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  BENE LAVA Bene lav!

  L’année épigraphique (AE) 1916, #95: From a floor mosaic at Pompeii, but good advice for us all! The message commonly appeared at the entrances to Roman baths throughout the empire, occasionally, as here, with images of bathing sandals; in some inscriptions the imperative is spelled lab, reflecting variants in local pronunciation.

  bene, adv., well; “benefactor,” “benevolent.”—lav (1), to bathe, wash; “lavatory.”

  PRVERBIA ET DICTA

  The ancient Romans are known to many Americans from their innumerable proverbs and dicta, “famous sayings” or “quotable quotes,” from which there is much to be learned about the Roman mind at work, and which, because of their extraordinary economy of language, are made-to-order for students in a beginning Latin course. Each of the forty chapters in this book presents a variety of memorable quotations and proverbs from a range of authors and literary texts. As with the graffiti, inscriptions, and other readings in this book, Latin words that are likely to be unfamiliar are glossed in the notes at their first occurrence in each chapter, along with English derivatives, brief comments, and occasional questions; all words that are not glossed are included in the Latin-English Vocabulary at the back of the book.

  1. Av atque val. (Catullus Carm. 101.10: The poet at once greets his deceased brother’s ashes and bids him a last farewell.—av, interj., also spelled hav, greetings, hail!—atque = et.)

  2. Av, Maria. (Luke 1.28.)

  3. D nihil nihil, in nihilum nl. (Persius Sat. 3.84: nihil, nihilum, nl, all = nihil.—d, prep., down from, from; “descend.”—in, prep., in, into.—The Neronian satirist, echoing the didactic poet Lucretius, evokes a fundamental principle of Epicurean physical science.)

  4. In nihil nihil. ( or ab, prep., away from, from; “aberrant,” “absent.”—A common formula in funerary inscriptions: what conception of afterlife is implied?)

  5. Multum errtis. (Mark 12.27: multum, adv., much, greatly; “multiply,” “multitude.”)

  6. Nihil ams, cum ingrtum ams. (Plautus Pers. 228: cum, conj., when.—ingrtum: here an ungrateful man, an ingrate.)

  7. Nihil nimis. (Seneca Ep. 94.43: nimis, adv., too, too much, excessively, in excess; “nimiety.”—Moderation was a major tenet of ancient philosophy dating back to archaic Greece.)

  8. Nn am t. (Martial Epig. 1.32.1: t, pron., you.)

  9. Quem amat, amat; quem nn amat, nn amat. (Petronius Sat. 37: quem, rel. pron., whom.)

  10. Quid m interrogs? (John 18.21: quid here, as often, means not what but why.—interrog [1], to ask, question; “interrogate.”)

  11. S rgns, iub. (Seneca Med. 194: rgn [1], to rule, govern; “regent,” “reign,” “interregnum.”—iube, iubre, iuss, iussum, to order, command; “jussive.”)

  GRAMMATICA

  Verba (“verbs”): Let’s practice with 1st- and 2nd-conjugation verbs: make a list of all that you find in this chapter’s readings (both the nscrptins and the Prverbia et Dicta), separating them into two columns, one for 1st-conjugation and one for 2nd, and then transform each singular verb to plural, and each plural to singular, writing the new forms just to the right of the original. Consult the Summrium Frmrum (“Summary of Forms”) appendix, if you need help.

  CAPVT II

  Grave Goods, Gomora, and Sage Moral Guidance

  This chapter offers up a few more Pompeian graffiti, one a curse wishing someone ill health, another scribbled by a fellow complaining of a head cold, and a third seemingly proclaiming the city’s immorality—and, prophetically, its imminent doom? There are texts also from two women’s burials, one carved on an ivory comb of the late empire, and the other bearing what is widely believed to be the oldest surviving Latin inscription. The chapter’s Prverbia et Dicta include a selection of Dionysius Cato’s moral precepts—good advice, and easy reading for those just beginning their study of The Mother Tongue!

  Grammatica nova (“new grammar” to watch for in this chapter): 1st-declension nouns and adjectives and their uses.

  Semper prnnti et comprehende: always read each text aloud first, and read the Latin for comprehension, before attempting an English translation.

  NSCRPTINS

  Modestina’s Comb

  MODESTINA VHEE Modestna, vhee.

  British Museum object GR 1904,0204.1168: A double-sided comb, carved from ivory, about 5” long; 3rd–4th cent. A.D.., and probably from the grave of the woman whose name it bears. Hair combs (the Lat. noun was pecten) were routinely used in grooming and might be made of ivory or silver or, for poorer Romans, of wood or bone.

  vhee: the meaning is unknown; some suppose the (semi-literate?) artisan meant to carve VALE (val), but substituted HE for the somewhat similar capitals AL, or the letters VHEE may be an abbreviation (one conjecture is virg honesta et egregia, an honorable and excellent maiden). If val is the correct reading, then the object itself “speaks,” a feature very common in Roman inscriptions, and bids its mistress farewell, either as she leaves home with her hair well coiffed or, as part of the deceased Modestina’s grave goods, in her departure from the world of the living.

  Ivory comb, third–fourth century A.D.., British Museum, London, Great Britain

  © The Trustees of the British Museum

  Repent—The End Is Near

  SODOM[… Sodom[a], Gomora!

  GOMORA

  CIL 4.4976: Graffito scrawled with charcoal in large letters on the dining room wall of a Pompeian house, possibly, as some scholars have conjectured, by a Jew or a Christian in the midst of the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in August A.D.. 79; certainly it is evidence of knowledge of the Old Testament at Pompeii.

  Sodoma Gomora: sc. et.—Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities destroyed by fire and brimstone sent by God because of the vices of their citizens, in the account of Genesis 19.24–25; the names became proverbial for cities or cultures viewed as morally corrupt.

  Graffito from a house in regio IX, insula I, Pompeii, Italy (CIL 4.4976)

  Kay Stanton (from CIL)

  I’ve Got a Cold!

  PITVITA ME TENET Ptuta m tenet.

  CIL 4.116*: Another Pompeian graffito (though the editors of CIL regard it as a late forgery, as the asterisked CIL number indicates); this poor fellow needed a doctor, and wanted the world to know!

  ptuta, -ae, f., mucus, phlegm = stuffiness, a cold, hay fever; “pituitary” Horace jokes in one of his poems (Epist. 1.1.108) that a wise man is nearly as blessed as Jupiter, unless, of course, he’s “got a cold,” cum (with) ptut.—tene, tenre, tenu, tentum, to hold (back, down), grasp; “tenable,” “tenacity” remember the word order rule, SOV.

  A Curse

  …]EGROTA [A]egrt, [a]egrt, aegrt!

  …]EGROTA

  AEGROTA

  CIL 4.4507: Graffito from the house of Marcus Vesonius Primus, Pompeii; curses (some of them, unlike this one, quite lengthy and detailed) and other forms of black magic were common in ancient Rome, though there were laws against them.

  aegrt (1), to be ill or sick (physically or mentally); the triple repetition was intended to intensify the efficacy of the curse.

  Good Health to Tita

  SALVETOD TITA Salvtod, Tita!

  The “Salvetod Tita” inscription (no CIL number): This cheerful salutation, from a wine jug found in a tomb near Gabii, an ancient town of Latium east of Rome, is generally regarded as the oldest extant specimen of Latin writing; Tita, the woman addressed, was perhaps buried in the tomb, and the wine jug was among her funerary offerings.

  salvtod: an archaic fut. imperat., essentially = salv.

  The “Salvetod Tita” inscription, Gabii, Italy, seventh century B.C.

  Kay Stanton, based on a drawing by G. Colonna

  PRVERBIA ET DICTA

  Varia vtast. (Plautus Truc. 219: varia, varied, different; variable, inconstant.—vtast or vta’st = vta est, an example of the sort of contractions that were normal in Lat., as in Eng., in ordinary daily speech and which were commonly employed in the comedies of the 3rd-cen
t. playwright Plautus.)

  Fortna caeca est. (Cicero Amic. 54: caeca, adj., blind, unseeing; arbitrary; “caecal,” “caecilian.”)

  Inde ra et lacrimae. (Juvenal Sat. 1.168: The satirist imagines a guilty man’s response to his satiric attack.—inde, adv., thence, from there; then.—lacrimae, -ae, f., tear; what does the Eng. adj. “lacrimose” mean?—what are “lacrimal ducts”?)

  Quid autem est amre? (Cicero Fin. 2.78: autem, adv., however; moreover.)

  Following, and continued in the next few chapters, are some of the so-called Monosticha Catnis, a set of one-line ethical precepts written out, according to tradition, by an otherwise unknown 3rd/ 4th-cent. A.D.. author Dionysius Cato for his son; they each include usually a simple imperative and direct object, and so are easy reading for beginners. These, and Cato’s “distichs” (Disticha), a collection of two-line moralizing proverbs in dactylic hexameter verse, were widely read in Europe and in early American schools, and were favorites of Benjamin Franklin.

  Dicta Catnis ad flium suum:

  Cato’s Precepts for His Son

  5. Vercundiam serv. (vercundia, -ae, f., modesty, deference, respect for others; “revere,” “reverence.”)

  6. Dligentiam adhib. (dligentia, -ae, f., carefulness, attentiveness; “diligent,” “diligence.”—adhibe, adhibre, adhibu, adhibitum, to hold out, extend; apply, practice; “exhibit,” “inhibition.”)

  7. Familiam cr. (familia, -ae, f., one of many Lat. nouns ending in -ia that have Eng. derivatives with the same root but ending in “-y” cf. glria.—cr [1], to care for, attend to; heal, cure; care about, worry about; “curative,” “incurable.”)

  8. Pugn pr patri. (pugn [1], to fight; “pugnacious,” “impugn.”—pr, prep. + abl., for, on behalf of.)

  9. Aequum idic. (idic [1], to judge; “judicial,” “adjudicate.”—aequum, adv., fairly; “equitable,” “equity.”)

  10. Minim idic. (minim, adv., very little, the least; “minimum” here, as often, essentially = nn.)

  GRAMMATICA

  Nmina (“nouns”): List all the 1st-declension nouns in the chapter’s readings, and identify their case, number, and grammatical function. Consult the Summrium Frmrum appendix, if you need to review the case-endings.

  CAPVT III

  Lovers, a Laureate, and the Labyrinth

  The inscriptions in this chapter are all graffiti from Pompeii, among them a signed self-portrait, some lovers’ notes, and a labeled drawing of the Minotaur’s labyrinth; the Prverbia et Dicta provide further insights into Roman wisdom, and more of Cato’s precepts to his son.

  Grammatica nova: 2nd-declension masculine nouns and adjectives, and their “uses” (syntactical functions).

  NSCRPTINS

  Self-Portrait?

  RVFVS EST Rfus est.

  CIL 4.9226: Pompeian graffito from the north wall of the atrium in the Villa of the Mysteries; the artist’s self-portrait (?) has been compared to “Mr. Magoo,” the cranky, nearsighted, balding and bubble-nosed cartoon character created in the 1940s and made popular especially in the animated 1960s television series. Rufus himself would not appreciate the comparison, as the laurel wreath he wears here was a symbol of imperial power.

  Rfus: the adj. rfus means red, tawny, red-haired; but the word was used frequently, as here, as a cognomen.

  Graffito from the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy (CIL 4.9226)

  Kay Stanton (from CIL)

  Quite a Charmer!

  CEIO Cei et mults ppa Venusta.

  ET • MVL

  TIS PVPA

  VENVST

  A

  CIL 4.8807: Another Pompeian graffito, inspired by an obviously quite popular local lady. Use of the punctum, a raised dot indicating a break between words, was common in more formal inscriptions, less so in graffiti, but the writer employed one here in the second line—though inconsistently, as one might also have been helpful in the third.

  Ceius, -, m., Ceius (a man’s name).—mults: sc. virs; the so-called substantive use of an adj., where the adj. is employed in place of a noun and one must supply man/ men, woman/ women, thing(s), depending on the number, gender, and context.—ppa, -ae, f., girl; doll; “pupa,” “pupal.”—Venusta: an adj., attractive, charming, but here probably the woman’s name—a slave perhaps or a freedwoman; “venusian.” “venereal,” “Venus” sc. est, = Venusta est ppa.

  Boy Meets Girl…

  STAPHILVS HIC CVM […Staphilus hc cum Qui[t].

  QVI

  CIL 4.4087: Even though her name was obscured in this graffito due to damage to the column on which it was etched, we know that the lady with whom Staphilus had this rendezvous was Quieta (was she in fact “the quiet type”?), as their names appear again elsewhere on the same column (CIL 4.4088); between the two graffiti, there are sufficient traces of the lettering to permit a reconstruction. From the house of Lucius Caecilius Jucundus, Pompeii.

  hc, adv., in this place, here.—cum, prep. + abl., with; you’ll need to imagine the verb—what were those two doing?

  …Boy Loves Girl

  RIGVLVS Rigulus amat daia.

  AMAT

  IDAIA

  CIL 4.3131: Graffito from a column at a house on Pompeii’s Vicolo del Panattiere.

  Rigulus: Correct spelling and grammar never stand in the way of folks who love writing on walls; the standard form of the male name was Rgulus.—daia: name of a slave or freedwoman, possibly a celebrant of the goddess Cybele, who had an important cult center on Mt. Ida in Phrygia.

  QUAESTINS: We’ve seen the final -m dropped from nouns before (“Love Is Everywhere,” Capvt I). How do we know this case ending is required—i.e., what must the noun’s grammatical function in the sentence be? What would the more common word order be?

  Beware of the Beast

  LABYRINTHVS Labyrinthus: hc habitat Mntaurus.

  HIC • HABITAT

  MINOTAVRVS

  CIL 4.2331: This graffito, on a post in the House of Lucretius, was accompanied by a schematic drawing of the labyrinth—one of several representations of the Minos myth at Pompeii.

  labyrinthus, -, m., labyrinth, specifically the legendary labyrinth on Crete that housed the monstrous half-man, half-bull Minotaur.—habit (1), to live (in), dwell; “habitat,” “inhabitant.”—Mntaurus, -, m., Minotaur, mythic offspring of Pasiphae, wife of the Cretan king Minos.

  Graffito from the House of Lucretius, Pompeii, Italy (CIL 4.2331)

  Mathew Olkovikas (from CIL)

  PRVERBIA ET DICTA

  M autem nn semper habtis. (Matthew 26.11: autem, here = sed.)

  Mults timre dbet, quem mult timent. (Publilius Sent.: time, timre, timu, to fear; “timid,” “timorous.”—quem, whom.—Do you recall what we call the use of the two adjectives here?—if not, see the note on “Quite a Charmer,” above.)

  Haud semper errat fma. (Tacitus Agr. 9: haud = nn).

  Nn crat numerum lupus. (Erasmus Ad. 2.4.99: cr [1], to care for, attend to; heal, cure; care about, worry about; “curator,” “curative.”—numerum: i.e., of sheep or goats in the flock he will attack.—lupus, -, m., wolf; “lupine.” This proverb, like most of those Erasmus collected, derives ultimately from a classical source, in this case Vergil Ecl. 7.49–52.)

  Quid est sapientia? (Seneca Ep. 20.5.)

  And more of Cato’s admonitions to his son (for Cato’s “Monostichs,” see Capvt II):

  6. De supplic. (deus, -, m., god; “deus ex machina.”—supplic [1], to pray [to]; “supplicate,” “suppliant.”)

  7. Mundus est. (mundus, -a, -um, adj., clean; elegant, refined; nice, tidy.—est, fut. imperat. of the verb sum, esse, fu, futrum; such imperatives were esp. common in religious and legal texts.)

  8. Blandus est. (blandus, -a, -um, adj., charming, pleasant; “bland,” “blandishment.”)

  9. Maledcus n est. (maledcus, -a, -um, adj., from malum + dcere, evil-speaking, slanderous, abusive; “malediction.”)

  10. Cnsultus est. (cnsultus, -a, -um, adj., skilled, learned; deliberat
e, prudent; “consultant.”)

  GRAMMATICA

  Nmina: Let’s practice with 2nd-declension masculine nouns (again, if you need help with the endings, consult the Summrium Frmrum at the back of the book): list each noun, state its number and case and the specific syntactical “use” or “function” (i.e., the case usage), then make it plural.

  Adiectva (“adjectives”): Think about noun-adjective agreement, and explain why in Prverbia et Dicta 7–10 the adjectives end in -us rather than -a.

  CAPVT IV

  The Glory of Profit, a Gladiator to Sigh for, and a Girl You’d Not Want to Kiss

  The chapter’s inscriptions include lamps, floors, and houses that speak, a gladiator’s brag lines, and some stern warnings to thieves and defilers. Among the proverbs and adages, you’ll find old Cato still counseling his son, and learn the Romans’ views on, inter alia, bad neighbors. The chapter also presents our first actual literary selection, an excerpt from one of Martial’s 1,500 verse epigrams—a short poem in which he tells a lady why he’d never kiss her!