particularly intriguing and even tangled at times: facere. The Cassell’s Latin Dictionary offers as many as
fifteen different translations for it, but settles for a general meaning of “to make, do.” Perhaps students
should simply make do with this, perhaps not. In any case, a study of Jerome and other Latin authors
should reveal a cornucopia of ideas, and better still, a clear picture drawn by connecting the verbal dots.
In the Book of Job, the title character assigns various epithets to God as he discusses man’s
problems. One of these appears so in the Vulgate: Qui fecit ventis pondus et aquas appendit mensura, “He
Who set the weight of the winds, and gave a measure to the waters” (Job 28:25). While fecit ventis
pondus here might be translated as “made the weight of the winds,” it seems more appropriate to choose a
more specific word. God, here, is creating not a concrete item, but an idea, a quantity, even a number.
Another translation for fecit, then, might be “fixed.” So what do all these translations have in common?
Perhaps, though we have no sufficiently word for it in English, the bringing of something into being,
whether tangible or abstract.
By the New Testament portion of the Vulgate, God’s creation had fallen into the background, and
His teachings—in the person of Jesus—had taken center stage. This part of the Bible was translated, at
least by St. Jerome, from the Greek, while Job had come from Hebrew. If facere was to enter again here,
it would certainly have some new clue to offer from its new surroundings. Here it is in the Sermon on the
Mount, when Jesus instituted the Golden Rule: Et si bene feceretis his qui vobis bene faciunt, quae vobis
est gratia?—siquidem et peccatores hoc faciunt, “And if you do well to those who do well to you, what
thanks is yours?—since sinners too do this” (Luke 6:33). But how does this “doing” well agree with our
analysis of facere, the bringing of something into being? Perhaps one can also bring an action into being.
We find support for this in the Latin word factum, which can be translated as a participle of facere or as
its own noun—meaning “deed.”
There are more distant uses of facere, however, than those in different parts of the Bible.
Separated from St. Jerome by centuries of language and culture, the Gesta Romanorum is a fourteenth10
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
century Medieval Latin collection of stories and fables. One of these is the tale of the Three Caskets,
concerning a princess who must be tested by the Emperor Honorius before she may marry his son.
Shakespeare would later adapt these arrangements for use in his problem comedy The Merchant of
Venice. As Honorius creates the wedding contract, he claims: Non faciam nisi duo habeam, “I will not do
[this] unless I have two [conditions fulfilled]” (Unknown, Gesta Romanorum). See that here, as noted, he
is creating a contract—part concrete, part abstract, perhaps even part action. And again, we have no object
in sight, displaying the problems with the simple English word do.
Of course, much of Latin—and much of facere—came from the classical period, long before
Jesus was born or chronicled, much less translated in the Vulgate. One fine example of this comes from
Publius Syrus: Bonum virum natura, non ordo, facit, “Nature, not rank, makes a good man” (Syrus,
Sententiae 713). “Makes” is only acceptable here because of similar English idioms, such as “Clothes
don’t make a man.” Just as in the medieval period, we do not limit this to tangibles (facere has at least
that continuity). A man’s nature does not make him per se; that would be absurd. It creates the idea of
him; in yet another way, it brings something into being.
Yet the most iconic examples are found in St. Jerome himself. They are removed, not by period,
but by grammar. Fieri, the passive form of facere, has its own unique forms and insights to offer. For this,
we need look no farther than Fiat automobiles, first created, long after the Latin authors, in Turin, Italy,
1899. The inspiration for the name came from a famous Biblical episode in which the angel Gabriel
confronts Mary with the prospect of bearing the Son of God. Mary replies: Ecce ancilla Domini: fiat mihi
secundum verbum tuum, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord: let it be done to me following your word”
(Luke 1:38). Mary’s literal fiat, according to Christianity, brought Jesus, the Word made flesh, into
being—a perfect fit for our idea of facere. In the process, it gave the automobile company a great name.
Fieri appears again in the very beginning—the Vulgate’s Book of Genesis. According to St.
Jerome: Dixitque Deus: “Fiat lux.” Et facta est lux, “And God said, ‘Let light be made.’ And light was
made” (Genesis 1:3). What better illustration of bringing into being than the Biblical Creation? Certainly,
scholars can make do with “make” and “do,” but something broader is meant by facere. Light was not just
made; it was created.
So, if scholars must find one meaning for facere, the best would look foolish in a translated
passage. But for a word that can mean anything from concrete creation to abstract agreement, this might
just be warranted. In essence, facere means “to cause to exist,” be it actually, virtually, or even
idiomatically, as in the man “made” by clothes. This idea is supported in English, in fact, in (the word)
fact. That simple word indicates anything that is, or that which is brought into being (participle). Here, we
can think back again to Latin factum, a deed, or that which is done (again, a participle of facere). Indeed,
that intriguing, tangled Latin word is influencing English today.
It deserves it, and it deserves all the attention it received from Latin authors. Something this broad
we absolutely necessary to abstract ideas like a contracted agreement, where “do” just wouldn’t do. It was
essential for the ideas of Biblical creation and the famous fiat of Mary. Even fringe cases like Syrus’
proverb found the perfect word in facere, a versatile “to cause to exist.” Without it, neither the Golden
Rule nor even The Merchant of Venice might be quite as we know them. Latin translation might not be
quite as fascinating. And, last but not least, we might not have quite as good a name for Fiat automobiles.
11
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
WORD STUDY 10X
“Uncovering” the Truth About Aperire
Trying to memorize verb definitions in Latin class is difficult. Sometimes, the verb has a whole list of
possible meanings that have to be memorized. Unfortunately for Latin students, this memorization is
necessary because Latin verbs can have many possible meanings that English words cannot always
duplicate. One word having multiple meanings is not a situation unique to Latin; English uses one word
to convey different meanings in different contexts, as well. In English, we call these words
“homophones” or “homonyms.” For example, the word bear could be referring to a large, vicious animal
that eats honey, or it could mean “carry” as in, “I will bear your burden.” The real challenge is
discovering how Latin writers used a verb in different contexts and what that verb means at its core. The
Latin verb aperio, aperire, aperui, apertum is no exception, and it has many possible translations, such as
“to open,” “to uncover,” or “to reveal.” Sometimes, Latin authors use a form of aperire to convey the
idea of “opening” something, while other Latin authors use the same verb to convey a sense of discovery.
In this passage from “The Story of the Three Caskets” in the Gesta Romanorum written in Medieval
Latin, the forms of aperire that are used clearly mean “to open.” Miles, cum vocem puellae audisset, ait
servis suis, “Carissimi, latus ceti aperite et videamus quid lateat interius.” Cum vero apertum fuisset,
puella primo exivit immo quasi mortua, deinde milites et certeri alii, “The soldier, when he had heard the
voice of the girl, said to his servants, ‘Dearest people, open the side of the whale, and let us see what is
hidden inside.’ When it had truly been opened, the girl came out nearly dead, then the soldiers and the
rest of the others (Gesta Romanorum, The Story of the Three Caskets).” In this story, a princess (the
puella) and her attendants are trapped inside the belly of a whale. Thus, translating aperite as “uncover”
or “reveal” does not make sense in the context of this passage. Therefore, it can reasonably be concluded
that the verbs aperite and apertum fuisset are describing the opening of the whale’s side, not a revelation
or discovery.
Another passage from “The Story of the Three Caskets” uses the translation of “will open” for aperiet.
Et erat talis superscriptio super cophinum: “Qui me aperiet, in me invenerit quod meruit,” “And the
inscription on top of the casket was so great: ‘He who will open me, will have found in me what he
deserves (Gesta Romanorum, The Story of the Three Caskets).’” This passage involves the opening of a
casket, so the translation will open is the only translation of aperiet that logically fits in the context of the
story.
The forms of the word aperire in the Vulgate, also written in Medieval Latin, are primarily used to
mean “open.” Huic ostiarius aperit et oves vocem eius audiunt et proprias oves vocat nominatim et
educit eas, “The doorkeeper opens for Him, and the sheep hear his voice, and He calls each sheep by
name and leads them out (Vulgate, John 10.3).” Here, the word “doorkeeper” (ostiarius) tells us that the
correct translation is “opens,” since a doorkeeper’s job is to open the door.
In this passage from the Vulgate, the meaning of aperire is “to open,” as well. Et ego flebam multum
quoniam nemo dignus inventus aperire librum nec videre eum, “And I was crying much since no one was
found worthy to open the book nor to see Him (Vulgate, Revelation 5.4).” “Uncovering” or “revealing”
the book would not make as much sense. Context tells us that aperire means “to open.”
While Medieval Latin often uses forms of aperire to mean “to open,” Classical Latin uses forms of
aperire to convey a sense of discovery (i.e., “uncovering” or “revealing”). For example, in Sallust’s The
12
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
Catilinarian Conspiracy, written in Classical Latin, aperit conveys a sense of “revealing” or “explaining.”
Eo praesente coniurationem aperit, nominat socios, praeterea multos cuiusque generis innoxios, quo
legatis animus amplior esset, “He [Brutus] reveals the conspiracy to him in person, names the allies, and
even beyond this, names the kind of men of whom many were harmless of origin, to whom the character
of legacy was great (Sallust, The Catilinarian Conspiracy, 40.6).” Context in this sentence clearly shows
that Sallust used aperit to mean “reveals” or “explains,” not “opens.” Juvenal also uses the word aperit in
his Satires but instead uses the word to mean “uncover.” Tandem aperit vultum et tectoria prima reponit,
“Finally, he uncovers his face, and he puts back the plasters first (Juvenal, Satires, 6.467).” “Uncovers” is
the only possible translation that fits in the context of this sentence.
Therefore, a reasonable conclusion is that Classical Latin uses the verb aperire primarily to mean “to
reveal” or “to uncover” and in Medieval Latin uses the word to mean “to open.” At its core, aperire
means “to open,” since all of the other definitions relating to opening—whether one opens a book or
one’s eyes are opened to the truth (revelation). One of the cognates of aperire—apertum, aperti—is a
noun, meaning “open space,” supporting the conclusion that aperire means “to open,” whether the
defintion is literal or figurative. This sense of “opening” still survives in the English word aperture
today.
WORD STUDY 1Y
Silva
Silva tum excepit ferum, \ in qua retentis impeditus cornibus, \ lacerari coepit morsibus saevis canum,
The woods then received the wild creature, in which he is hindered by his antlers held fast, he began to be
torn by the savage bites of the hounds (Phaedrus, Fabulae, 1.12.9-11). Silva is best translated here as a
“forest” or “woodland”. Phaedrus is speaking of specific place that the stag retreats into. Reliqui sese
fugae mandarunt atque in proximas silvas abdiderunt, The remaining delivered themselves over to
running away and removed themselves into the nearest woods, (Caesar, De Bello Gallico, 1.12.3). Here
silvas (acc. pl.). also should be referred to as “woods” because it is also referring to a place. The army is
fleeing into the woods.
The noun silva (gen. silvae) is most commonly referred to as a wood, forest, or woodland. Illum
ruricolae, silvarum numina, fauni \ et satyri fratres et tunc quoque carus Olympus / et nymphae flerunt,
The inhabitants of the country, the deity of the woods, and brothers of the faun and satyr and then bright
Olympus and the nymphs lament him (Ovid, Metamorphoses, 6.392-95). It is also used as a name for
groups of trees: crops, orchards, or groves, brush, or foliage. Illa quaero quae apud te nuper ad omnis
columnas, omnibus etiam intercolumniis, in silva denique disposita sub divo vidimus, I seek those statues
which were among you recently next to all of the pillars, even within all the spaces between two pillars,
finally we saw them stationed at intervals in the orchard under the sky. (Cicero, Against Verres, 2.1.51).
Cicero shows where the stolen statues were found. It does not make sense for silva (abl. sg.) to be a forest.
Oftentimes, orchards and groves were dedicated to certain deities. Hence a better translation of silva is
“orchard”. Ter circum adstantem laevos equitavit in orbes \ tela manu iaciens, ter secum Troius heros \
immanem aerato circumfert tegmine silvam, Thrice he rode around the Laevi standing in a circle,
throwing the spears in their hand, and thrice the Trojan hero holds off the mass of spears with his bronze
shield (Vergil, Aeneid, 10.885-887). The picture Vergil is creating with silvam (acc. sg.) is a dense mass
13
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
of spears being hurled at Aeneas. Silvam could be translated as a “forest of spears,” but the essential point
of silvam is to point out the great abundance of spears. “Mass” is the best choice for this translation.
The feminine first declension noun silva, silvae, gives the impression of “mass” or “abundance”. Most
often it is describing an abundance of trees or vegetation: woodlands, orchards, groves, crops. It can also
be a bunch of other items such as spears.
Silva comes from the Greek word hulē, which means “forest” or “woodland”. In early Latin silva
appeared as sylva, where the y was used to represent the Greek letter upsilon. Later on sylva became silva
as seen in Classical Latin. The noun silvanus shares the same the same stem as silva; it refers to “the gods
of the woods”. In Medieval Latin silvanus is an adjective that means “of the woods”. From silvanus we
get the English words “sylvan” and “silvan” both of which are pertaining to forests and woodlands.
WORD STUDY 2Y
Latro
Subito latrones ex insidiis advolant, / Interque caedem ferro mulum saciant; / Diripiunt nummos,
neglegunt vile hordeum, “Suddenly robbers hastened from hiding, and they mangled the cut mule with a
sword; they plundered the money, and they neglected the cheap barely (Phaedrus Fabulae 2.7.7-9).” In
this example latrones is the subject. This word is translated as “robber” because the latrones are taking
money from the mule. Another example of latro being used to mean robber is the following: Quia non
semper viator a latrine, non numquam etiam latro a viator occiditur, “(Because) the traveler is not always
killed by the thief, even the thief is never not killed by the traveler (Cicero For Milo 21.55).”
Nam ego hodie ad Seleucum regem misi parasitum meum, ut latrones quos conduxi hinc ad Seleucum
duceret, “For I today sent my Parasite to king Seleucus, so that he may lead the mercenaries who I
gathered from this place to Seleucus (Plautus Miles Gloriosus 4.1.2-3).” In this sentence, Plautus uses the
word latrones to mean “mercenaries”, which in this sentence, are being sent to aid Seleucus in some
battle. It is also used to mean “hired servant.” Caesar uses latro in this sense: Quo facto, regem ut in sua
potestate haberet, Caesar effecit, magnam regium nomen apud suos auctoritatem habere existimans et ut
potuis private paucorum et latronum quam regio consilio susceptum bellum videretur, “Which having
been done, Caesar produced the king so that he may have the power of the king, reckoning to have the
great name of the king for his own authority, in order that war may have been seen to the individual more
able of pirates and mercenaries than an undertaking against the council of the king (Caesar De Bello Civili
3.109.6).”
Insidiosorum si ludis bella latronum, / Gemmeus iste tibi miles et hostis erit, “If you play the game of
dangerous pawns, that precious stone will be a soldier to you and an enemy (Martial, Epigrammata
14.18).” Martial uses latro to mean “chess piece.” This use is only used in poetry. Tunc fauce improba /
Latro incitatus iurgii causam intulit, “Then with a wicked gullet, a wolf, having blamed the lamb,
introduced the cause of a quarrel (Phaedrus Fabulae 1.1.3-4).” Phaedrus refers to the wolf as a latro in
this sentence. nec ueneno nec latrine, neither with poison nor with an assassin… (Valerius Facta 5.9.4).
In this sentence Valerius uses latro to mean assassin.
A robber is someone who takes something that is not theirs. A mercenary or hired servant is someone
who takes money to work or fight for someone else. A chesspiece is something that essentially takes
14
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
another chesspiece. The wolf, in the last Phaedrus example, wants to take something from the lamb. An
assassin takes someone’s life. From these examples it can be seen that the general meaning of latro is
“someone who wants to take something from someone else.”
The noun latro comes from the Greek stem la in laō meaning “I seize” and leia meaning “booty” or
“plunder”. It also comes from the Greek word latris meaning “hired servant.” This noun is also related to
the neuter Latin noun lucrum meaning “profit” or “gain.” An English derivative of this Latin word is
latron meaning “robber” or “thief.” A French derivative of latro is larrron meaning “thief.” A Spanish
derivative is lardon meaning “thief.” Some Italian derivatives are ladro meaning “burglar” and ladrone
meaning “pirate.”
WORD STUDY 3Y
My word: Sanguis (gen. sanguinis)
Appears on line marked 129 (43 lines into the passage) of Wheelock's Latin Reader, chapter titled
"Medieval Latin", "The Story of the Three Caskets" from the Gesta Romanorum.
The sentence in which it appears is:
Puella, cum sonitum audisset, loquebatur pro omnis et ait, "Carissimi, suaviter percutite et latus ceti
aperite; hic sumus in eius ventre, filii bonorum virorum de generoso sanguine."
My translation of that sentence is:
The girl, hearing the sound, spoke for everyone and said, "Dearest ones, sweetly pierce and open
the side of the whale; we are inside its stomach, the sons of good men of noble blood."
In that sentence, "sanguine" is referring to a bloodline, as opposed to the red stuff that goes in veins
(or on the swords of successful warriors).
Two usages of the word:
From the Vulgate, Revelation 19:13 says "Vestitus erat vestem aspersam sanguine et vocatur
nomen eius Verbum Dei." That translates to "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the
Word of God." This usage is an example of "sanguis" being used to literally mean "the red stuff in
peoples' veins".
From Juvenal's tenth satire (from his thirteen), lines 119-121, "Ingenio manus est et cervix caesa,
nec umquam sanguine causidici maduerunt rostra pusilli." This would translate to "It was his genius that
cut off the hand, and severed the neck [of Cicero]; never yet did petty pleader stain the rostra with his
blood!" I.e., many people dream of being great crafters of words like Cicero, but they forget that he was
put to death for those very words.
Based on these passages, I can assume "sanguis" means "blood" in two senses of the word (both of
which we use in English today): "red liquid in arteries and veins" and "family background / descent".
Other cool stuff: Sanguis initally had a macron over the i. It comes from a (reconstructed) word in
Proto-Indo-European which means "blood (inside the body)". There is another word for "blood (outside
the body)" from which Latin derives words like "crudelis".
15
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
WORD STUDY 4Y
Ferus
Silva tum excepit ferum, \ in qua retentis impeditus cornibus \ lacerari coepit morsibus saevis canum,
Then the wood captured the wild creature, in which he was entangled, held back by his horns, he began
to be torn to pieces by the savage bites of the dogs (Phaedrus, Fabulae 1.12.9). Ferum is the neuter
accusative singular of the adjective ferus, and in this sentence it is a substantive meaning “wild thing” or
“wild animal.” It is not really possible to see many of the possible meanings of this word, since its use in
this sentence if very simple.
At quibus ingenium est inmansuetumque ferumque, \ Armeniae tigres iracundique leones \ cumque
lupis ursi, dapibus cum sanguine gaudent, But for those whose nature is both savage and untamed,
Armenian tigers, angry lions, and bears together with wolves, they take pleasure in feasts with blood
(Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.85-7). In this sentence, ferus is a substantive modifying an animal, and it
means “untamed.” Neque hic lupis mos nec fuit leonibus \ umquam nisi in dispar feris, For neither for
savage wolves nor lions was this the custom unless against others (Horace, Epodon 7.11-2). Here ferus
means either “savage” or “wild,” but “untamed” does not really fit. It can be concluded that when
modifying an animal or plant, ferus means “wild,” “savage,” and sometimes “untamed.”
Asinus, ut vidit ferum \ impune laedi, calcibus frontem extudit, A donkey, when he saw that the wild
animal (lion) was being injured with impunity, he struck out at his forehead with his feet (Phaedrus,
Fabulae, 1.21.8). Sometimes when ferus is used as a substantive, where it means “wild animal” or
“beast.” Sometimes it can be translated even more specifically such as a “lion,” based on context. Vergil
used it to mean horse: Sic fatus, validis ingentem viribus hastam \ in latus inque feri curvam compagibus
alvum \ contorsit, Thus having said, he (Laocoon) hurled his enormous spear with a vigorous stroke into
the horse’s side (Vergil, Aeneid 2.50-1).
When ferus is used to modify a place, it can mean “wild,” “uncivilized,” “barren,” “desolate,” or
“bleak,” or in general, a place to rough for people to live at. Vis tu homines urbemque feris praeponere
silvis, Do you put men and the city before wild forests (Horace, Satyrarum Libri, 2.6.92)? Daphni, tuum
Poenos etiam ingemuisse leones \ interitum montesque feri silvaeque loquuntur, Daphnis, then the bleak
mountains and the forests shouted and the lions even roared for your death (Vergil, Ecologues, 5.27-8).
Hostis, et hostis in ceteris rebus nimis ferus et immanis, tamen honorem hominis deorum religione
consecratum violare noluit, An enemy, and an enemy in other things, excessively barbarous and inhuman,
still would not injure the honor of a person consecrated by holy ceremonies (Cicero, Against Verres
2.2.51). Here ferus is modifying a person, and the meanings “wild” or “untamed” do not fit very well:
better meanings are “disagreeable,” “savage,” “barbarous,” “fierce,” or “cruel.” However, when
modifying a group of people, such as a tribe or nation, ferus has a different meaning: “rude,” “coarse,” or
“uncouth,” as well as “savage,” “fierce,” or “barbarous.” Quis ferae \ bellum curet Hiberiae, Who will
care about the wars of the barbarous Iberians (Horace, Carmina 4.5.27)?
Ferus, as used by Phaedrus, means “wild,” such as a wild animal. Some authors use this word as a
substantive to mean a specific animal, such as a horse. This word was sometimes used to describe a place
as “uninhabited” or “overgrown.” Cicero often used this word to describe a person negatively as “cruel”
or “inhuman.” It is also used to describe groups of people as “savage” or “rough.” In general, ferus
means “wild:” a wild animal, a wild land, a wild man, or a wild and thus not very sophisticated people.
16
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
Ferus is related to the Latin nouns ferox “fierce” and feritas “wildness, brutality” and to the verb ferio
“to kill”, “slaughter,” It has many derivatives in modern languages, including Portuguese feroz “fierce,”
Spanish fiero “fierce, wild,” and “fierce,” “feral,” and “ferocious” in English. Ferus is a cognate of the
Greek noun thēr (gen. thēros), which is a “beast” or “beast of prey” such a lion, or a fantastic animal such
as a sphinx, but is also related to Greek phēr (gen. phēros), which is the same as thēr in Aeolic Greek, but
means “centaur,” a very wild legendary creature half man and half horse, in other dialects.
WORD STUDY 5Y
Rock You Like a Procella
The Latin noun procella is derived from the verb procello, meaning “throw forward” or “cast
down.” Procella itself can refer to a violent wind, a tempest, a commotion, or an attack. Its literal
meaning of “storm” can be used for many different figurative purposes.
The poet Vergil used procella in his personification of the winds. Incubuere mari, totumque a
sedibus imis / una Eurusque Notusque runt creberque procellis / Africus, et vastos volvunt ad litora
fluctus, “The East wind and the South wind together, and the Southwest wind full of storms, leaned upon
the sea and cast up the whole (sea) from its deepest places and roll vast waves toward the shores” (Vergil,
Aeneid 1.84-86). “Storms” is the best translation of procellis to convey the author’s point. The winds are
causing the sea to be in turmoil, disturbing the sea even it its deepest places and tossing huge waves onto
the shore. By saying that wind is “full of storms,” Vergil is saying that it brings chaos and confusion to its
surroundings.
A contemporary of Vergil, Cornelius Nepos used procellis in an analogy, comparing the pilot of
ship with a statesman. Quodsi gubernator pracipua laude effertur, qui navem ex hiemi marique scopulosu
servat, cur non singularis eius existimetur prudentia, qui ex tot tamque gravibus procellis civilibus ad
incolumitatem pervenit?, “If a helmsman who keeps a ship from the storm and the rocky sea is extolled
with excellent praise, why should the wisdom of he who arrives at safety from so many and so severe
civil turmoils not be deemed extraordinary?” (Nepos, Atticus 10.6). Procellis is being used figuratively
here to draw a parallel between the turbulence of a rocky sea and civil unrest. By using this term to
describe civil matters, Cornelius Nepos emphasizes that the turmoil and instability of civil disorder is
similar to the volatility and uproar of a literal storm. Because hiems is more suggestive of a literal storm
than a figurative “storm,” Nepos did not merely repeat hiems.
Livy, writing in the 1st c. BC like Vergil and Nepos, used procella in a military context to convey
an attack. Equestrem procellam excitemus oportet, si turbare ac statu movere volumus, “We ought to
raise up a storm of cavalry, if we wish to throw them into disorder and move them from their position”
(Livy 30.18.4). Though procellam is not being used strictly literally here, its figurative meaning is best
brought out by a literal translation. In this context, procellam implies military power and might—similar
to the strength of a literal storm. The word is also directly connected to the results of disorder and
movement implied in turbare and movere, just as Vergil’s literal storm brought disorder and great
movement to the sea. A storm of cavalry throws the enemy into disarray just as a storm of wind throws
the sea into disarray.
Penning his Institutia Oratoria during the 1st century AD, Quintilian used procellam to emphasize
the sudden nature of Ulysses’ speech. Hoc praecipit Homerus Ulixis exemplo, quem stetisse oculis in
17
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
terram defixis immotoque sceptro, priusquam illam eloquentiae procellam effunderet, dicit, “Homer
teaches this through the example of Ulysses, whom he says stood with eyes fixed on the ground and his
staff motionless, before he poured out that storm of eloquence” (Quintilian 11.3.158). Quintilian’s choice
of diction—pouring out a “storm” of eloquence—implies that Ulysses’ words were like an onslaught of
rain in their power and forcefulness. Though at first Ulysses is standing with his eyes on the ground and
his staff motionless, suddenly, he pours out a speech—just like a storm can arise suddenly with little
warning.
Later usages of procella seem to be primarily literal. The Vulgate, written during the late 4th
century AD, employed procellis in the Book of Job to indicate the harsh, noisy nature of the storms.
Quando ponebat pluviis legem, / et viam procellis sonantibus, “When he was putting in place a law for
the rains, / and a way for the resounding storms” (Job 28.26). This is an ordinary literal usage of procella.
It is most simply translated “storms”—loud, powerful bouts of wind and rain.
Procella has a seemingly simple unifying meaning of “storm,” but its connotations are complex
and enable the word to be used in a variety of figurative contexts. Unlike hiems, which signifies a literal
storm or winter, and tempestas, which primarily indicates temporal attributes like seasons, procella has
associations of chaos, volatility, power, and suddenness. Though its core meaning is “storm,” procella’s
versatility means that this storm can be composed of wind, rain, civil strife, soldiers, or even words.
WORD STUDY 6Y
Author: Please carefully follow all formatting rules from the assignment sheet. Do not add additional
line spaces between paragraphs! Be sure to omit them if your word processing program adds them.
Cetus: Whale or Devil?
The Latin noun cetus, -i is most commonly used to describe a whale or very large fish. Ancient
Romans, lacking the technology and tools we have today were not able to properly study these whales or
large fish known to them as ceti. Thus they used the word broadly meaning very large, somewhat
dangerous, unknown thing swimming in the water. Cetus is derived from the greek word ketos also
meaning a whale or sea monster.
The word cete, the vocative singular masculine form of cetus, directly translates into not-socommon modern day English noun as well. A cete is a rare cetacean. This word, cete, may often be
confused with the word whale. The difference between a whale and a cete however is notable. A cete is a
very specific term for a very specific ocean living thing, whereas a whale can be any of several species of
large sea mammals.
Cete has derivatives in English like many Latin words. One such derivative is cetology, a branch
of zoology that deals with whales, dolphins, and porpoises.
The word cete is also used by Latin writers to mean devil. This may not seem directly connected
to the general meaning of whale and fish, but since at the time that cete came into play in the Latin
language whales were uncommon and very valuable. Roman fishing towns would make a tremendous
profit from all the oil, bone, and meat taken from the whale, beached or hunted. This business of selling
whale products often lent itself to trickery, greed, and unworthy treasure. All things that Romans of that
time greatly despised and associated with the Devil. The Romans weren’t the only ones to depict the
18
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
whale as a connection to the Devil. Shakespeare, in one of his plays wrote this excerpt in 1608: “Why, as
men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones; I can compare our rich misers to nothing so fitly as to
a whale; a’ plays and tumbles, driving the poor fry before him, and at last devours them all at a mouthful.
Such whales have I heard on o’ the land, who never leave gaping till they’ve swallowed the whole parish,
church, steeple, bells, and all (Shakespeare, Pericles Prince of Tyre. 30).” It was said that Shakespeare
studied many Latin texts, and it is indeed apparent in some of his other plays such as Merchant of Venice,
directly related to the Gesta Romanorum, The Three Caskets, that that is true. A more direct example of
the connection between cete and the general connection to the Devil is also found in the Gesta
Romanorum, The Three Caskets.
Cum autem per mare navigarent, cete grande eis occurrebant in mari et navem deglutire volebant… Cete
grande est diabolus, contra quem debemus vigilare. Sed si nos contingit dormire in peccatis, deglutiet
corpus et animam.magnas vigilias, dormierunt. Cete subito navem cum omnibus contentis deglutivit,
“When however they were sailing across the sea, a grand whale arrived by the ship in the sea and was
wanting to devour the ship…The grand whale is the Devil, against whom we ought to stand vigilance. But
if we happen to fall asleep in sin, in will devour the body and soul (Unknown, Gesta Romanorum, The
Story of the Three Caskets 305.106-107, 175-177).”
In this case, the first excerpt uses cete as simply whale or sea monster; something big enough that
with some dramatic imagination could swallow a ship. In the second excerpt from the same passage
written in the early 14th century, the author, unknown to historians, artfully makes the story into a moral
where the whale is a metaphor for the Devil. The Devil, in the form of a whale, swallows the ship due to
the slack in vigilance on board. Cetus also happens to be the Zodiac sign for devilish and evil.
Cetus most likely first appeared in the early 3rd century A.D. along with the first records of whale
sightings and hunts. Whales often posed a threat to these ancient Romans and were at first hunted only to
get rid of their destruction. This led to the discovery of the many resources whales gave mankind. Cetus,
the constellation was first charted by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the century before, and is probably
where the word came from. Tum variae comitum facies, immania cete. “Then you make varying
commitments, like a huge whale (Vergil. A. 5.799).” This excerpt was also from the 3rd century. The
meaning in Latin hasn’t changed in terms of translation. It is used in 1560 here: Cete (Kete) ex aquatilibus
proprie dicuntur, quae perfectum animal ex femine, non ex ouo, gignunt, ut Delphini, Balaenae, Phocae.
“Whales, peculiarly said to be from the watery depths, are perfect animals from females, not of rejoicing,
they who create them are Delphin, Balaena, Phoca (Gesner, Icones Animalium, p. 160).”
Although the Latin language has changed very much since the 3rd century to modern today, this
particular word has not changed drastically. Although perhaps if one shouted, “Cete!” back in the 3rd
century it would have sparked screams from little children and running fishermen, if one shouted,
“Whale!” in a city today, there would be some strange looks. Unless of course, one was on a whale
watching tour.
19
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
WORD STUDY 7Y
Nummus, a “valuable” word!
Nummus evolved from the Doric variation noûmmos or in the Greek script, νοῦμμος of the Greek
word nomos or νόμος which means “custom, law, or ordinance.” The original Greek root was némō or
νέμω, for “deal out, distribute, dispense, graze flocks, or drive animals to pasture.” The Latin word
numerus is a more frequently used word from these Greek roots.
There are several historical examples that present how the word evolved through time. For
example, Cicero used the word to mean “money” in his Verrine Orations. Cum qui pecuniam Dioni
dederunt dicerent se iam tum audisse eos nummos sumi ut Verri darentur, When those who had supplied
Dio with money (implied) said that they had heard at that time that the money was taken to be given to
Verres on purpose (Cicero, Against Verres, 2.1.28). Similarly, Cicero’s contemporary, Caesar also used
nummus to mean “money” in this sample from The Gallic Wars. Vtuntur aut aere aut nummo aureo aut
taleis ferreis ad certum pondus examinatis pro nummo, They use either bronze or iron rings, determined
by a certain weight as their money (Caesar, The Gallic Wars, 5.12.4). As time progresses, the word
slowly branches out from “money” to encompass more linguistic niches.
Over time, nummus adopted new meanings, as all words do as they grow to fit more needs. From
the History of Rome, . . .vectigal quoque eis Campanus populus iussus pendere in singulos quotannis—
fuere autem mille et sexcenti—denarios nummos quadringenos quinquagenos, . . .and the people of
Campania were ordered to pay them each —they numbered 1600 in all —the sum of 450 denarii annually
(Livy, History of Rome, 8.11.16). In this passage by Livy, in the time of Augustus, the newly introduced
idiom, denarius nummus, came to represent a Denarius. The Denarius, at that time, was a 3.9-gram coin
of about 95-98 percent silver that was worth 16 of their pennies. Nummus became the norm in reference
to coins or money. In words used today, numismatic, from nummus, means “pertaining to historical
coinage.” Furthermore, a numismatist is a coin collector. Even in other disciplines, coin-shaped things
are designated using words that are derived from nummus. Nummular dermatitis is a medical term from
nummulus, little coin, to describe a specific type of skin irritation characterized by a circular or “coinshaped” patch on the skin. Nummulites are a type of fossilized coin-shaped marine protozoan and
nummultic limestone, used in the construction of the pyramids, is a common limestone comprised of
many nummulites. Back in the Medieval period, the meaning of nummus as a coin kept evolving. Many
modern names for coins like the Solidus or the Bezant came from nummus by starting as Solidus Nummus
and Byzantius Nummus, respectively. These coins were both very valuable, leading to a change in the use
of nummus in the middle ages.
As shown in the 14th century passages from the Carmina Burana, nummus is no longer restricted
to meaning a coin. The use in both of these passages is an unusual use, meaning an expensive object,
either implied by context or supplied. Primo pro nummata vini/ex hac bibunt libertini. The first for costly
wine, from which we drink wine and carouse (Carmina Burana, In Taberna 230-31). Parum centum sex
nummatae/Durant, ubi immoderate bibunt omnes sine meta/quamvis bibant menthad grown to e laeta. Six
hundred costly cups remain, even when everyone drinks lavishly without limit, they drink as they please
with a happy brain, in such a way will societies slander us, and in that way we will be penniless (Carmina
Burana, In Taberna 262-65). In these poetic songs, nummus alone may have been selected for its rhythm
to keep the meter of the song consistent; whereas a lengthier denotation would break the tempo.
20
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
Caesar, Cicero, and their Golden age counterparts established nummus as money or coins. Even
in today’s adaptations of nummus, it is associated with coins. In the Silver Age, nummus evolves to be
used as an idiom with coin names to represent specific coins, this is where most of our Roman coin names
originated. In Medieval Latin, nuumus adopts the meaning of an expensive object and the word is so
contextually descriptive that sometimes the actual object is implied. Nummus has had a long life with
usage dating from before 70 BC (and suspected much earlier) and continues to modern day through many
derivations.
Bibliography:
Caesar, The Gallic Wars.
Cicero, The Verrine Orations.
Livy, The History of Rome.
Wheelock, Fredrick. Wheelock’s Latin Reader, Second Edition, HarperResource, 2001.
Compilation of partly known authors including Peter of Blois. In Taberna, Carmina Burana.
“Nummulite” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. June 13, 2016 Web. October 3, 2016.
“Nummular, nummulitic” Etmyonline, Douglas Harper, 2001 Web. October 3, 2016.
WORD STUDY 8Y
I Pursued, But Now They Pursue Me!
Through gruesome skirmishes, terrifying conquests, and thrilling chases, Latin literature is ridden
with nations chasing nations or people chasing people. The astonishingly efficient thing about it all? One
Latin word can be used to describe these actions and even more: persequor (persequi, persecutus sum).
While its meaning cannot be expressed in a single English word, persequor’s ultimate idea, which applies
to all its uses, can be found by examining its usage in Latin literature.
In de Bello Gallico, Caesar’s Gallic Wars, persequor is used in the following sentence: Is ita cum
Caesare egit: si pacem populus Romanus cum Helvetiis faceret, in eam partem ituros atque ibi futuros
Helvetios ubi eos Caesar constituisset atque esse voluisset; sin bello persequi perseveraret,
reminisceretur et veteris incommodi populi Romani et pristinae virtutis Helvetiorum, “Now he discussed
with Caesar: if the Roman nation would make peace with the Helvetii, the Helvetii would go in that part
and be there where Caesar had established and had wished them to be; but if he was continuing to seek
war, he should remember the old disgrace of the Roman nation and the former virtue of the Helvetii
(Caesar, de Bello Gallico, 1.13.3-4).” In this context, the present active infinitive of persequor, persequi,
is literally translated, “to seek.” Coupled with bello, persequi implies a meaning of “pursuing to wage
war,” or of “seeking to wage a war,” by either attacking or aggravating the Helvetii. Previously, in de
Bello Gallico, Caesar had made a sudden attack on the Helvetii. The victims’ leader went to Caesar to
make peace. Thus, the entire phrase used, sin bello persequi perseveraret, “but if he was continuing to
seek war,” is a reference to Caesar’s past action of attacking the Helvetii. Therefore, persequi, in this
context, means “seeking with a hostile intent.”
However, forms of persequor can also take on slightly different English meaning. For example,
in Cicero’s orations: quos tu Maeandros, dum omnis solitudines persequeris, quae deverticula
flexionesque quaesisti? “What crooked ways, what byroads and windings do you strive for, while you
seek every solitude? (Cicero, M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes 22.53)” Here, persequor no longer has
belligerent undertones, but indicates a meaning of “striving,” or “following perseveringly, pursuing with
21
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
strength,” or even “overcoming obstacles.” The entire excerpt is asking what inefficient paths
(Maeandros, deverticula flexionesque, crooked ways, byroads and windings) we take to seek peace.
Taking a winding path rather than a straight one requires more effort. Thus, persequeris means not only
“You seek,” but, “You seek with effort (perseveringly).” Neither is it meant with malicious intent,
because one takes winding paths to travel, not to attack.
Another author, Horace, in a similar era to Caesar and Cicero (100’s BC), uses a conjugate of
persequor with a slightly different English meaning. In Horace’s Carmina, a conjugate is used with the
following meaning: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori: / mors et fugacem persequitur virum / nec
parcit inbellis iuventae / poplitibus timidoque tergo, “Sweet and fitting is death for the fatherland, death
overtakes the swift man, and it does not spare the peaceful youth, and the hough and the fearful back
(Horace, Carmina 3.2.14).” It is fitting for persequitur to be translated as “overtake,” due to its context.
As we saw with Caesar’s use, persequor can imply inimical intent. In this song, Horace takes this intent a
step further by writing afterward the phrase that death nec parcit inbellis iuventae, “does not spare the
peaceful youth.” Because the action of “sparing” cannot take place unless the subject is refraining from a
harmful fate and because the latter half of the song states that death “does not spare (kills),” it would not
make sense for persequitur to merely mean “seeking with hostile intent,” but “succeeding in seeking to
kill, overtaking.” Therefore, we have yet another twist on the English meaning of persequor, that of “to
overtake.”
Finally, we have Cicero using persequor in a legal context. In the transcript of his orations, he
says, Deliberatum autem est, si res opinionem meam quam de vobis habeo fefellerit, non modo eos
persequi ad quos maxime culpa corrupti iudici, sed etiam illos ad quos conscientiae contagio pertinebit,
“However it is my considered [resolution], if this report should deceive from what I have from you, to not
only prosecute those who are greatly guilty of having been corrupted for the judge, but even those whom
will relate to joint knowledge of influence (Cicero, M. Tvlli Ciceronis Orationes 2.5.183).” Persequi is
best translated here as “to prosecute.” As seen earlier, persequor can take on a meaning of ill-intent. In
this way, then, persequi means “to seek justice, to seek revenge, to prosecute.” In this situation, Cicero is
suggesting that the council take action against those not only immediately guilty of the crime, but also
any accomplices. It makes no sense to have persequi mean “to seek,” because it is implied that they have
already sought and found who did what heinous deed. Therefore, persequi indicates an idea of “seeking
against (someone),” or more concisely, “prosecuting (someone).”
Throughout the previous examples, persequor has a variety of uses, from “I seek,” to “I strive,” to
“I overtake,” to “I prosecute.” In conclusion, however, persequor simply means persequor. From these
examples, it can be concluded that persequor means in English, “pursuing with a goal.” Depending on the
context, this goal may be of vengeful, as we see from the examples from Caesar, Horace and Cicero (in
the last paragraph) or amiable intent, as in our first example from Cicero. One useful note is that this
definition makes sense because persequor is formed from the prefix per (“through”) and the deponent
verb sequor (“to follow, go after, seek”). Thus, persequor conveys a message along the lines of “seeking
through (something),” which we have already seen to be a certain goal.
Nations and groups of people have been pursuing each other so much that persequor has found its
way into English as well, in the words “persecute” (to pursue and harm), and “pursue” itself. In fact,
persequor has been pursued in Catalan, French, Galician, Ido, Portugese, Italian and more. All these
22
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
words have retained the ultimate idea of persequor, “to pursue with a goal.” Clearly, persequor is
valuable, especially if you’d like a good pursuit!
WORD STUDY 9Y
Author: Please carefully follow all formatting rules from the assignment sheet. Do not add additional
line spaces between paragraphs! Be sure to omit them if your word processing program adds them.
This report focuses on the use of the word “cornu” in Latin literature and poetry.
Cornu can take many different meanings, depending on the context.
Here, we can see the most common use of cornu. Ibi dum ramosa mirans laudat cornua, crurumque
nimiam tenuitatem vituperat, venantum subito vocibus conterritus, per campum fugere coepit, et cursu
levi canes elusit, “Here, while he praised marveling at its branching horns, he had found fault with the
excessive thinness of his legs, and suddenly terrified by the voice of hunters, he began to flee through the
plain, and he lightly evaded the quick running dogs (Phaedrus, Fabulae 1.12.3-7).”
In this text, cornu simply means animal horn.
In this example, we can see a much rarer form of cornu. Ipse a dextro cornu, quod eam partem minime
firmamhostium esse animadverterat, proelium commisit, “Caesar himself began the battle in the right
wing, because he had judged it to be the weakest part (Caesar de Bello Gallico 1.52.2-3).”
Here, cornu refers to a wing of an army.
In this passage, we can see it refer to a harbor.
Ab utroque portus cornu moles iacimus, ut aut illum quam primum traicere quod habet Brundisi
copiarum cogamus aut exitu prohibeamus, “We are throwing moles out from both headlands by the
harbor, so that we compel him to take the forces he holds at Brundisium across first, or we prevent him
from exiting (Cicero, Letters to Atticus 9.14.5-6).”
Cornu can also refer to a bow, such as in this case.
Ille pharetram solvit et arbitrio matris de mille sagittis unam seposuit, sed qua nec acutior ulla nec minus
incerta est nec queae magis audiat arcus, oppositoque genu curvavit flexile cornum inque cor hamata
percussit harundine Dite(Ovid Metamorphoses 5.379-384).”
Cornu can also refer to the crescent moon, to a branching river, to a mountaintop, and many other hornshaped things. In general, Cornu can refer to anything shaped like a horn, or anything made from horns,
such as ivory.
WORD STUDY 10Y
Clerus; Not a Mere Definition
As with many Latin words in literature, clerus has more than one meaning, making it very confusing to
translate. Through researching on Latin Dictionary and Grammar Resources, I found that not only does it
mean a clergy, but also a clerical order, as well as an allotment of land. When I was translating the
passage I have below, the side notes stated that clerus also meant a scholar or a student. With all of these
meanings for the word, one has to dive deeply into the context of the story itself to detect which use
would best fit the translation. On the other hand, when I looked up the English word clergy in the
23
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
Merriam Webster Dictionary, I found that it meant a group of people ordained to perform pastoral or
sacerdotal functions in a church, or the official class of a non-Christian religion. The Latin word clerus
also has many sub words in English such as a clergyman, a cleric, or a clericalist. Thus, the English
language looked at clerus and made many different words from it.
The one place it was used in my translation would be in the lively drinking song, In Taberna,
from miedeval Latin. Here it is in context, Bibit hera, bibit herus / Bibit miles, bibit clerus / Bibit ille,
Bibit illa / Bibit servus cum ancilla / Bibit velox, bibit piger / Bibit albus, bibit niger / Bibit constans, bibit
vagus / Bibit rudis, bibit magus (Burana, In Taberna 4. 34-40). “The mistress drinks, the master drinks,
The soldier drinks, the clergy drinks, That man drinks, that woman drinks, The slave with the maidservant
drinks, The swift man drinks, The slow man drinks, The white man drinks, the black man drinks,
Standing he drinks, roaming he drinks, The rough man drinks, the great man drinks.” This use of clerus
should be translated as clergy rather than something relating to a student or an allotment of land because it
seems like as the author moves from one phrase to the next, he is transitioning from one person to his/her
opposite. Although it is difficult to figure out which use we should use, clergy makes the most sense right
after “the soldier drinks.” It seems as if a person with religious duties would be the more opposite of a
soldier.
In the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the word clergy in English also relates to knowledge or
learning. While it doesn’t specifically imply something other than a person affiliated with religious duties
like it does in Latin, we can infer that it does have something to do with being a student or scholar. When
I first read the Latin word clerus, I immediately made reference inside my brain to the English word
clergy. In the end, I think that the Latin word clerus means someone affiliated with religious duties, but in
the right context, it could also be used to talk about a very good student or scholar, as well as a piece of
land.
Another instance of the use of clerus can be found in part of St. Jerome’s Translation of 1st Peter.
Neque ut dominantes in cleris sed formae facti gregi et ex animo ... (St. Jerome, 1st Peter 5. 4-5) “Nor the
ruling in the land but the shapes of the flock having been made from the soul” In this example clerus is
used to mean a piece of land since Jerome talks about a “flock” right after that, probably referring to
sheep which one could associate with a piece of land, an example of clerus where the meaning of the
word isn’t clergy. For the next example, one could conclude that he/she should once again translate clerus
as clergy. Alia clero, tertia pauperibus, quarta ecclesiis reparandis (Plummer, The Venerable Bede 1.27.
24). “By the other clergy, the third poor family, the fourth church which is to be recovered.” Here one can
deduce from the word “ecclesiis” meaning church, that this translation has to be clergy because of its
meaning associating with “church.” Non tamen nisi probatiores atque meliores in clerum adsumere
soleamus (St. Augustine, Epistulae 17. 8-9). “Nevertheless, unless it is not more approved and better in
the clergy, we may be accustomed to receive it.” In this last example, clerus is once again translated as
clergy because the author is not talking about a student or a piece of land, thus, one can deduce that it
means a clergy. With many translations of this word, it means a group of religious people since the
context surrounding the word is talking about church related issues. However, it can also mean a student
or and allotment of land.
24
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
WORD STUDY 1Z
Latin 3 Word Study #1
Today, when people think of the word “sinus”, they probably think of the anatomical definition of
a cavity in the skull connected with the nasal cavities, or passages in the body used for the channeling of
blood. When people think of the word “sine”, they think of the ratio of the opposite side to the hypotenuse
of a right triangle. However, both roots of these word come from Latin. The Latin word “sinus” seems to
have many different, but the basic meaning out of all of them is (something) curved or bent, which
possibly creates a hollow. This can be seen by the different occasions in which the word is used.
One definition of the word “sinus” is found in a play written in 211 BC by T. Maccius Plautus
called Rudens. In Act 5, Scene 2, a character who has been shipwrecked is describing what he has lost,
saying, “Talentum argenti commodum magnum inerat in crumina, / praeterea sinus, cantharus, epichysis,
gaulus, cyathus, There was on there a talent of silver suitable in a purse, in addition a drinking cup, a
large drinking vessel with handles, a goblet, a beaker, and a cup (Rudens 5.2). In this situation, the word
“sinus” is clearly meant to be translated as either a bowl or a cup, which is something curved. However,
this definition expands into something much bigger by the ADs.
The word “sinus” is again found in Ovid’s book, Metamorphoses. This book was written around
8 AD. In the particular section where “sinus” is found, Ovid is describing a certain location in a story of
Peleus and Thetis: Est sinus Haemoniae curvos falcatus in arcus: / bracchia procurrunt, ubi, si foret
altior unda, / portus erat (summis inductum est aequor harenis); / litus habet solidum, quod nec vestigia
servet / nec remoretur iter, nec opertum pendeat alga, The bay of Thessaly is sickle-shaped curved in an
arc: a branch juts out, where, if the harbor was to be higher than the wave, (the surface of the seashore led
in from highest); the seashore has a solid ground, which neither preserves footprints nor delays a journey,
nor does the hidden seaweed hang down (Ovid Metamorphoses 11.229-223). Here, the word “sinus” is
translated as “bay”. Although a bay is much more immense than a bowl or cup, both have a curved shape.
Four centuries later, yet another meaning of the word is seen in the Vulgate.
The Vulgate was finished being translated in 404 AD by Eusebius Hieronymus Sophronius, also
called Jerome. The word “sinus” is found in “The Sermon on the Mount”, where Jesus describes how
people should live. Mensuram bonam, confertam et coagitatam et supereffluentem, dabunt in sinum
vestrum; eadem quippe mensural qua mensi fueritis, remetiertur vobis, They will give measured good,
crammed full and shaken down and overflowing, into your lap; the same measure which of course you
will have measured, going back to you (Luke 6.38). Here, “sinus” is translated as “pocket”. The
translation of “pocket” was originally “a fold (in a garment)”, which is where the curved, bent, or hollow
element comes in.
Although the meanings of the word “sinus” can stretch from “bowl” to “bay” to “pocket”, they
have a common characteristic which allows them all to be represented by just one word. The word
“sinus”, therefore, means “(something) curved, bent, or hollow”, influencing the definition of “sinus” or
“sine” in English today. The anatomical definition is influenced by the “hollow” characteristic of the
word, while the trigonometrical word “sine” comes from “bent” meaning of sinus. In addition to these,
the Latin word “sinus” has influenced many other modern English words.
Works Cited
"405 Jerome Completes the Vulgate." Christianity Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.
"Vulgate: Luke: Luke Chapter 6." Vulgate: Luke: Luke Chapter 6. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2016.
25
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
"Perseus Digital Library." Perseus Digital Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2016.
Wheelock, Frederic M. Wheelock's Latin Reader. New York: HarperCollins World, 2002. Print.
Traupman, John C. The New College Latin & English Dictionary. New York: Amsco School Publications, 2008. Print.
WORD STUDY 2Z
Author: never use footnotes for any word study! They will not function well in the format of a
compilation. Please carefully follow all formatting rules from the assignment sheet.
The word “saeculum,” or in its poetically shortened form “saeclum,” appears once in the medieval hymn,
Dies Irae. It is located at the very beginning of the hymn in the sentence, “Dies Irae, dies illa, solvet
saeclum in favilla.”1 My translation of this sentence is as follows: “Day of wrath, that day, the world is
dissolved in ashes.” The Oxford Latin Dictionary provides ten meanings for the word, and I relied upon
several of these meanings to find passages.
The first passage I chose (not in the Oxford Latin Dictionary) that we did not prepare in class is
“an age” as in a period of time, and the sentence I chose for this meaning comes from the Bible, 1
Corinthians 3:18. It says, “Nemo seducat: Si quis videtur inter vos esse in hoc saeculo, stultus fiat ut sit
sapiens.” My translation of this is the following: “Let no one lead himself away; if who seems to be wise
among you all in this age, let him be made foolish, so that he will be wise.”
The second passage that I chose means “a breed or race.” I found this meaning in a phrase by
Lucretius2 which reads, “…parit omnia saecla ferarum…” My translation for this phrase is the following:
“…provides all breeds of wild beasts…”
The third meaning of “saeculum” is “the period of time corresponding to the lifetime of a
particular person or persons.” I found this meaning in the Latin sentence by Terence which says, “Hocine
saeclum! O scelera, o genera sacrilega, o homine impium!”3 My translation for this phrase is the
following: “What is this age! O evil deeds, o sacrilegious generation, o impious man!”
The fourth meaning that I chose means “a human lifetime, generation.” I found this meaning in a
sentence by Propertius, “Nestoris est visus post tria saecla cinis.”4 My translation for this phrase is the
following: “The ashes of Nestor had been seen after three generations.”
The fifth and final meaning that I chose is only used in the plural form, and means “future ages,
posterity.” I found this meaning in a sentence by Petronius, “Ne quid profuturum saeculis diu lateret.”5
My translation of this phrase is the following: “Do not lie hidden for long for the future ages to benefit.”
Looking at all the different uses of this word here, the one thing that most of them have in
common is that they refer to “a set period of time, especially one that is tied or refers to a human
1
Thomas of Celano, Dies Irae, Lines 393-395, pg. 323
Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, Book 2, Line 995
3 Terence, Adelphi, Line 304
4 Propertius, Book 2, Section 13, Line 46
5 Petronius, Satyricon, Chapter 88, Line 2
2
26
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
lifetime or generation/generations.” This word’s meaning has changed over time so that most Romance
languages have come to identify their individual derivatives of “saeculum” as meaning “a century.” From
this we can see that the later meaning has narrowed from the early use by the classical authors, further
justifying my definition. Examples of these language changes are “siglo” from Spanish, and “siècle” from
French, which both mean century.
This word is used in the phrase “in saecula saeculorum,” where it means “forever.” This can be
used in a Mother’s Day card, for instance, to tell your mother that you love her forever, and to do it in an
erudite fashion. More generally, saeculum is a good word choice when you want to discuss the concept
of “an age,” “a century,” or “a generation.”
WORD STUDY 3Z
Author: Please carefully follow all formatting rules from the assignment sheet. Do not add additional
line spaces between paragraphs! Be sure to omit them if your word processing program adds them.
I am writing about the Latin word “vero”. It’s a very interesting word, with a clear root, and
several varying meanings in more recent Latin. In this Word Study, I will first look at several different
uses of vero, then trace it’s roots and marks on modern English, and then finally show my conclusion of
vero’s meaning.
My first example is from “Thoughts From the Sermon on the Mount”.
“verum tamen diligite inimicos vestros, et bene facite, et mutuum date, nihil inde sperantes (Hieronymus,
The Vulgate, Thoughts From the Sermon on the Mount 12-13)
“But if you truly love your enemies, and do good to them, and give loans to them, expecting nothing in
return;”
In this sentence, vero is acting solely as the word truly. It is working to show that you must really,
actually love your enemies. Truly love them. It could be replaced with the words “actually” or “really”.
My other examples are from “The Three Caskets”.
“Nautae vero ignem copiosum fecerunt et die ac nocte vigilabant (Gesta Romanorum, The Story of the
Three Caskets, 108-109).” Its translation is “Indeed the sailors created a huge fire and watched day and
night”
In this sentence, Vero is saying that they were so worried that they actually took action. It’s sort
of acting as proof of their terror. It could replaced with “they actually”, or “really”, did it.
“Illi vero consilium puella per omnia impleverunt (Gesta Romanorum, The Story of the Three
Caskets, 121-122).”
“They truly completed all of the girl’s plot.”
In this sentence, it means more like they didn’t skimp; they did all of it to the letter. It could be
replaced with something like “really did.”
Illa vero tres cophinos intime respexit et ait in corde suo (Gesta Romanorum, The Story of the
Three Caskets, 153).”
“Indeed she considered the three caskets thoughtfully and she said of the first one,”
In this sentence, vero is saying that she did the work. She looked at them all, and examined them.
She didn’t just know it. It could be replaced with, yet again, something like really.
27
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
In all of these sentences vero has a similar meaning, but the word is used very differently in each
one. I will try to explain why I think that is later, but for now, I’m going to try to show the path that I
think vero took through time.
Vero actually has one very simple root: versus. Versus is an adjective means true, real or proper,
so it’s fairly easy to tell where vero’s basic meaning came from. In the beginning of vero’s life, someone
probably used it just to say veri – the true thing. As time went on, people used the word vero more and
more loosely- as the centuries passed by it just meant truly, and could be used by itself. And it started to
branch out even more- it could mean indeed, or truly or even however. I would imagine that vero’s peak
time was towards the end of Rome; after that it probably started being simplified.
Now, we have many words that come from vero/verus, such as verify (which means to ascertain)
and veridical (which means truthful). Words in English that have ver in them tend to have something to
do with truth.
So, what does vero mean? On the surface it means truly, but I think it means more like really,
actually. It means that the action was completely done. It was done well and completed. Why “really”
works in almost all cases is simply because we happen have an almost exact translation in the English
language.
WORD STUDY 4Z
The Two Sides of Stupere
Stupeo, stupere, stupui. When one first sees this Latin verb conjugation, the first thing that pops
into mind might be, “I bet the word stupeo has something to do with being stupid.” Well, not exactly. It is
actually a word that has much grander implications then just being senseless.
Before the dictionary definition is revealed, we should take a look at some examples of how this
verb is used. Here is an example of stupere: “Mors stupebit et natura, cum resurget creatura iudicanti
responsura” (Celano, Dies Irae 402-404) This line can be translated as, “Death and nature will gaze in
wonder when the creatures rise up in response to the Judge.” In this line, the verb stupeo is used to
convey the meaning that death and nature will be astounded by what will occur on the Day of Judgment.
Here, the use of the verb stupere makes perfect sense. After all, who wouldn’t be amazed to see what was
dead come back to life?
Moving on to another example that is not as disturbing, we can read of the Israel’s amazement in
1 Samuel 17.11. “Audiens autem Saul et omnes viri Israhelitae sermons Philisthei huiuscemodi stupebant
et metuebant nimis”, which translates to, “However, when Saul and all the Israelites heard the words of
the Philistines, they were stunned and afraid.” The Philistines were a nation with formidable, strong
armies, so naturally the Israelites would be quite stupefied by them. Not to worry, though, the Israelites
defeat the Philistines later on with the help of God, and I’m sure that then it was the Philistine’s turn to be
stunned.
This last example is my favorite: “Stupebant autem omnes qui eum audiebant super prudential et
responsis eius” (Luke 2.47) It is translated as, “However, all were hearing Him and they were stunned by
his knowledge and responses.” In this story, Jesus is a young boy who was talking to teachers and asking
questions in the temple. The people were astounded by Jesus because they could never have imagined that
a young boy like him could provide such insight and wisdom that only the elderly had acquired over years
28
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
of study.
Stupere means to “be stunned, astounded, amazed”, even to “stand still, halt, cease.” Ever heard
of the term, “stupefy”? Stupefy is derived from the Latin verb stupere, and the words describes being so
astounded by something that you are essentially shocked into a stupor. You don’t know how to react or
what to say. However, this word “stupefied” has also evolved over time. While it can still mean to be
shocked, it can also mean to be insensible or even groggy. I suppose that when you have to wake up early
after staying up until 2AM to write your history paper, you might feel stupefied and unable to function
properly.
In the three examples above, one can clearly see that the source of surprise could have positive or
negative implications. If you discovered a horrible secret, like the restaurant whose workers never wash
their hands, you would be stunned, stupefied. If you saw something incredible, like the magical northern
lights in Reykjavik, you would also be stunned – maybe even stunned into silence as you gaze upon the
wonder of nature. This word, stupere, has two sides.
Works Cited:
Mahoney, Kevin D. "Latin Definition For: Stupeo, Stupere, Stupui, -." Latin Definition For: Stupeo, Stupere, Stupui,. N.p., n.d.
Web. 04 Oct. 2016. <http://www.latin-dictionary.net/definition/35852/stupeo-stupere-stupui>.
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2016. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stupefy>.
"Perseus Digital Library." Perseus Digital Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2016. <http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/>.
Simpson, D. P. "Latin-English Dictionary." Cassell's Latin and English Dictionary. New York: Collier, 1987. 213. Print.
Wheelock, Frederic M., and Richard A. LaFleur. "Medieval Latin." Wheelock's Latin Reader: Selections from Latin Literature.
New York: HarperResource, 2001. 323. Print.
WORD STUDY 5Z
The word ‘confortare’, the imperative singular form seen in the Gesta Romanorum, “Carissimi, estote
confortati; Deus nos salvabit.” “Dearest, be strengthened greatly; God will watch over us.”, was used in
Medieval Latin, especially the Vulgate.
This word can mean “to be strong” as is seen in 1 Chronicles of the Vulgate, Confortare et
agamus viriliter pro populo nostro et pro urbibus Dei nostri Dominus. “Be strong and let us move
courageously for our people and for the cities of God our Lord” (1 Chronicles 19:13), in 1 Corinthians,
Vigilate state in fide viriliter agite et confortamini. “Watch, be upright in faith, move courageously, and
be strong.”, and in 2 Chronicles, Confortatus est ergo Salomon filius David in ragno suo… “Solomon, the
son of David, was strong in his kingdom…” (2 Chronicles 1:1). It can also have a progressive meaning
and be translated as “to strengthen”. An example of this translation is in the Rerum Gestarum: Zeno
confortans lisauros intra provincinam,… “Zeno, strengthening the Isauri within the province,…”
(Amm.val 2.9).
In Classical Latin, the word ‘confirmare’ was used instead of ‘confortare’. It, like the Medieval
form, could be translated as the progressive “to strengthen” as in Caesar’s Gallic War: …cum proximis
civitatibus pacem et amicitiam confirmare. “… to strengthen the peace and friendship with the nearest
citizenships.” (Caes. Gal. 1.3) and in Cicero’s Pro M. Caelo Oratio: Accusatio crimen desiderat, rem ut
definat, hominem notet,argumento probet, teste confirmet;… “The accusation calls for a judgement, so
29
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
that he may limit the matter, he may mark the man, he may support the argument, he may strengthen the
witness.” (Cic. Cael. 3). In Classical Latin, however, ‘confirmare’ could also mean “to establish”, a
translation which was mostly transferred to the word ‘constituere’ when ‘confortare’ began to be used
instead. An example of this meaning can be found in Cicero’s Against Catiline: Vivis, et vivisnon ad
deponendam, sed ad confirmandam audaciam. “You live, and you live not to set down, but to establish
bravery.” (Cic. Catil. 1.2)
The Medieval Latin word ‘confortare’ is a word which took half of the meaning of an earlier
word, in this case it took the “to strengthen” half of ‘confirmare’. The other half of ‘confirmare’, “to
establish”, was incorporated by the word ‘constituere’, found in 1 Kings of the Vulgate: Responditque
Ionathan Adionae, “Nequaquam dominus enim noster rex David regem constituit Salomonem. “And
Jonathan responded to Adiona, ‘Not at all, our lord king David has established Solomon as king.’” . Some
derivatives of ‘confortare’ are “comfort” and “fort[ification]”, while some derivatives of ‘confirmare’ are
“confirm” and “firm”, and a derivative of ‘constituere’ is “constitution”. The derivatives “comfort” and
“fort” imply a sense of strength, “confirm” and “firm” show firmness and strength, and a “constitution” is
established so that it makes its government strong. ‘Confortare’ only began to be used in Medieval Latin,
but ‘confirmare’ was used in Classical and Medieval poetry and prose, though its usage lessened
dramatically after writers began to use ‘confortare’ instead.
WORD STUDY 6Z
A Worldly Word
Many Latin words have multiple different meanings. Some can be almost completely different. One such
word is saeculum, or saeclum. Its various meanings range from age to century to breed to the secular
world.
In some cases, saeculum can mean century, age, or era. In his Latin translation of the Bible, St. Jerome
used saeculum to signify an age. “Nihil sub sole novum, nec valet quisquam dicere, ‘Ecce, hoc recens
est.’ Iam enim praecessit in saeculis, quae fuerunt ante nos.” (Vulgate, Ecclesiastes 1.1-18, lines 13-14)
“Nothing under the sun is new, nor anything of which one is able to say, ‘Behold, this is new.’ Indeed, it
had already happened in the ages which were before us.” Jerome uses saeculum to mean ages, to imply
that, due to the world’s age, everything has already been done multiple times. In this context, translating
saeculis as ages is the best choice, although it could also mean centuries or generations. Age implies a
lengthy period of time and thus better fits St. Jerome’s meaning.
However, although saeculum, or in some cases saeclum, can mean age, it may also mean “breed” or
“race.” “Parit omnia saecla ferarum[.]” (Lucretius. De Rerum Natura. 2.995.) “It produces all breeds of
wild animals.” Here, the only reasonable translation of saecla is “breed”. This definition of saeculum was
used more frequently before Medieval times, when Jerome’s Vulgate used the word to describe the
secular world.
One final definition of saeculum, used specifically by the Medieval Christian church, is the world, in
contrast with the church itself. The Christian apostle Paul wrote, “Demas enim me dereliquit diligens hoc
saeculum et abiit Thessalonicam[.]” (Vulgate, 2 Timothy 4, verse 10) “Indeed Demas left me, esteeming
this world, and went to Thessalonica.” St. Jerome used saeculum in his translation rather than mundus to
30
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
refer to the secular world as opposed to the world in general. This meaning of saeculum or saeclum was
used often in the New Testament of St. Jerome’s translation of the Bible.
In the modern day, derivatives of saeculum remain. In French, siècle, a derivative of saeculum, means
“century”. “Secular” things are, according to dictionary.com, “of or relating to worldly things or to things
that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred.” This derivative clings the closest to Medieval
Latin.
There is not really a single definition for saeculum. It may have originally meant a race of creatures, as
Lucretius used it. It seems that the definition changed almost completely over time until it meant an age
of the world. Saeculum can mean either of these.
WORD STUDY 7Z
On the Uses of Emittere
The Romans were accomplished writers and celebrated orators. Throughout their long history, the
Latin language grew and flourished. The word emittere, a prefixed verb, conveys several different shades
of meaning to the modern English reader.
The sense of emittere is “to send out” from its two morphemes e- “out of” and mittere “to send.”
However, this sentence, At ille stultus, dum vult vocem ostendere, / emisit ore caseum, quem celeriter /
dolosa vulpes avidis rapuit dentibus, “But that foolish one, while he wanted to display his voice, let fall
the cheese from his mouth, which quickly the cunning fox snatched with greedy teeth (Phaedrus Fabulae
1.13.9-11),” talks about cheese coming out of the raven’s mouth even though he did not really want to
send it to the fox. So it makes much more sense to translate this word as “let go” or “let fall.”
Veni, Sancte Spiritus, / Et emitte caelitus / Lucis tuae radium, “Come, Holy Spirit, and send forth from
heaven a ray of Your light (attributed to Stephen Langton Veni Sancte Spiritus 1.1-3).” Here emitte, even
when it is used over a millennium after the previous example, still has similarities in its basic meaning.
An object is again coming out of a source, but this time it is willfully sent, not simply dropped.
The playwright Plautus utilized an interesting construction in the second century B.C. Fac ut exores
Plesidippum, ut me manu emittat, “I want you to prevail upon Plesidippus, that he may free me with his
own hand (Plautus Rudens 4.6).” Dropping the prefix e- from emittat gives mittat. The base word is
mittere, “to send,” which is “sending” in a general sense, not specifically “sending out of” something.
Manu, “by the hand” + mittere, “to send” makes manumittere, “to set free (a slave)” from which English
directly derives “manumit.” Plautus also used manumittere to mean “set free” in his writings. Emittat still
means “send out,” in this case, sending out a slave from bondage. However, in English, “to send out a
slave” has the idea of sending a slave on an errand. Therefore the meaning would be appropriately
translated as “to free.”
Livy, writing about the ancient Roman method of declaring war, says, Id ubi dixisset, hastam in fines
eorum emittebat, “When he had said it, he threw a spear into their territory (Livy History of Rome 1.32).”
Emittebat could be translated “sent out,” that is, from his hand, but this is an awkward construction.
Instead, the word is better translated as “threw.”
In all its various uses, emittere has one single meaning, and that is “to send out.” The Romans
employed it to say, among other things, send out on a particular course, send out by means of the voice,
31
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
send out (publish) a book, send out a slave to freedom, and send out of the mind (forget). This word has a
few cognates, including emissarium, a place at which water is sent out, and emissio, “sending out” or
“letting loose,” particularly hurtful articles, as missiles of war, serpents, and the like. There are also
English derivatives, such as emission (of heat, odor, light), emit, which has essentially the same meaning
as the Latin, and emissary, one who is sent out on a certain business. It is also preserved in the French
emissaire, Spanish emisario, and Italian emissario. These words and their Latin base are very much the
same.
The basic meaning of emittere, “to send out,” has a range of uses, which must be explained by
expanding the sense in a modern translation. A translation of this word elaborates the meaning for the
purpose of understanding the connotation of the Latin.
WORD STUDY 8Z
The Love of Diligo
This paper will look into the origins of the Latin word diligo, as well as its meanings when
translated to English. Despite having been a word taken for granted by the Romans, it does not have an
exact counterpart in English that has the same connotations. It comes from the words dis, which means
“apart”, and lego, which means “to select.” The standard translation from Cassell’s Latin Dictionary
defines diligo as “to choose out, to prize, to love, to esteem highly;” however, none of these translations
quite work the same as it does in Latin.
To prove this point, look to a few Latin passages. The first passage comes from the Vulgate’s
“Thoughts from the Sermon on the Mount.” The original passage, in Latin, is, Diligite inimicos vestros,
“Love your enemies,” and later says Et si diligitis eos qui vos diligunt, quae vobis est gratia? - nam et
peccatores diligentes se diligunt, “Love your enemies,” and “And if you love them who love you, what
thanks do you deserve? - for sinners also love those who love them” (Luke 6.27, 6.32). Note that the
word, “love,” is used to translate diligo. In Latin, there were two forms of love. There was amo, which is
usually translated as a romantic form of love, and diligo, which could be seen as a less intense form of
amo. In English, there is the romantic connotations of love, but the only other meaning for love is to
enjoy something, for example, “I love to drive.” The closest English gets to diligo’s form of love is love
between family members, but this does not seem to be quite the same as the love for one’s enemies
described in the excerpt. An example of what appears to be a familial form of love can be seen in what
remains of C. Maecenas’s writings. He wrote, Ni te visceribus meis, Horati, plus iam diligo…, “If I do not
love you, Horace, more than my insides…” (Maecenas 186.1). In this case, a familial love could be
possible, and is probably the best connotation for the word love with which to consider the word. Finally,
there are a few cases where diligo translates exactly to English. For example, in Quintilian’s Institutio
Oratoria the following is written: Odit populus Romanus privatam luxuriam publicam magnificentiam
diligit, “The Romans hate private luxury, but prize public greatness” (Quintillian, Institutio Oratoria,
3.82). In this case, the Romans do not love public greatness in a romantic or familial way, nor does it
truly make sense that they enjoy public greatness, but rather, they prize this greatness. “Love” is not
required as translation for this excerpt, so the issue of the connotations of a vague word does not exist
here.
32
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
All in all, Diligo is a word that is nearly impossible to translate to English. Because it has similar meaning
to amo, it relies on connotations to get its meaning across - connotations that do not really exist in
English. Luckily, there are still cases where diligo can be correctly translated using the denotations of
English words, such as when something is prized. Needless to say, Diligo is a good example of the
disconnect between languages, and the way that societies change to not need certain phrases anymore.
WORD STUDY 9Z
Author: Please carefully follow all formatting rules from the assignment sheet. Do not add additional
line spaces between paragraphs! Be sure to omit them if your word processing program adds them.
Latro Oh No
The Latin noun Latro –onis entered Latin from the Greek word λάτρις. Λάτρις literally means a
hired servant or a mercenary soldier. However, Latin authors use the word to denote significantly
different meaning. Its various uses include describing the sense of bandits, criminals, raiders, and hunters.
neque ego ceteras copias, ornamenta, praesidia vestra cum illius latronis inopia atque egestate
conferre debeo, “Nor ought I to bring together the other supplies, your equipment presiding over need of
those robbers and poverty” (Cicero, Catil. 2.11). The textual context conveys that latronis serves as a
reference to criminal bandits. However in reference to historical purpose of the text, it appears to serve as
more of a disparaging or derogatory term because it comes from Cicero’s orations against Catiline in
which Cicero speaks against Catiline to the senate. However Cataline’s plan did involve mercenaries so it
is possible that latronis references soldiers for hire, but more likely latronis stems from Cicero trying to
degrade Catiline.
Tutus ad Alcathoen, Lelegeia moenia, limes composito Scirone patet, sparsisque latronis terra
negat sedem, sedem negat ossibus unda, “ looking to Alcathoe, th Lelegean walled city, the byways lie
open to that which had been placed together by Scirone, and a sprinkling of the land of robbers refuse a
seat, he refuses the seat under his bone” (Ovid, Met. 7.404). Because latro is used as a genitive implying
possession, this passage exhibits that latro references people of notorious and ungoverned habits.
Therefore reasonably latro refers to criminals or other shady or dangerous humans which cause other to
acknowledge the land as their possession. The walled city implies that the latrones are perceived as
dangerous or infamous by the Lelegeians. The refusal of a seat shows that they are either rebellious or
uncivilized.
Poenorum qualis in arvis 5saucius ille gravi venantum vulnere pectus tum demum movet arma
leo gaudetque comantis excutiens cervice toros fixumque latronis inpavidus frangit telum et fremit ore
cruent, “Such as those punishments in the wounded land, that great sin to wound the hunter then at last
with the tools moved and the lion rejoiced, shaking out the hairy crevice of the body and fixing his gaze
on the hunter, he broke the trembling spear and the mouth growled curly” (Verg. Aeneid. 12.1).The
mention of the hunter early in the passage suggests that the latronis describes the hunter since it follows
logically that the example would reference the person in the story. The fact that he faces a lion implies
that he has some intention to slay the lion. Furthermore the individual’s behaves as one hunting an animal
because he possesses a spear and travels alone, traits unordinary for a bandit. The use of latronis to
33
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
describe a hunter implies a derogatory view of them that aligns the fact that dirty hunters did not appear
as preferable company to the roman elite.
Subito latrones ex insidiis advolant Interque caedem ferro mulum sauciant, Diripiunt nummos,
eglegunt vile hordeum, “suddenly bandits flew from their hiding places and wounded the bloodied mule
with swords, they plundered the money, they ignore the cheap grain” (Phaedrus, fabulae 2.7). Because
Phaedrus has the latrones steal the idea of bandits is conveyed. Therefore in this context latro depicts
those who expropriate property by means of violence as demonstrated by the use of wound. The robbers
being hidden denotes that they action were not approved of and probably illegal. These facts show latro
as equivalent to the modern robber or bandit.
homo quidam descendebat ab Hierusalem in Hiericho et incidit in latrones qui etiam
despoliaverunt eum et plagis inpositis abierunt semivivo relicto, “a man who was going down from
Jerusalem to Jericho and he falls among robbers who also despoiled him and they went away after beating
him leaving him half alive” (Gerome Luke 10.30). The latrones plundering and beating their victim
demonstrates that this is their source of income. Their location along a desert road implies premeditation
and hiding. In the ancient world highway robbery was extremely common so it reasonably fits as a
parable of Jesus. Although the use of the term falls among suggests a more accidental or normal view of
the robbers, it still exist as evil doers.
Qui Mariam absolvisti/ et latronem exaudisti,/ mihi quoque spem dedisti, “Oh he who absolved
Marry, and listened to the robber, give to me some hope”(Celano, Dies Irae.13.1-3). The reference to the
forgiving of Marry shows that the passage calls upon allusions to the Bible to make its point about God’s
character. The reference to Marry and the latronem convey a theme of God forgiving out right criminals
because Marry was believed to have been a prostitute before her conversion. Therefore the latronem
likely refers to a despicable criminal who Jesus forgave. The thieves on the cross fit this description as
someone who Jesus listened to and a person of a despicable reputation. This passage uses latro as a
definite reference to a character unlike previous uses.
Poenorum ut belua sylvis Saucia persequitur fugientis terga latronis, “Punishments so that I may
wound the large beast of the forest, he follows through those who flee to the hide of the hunter” (Verino,
Ugolino Firenze.15.10-11). Although the reference to large beast suggests that latro discusses a hunter,
the presence of hide definitively demonstrates the occupation of the man. The possession of hides or skins
is distinctive of someone seeking honor or recognition something uncommon among thieves and a
common practice among men seeking to slay animals.
Sive ferae incursu, seu vi latronis, opaco In nemore amittat comitem, fert saucia casu Corda
gravi, secum solus tabescit eundo, “Whether by the hostile attack of the feral beast, or by the way of
bandits, overshadowed in the groves he loses friendliness , wounded because of the weight of the heart,
he wastes away alone with himself” (Mantovano, Battista Mantova,1.211-3). The comparison between
men and feral beast demonstrates the despicable feral nature of the latronis. Their possession of the road
demonstrates their ferocity and savagery along with other’s acceptance of them as part of the reality they
live in such as animal attacks. Mantovano views latrones as wild humans that have forsaken civilization
and become like animals preying upon men.
Latro has had a diversity of uses, but only one meaning. The idea of undesirableness or
maliciousness is found throughout, but Cicero, Livy, and Mantova derive a pure conceptual idea of
malicious or malcontent individuals. However Phaedrus and Gerome use latro as a literal robber in their
34
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016
fables. On the other hand Vergil and Verino use it to convey a sense of hunter. The spread of Latro’s
many uses throughout the ages demonstrate the preservation of its meaning through time. Its uses as a
hunter and as a robber ultimately support its feeling of wicked or rebellious villains because freebooters
and hunters are seen as deplorable and uncivilized. The commonalities between the living off of prey and
living off of people, reveals that latro has a sense of predatory survival. Therefore latro latronis
designates uncivilized, rebellious criminals who consume other creatures for their nourishment.
35
Word Study #1 Latin 3a, 2016