all you need to know before reading episode 7 /  by Anthony Gibbins

Not all that much, really. There will be a full refresher before episode eight, but for now you need know only a couple of things;

Firstly, as our episode opens, Miranda, a police officer, is sitting in her apartment anxiously contemplating the events of the previous day. For, having spotted a woman (known to us as Jessica) carrying a suitcase and climbing down the side of a building, she allowed said individual to escape before properly questioning her about her activities.

Secondly, Claudia, who has a keen interest in all things ancient, and in Roman ruins in particular, has left for a trip to Pompeii. Departing, she promised Miranda a letter. Miranda’s contemplations are disturbed by a knock at the door. *spoiler* It’s the postman.

Hello reader. Today Miranda is sitting in a chair at home thinking about the previous day. She is anxious on-account-of (propter) the woman who fled yesterday.

the end of episode 6 /  by Anthony Gibbins

Thank you for following (and hopefully enjoying) another Episode of Legonium. Marcellus has the suitcase and Jessica knows about it. How will things play out from here? But first, I am looking forward to posting Episode Seven on February 1st, in which Claudia spends a day in Pompeii. We will follow Claudia as she visits a number of the city’s key sites, and I will be posting a little about these too. Expect a number of extracts from Mary Beard’s wonderful book, Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. See you in the ruins!

Now you know how the suitcase was placed in the dumpster. Soon I will return to read to you a letter written by Claudia. Goodbye!

cum, quom and why the republic belongs to the people /  by Anthony Gibbins

One the difficulties that meets the Latin learner is the wide range of meanings that appear to be attached to a single word. One of the great offenders, for sake of an example, is the Noun res, rei f a thing, object, matter, affair, circumstance, the world, the universe, nature, the real thing, fact, truth, reality, possessions, property, wealth, interest, advantage, benefit, cause, ground, reason, a matter of business, an affair, a lawsuit, cause, action. And these are just the meanings offered by The Cassell’s Latin Dictionary; the list is the Oxford is even longer.

And while we are discussing res, here is an interesting piece of etymology. It is res modified by the Adjective publicus belonging to the people that gave the Romans their res publica which in turn gave us our republic. But I digress…

There is often confusion about the two very different uses of the word cum (pronounced coom). The first is the preposition which means with, for example Claudia cum Marcello ambulabat Claudia was walking with Marcellus. The second is the Conjunction meaning when, for example cum Claudia cum Marcello ambularet, Mirandam vidit When Claudia was walking with Marcellus, she saw Miranda.

What can be helpful to understand is that this is NOT a word with disparate meanings, but two completely different words that just happen to be written (and spoken) the same way. We know this to be a fact, because the Conjunction when was once spelt quom. quom Claudia cum Marcello ambularet, Mirandam vidit When Claudia was walking with Marcellus, she saw Miranda.

You may also have noticed that cum when seems to be followed by a Verb in the Subjunctive Mood. More on that some other time.

But when she had returned, she found that this man, not yet known to her, had the suitcase. She sighed and retreated (literally: carried back her foot) to consider this with herself.

I never met a Gerund I didn’t like /  by Anthony Gibbins

There is so much to say about Gerunds that this post will only scrape the surface. But, if you are new to Latin, we will at least introduce the Gerund and see how it is used on today’s page.

A Gerund, to use the language of a grammarian, is a Verbal Noun. Marcellus might say ‘I like painting’ in the same way that he might say ‘I like cake’. Can we agree, then, that in this context both painting and cake are Nouns? But only one of these Nouns has a Verbal component, and that is painting. Painting is a Verbal Noun, which is to say that painting is a Gerund.

Now, this is Latin, right? So if a Gerund is a Noun surely it has to have Cases? Yes, indeed, but the Cases of a Gerund are a little strange. Firstly, the Nominative does not look like the other Cases, but is in fact the Infinitive Form of the Verb (which is the Second Principal Part). Secondly, there are two forms of the Accusative Case used for different purposes* – and one of them is also the Infinitive! And thirdly, a Gerund only exists in the Singular – it has by its very nature no Plural. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

Let’s take a look at painting, the Four Principal Parts of which are pingo, pingere, pinxi, pictum. Here are the Gerund’s Form for each Case. Don’t worry if the names and uses of the Cases are new or unfamiliar to you. This is something that you will learn.

Nominative:                 pingere

Accusative:                  pingere or pingendum*

Genitive:                      pingendi

Dative:                         pingendo

Ablative:                      pingendo

We will focus on the use of the Ablative Gerund to express how something is achieved. Take a look at this sentence. Marcellus res pulchras facit Marcellus makes beautiful things. res meaning things, and pulchras beautiful. But how does he do it? He does it pingendo by painting. That is the Gerund in the Ablative Case. Marcellus res pulchras pingendo facit Marcellus makes beautiful things by painting. 

The example on today’s page is similar but different. Jessica is described as confecta worn out. From what is Jessica worn out? She is worn out from fleeing. The Four Principal Parts of flee are fugio, fugere, fugi, fugitum. The Ablative Form of the Gerund is fugiendo. Jessica fugiendo confecta est Jessica is worn out from fleeing.

Jessica, worn out from fleeing, was resting briefly on the roof of the bank. She was about-to-return (reventura) to the dumpster to retrieve the hidden suitcase.

why so serius? /  by Anthony Gibbins

Way back on December 4, I published a post on the Three Degrees of an Adjective; Positive - happy, Comparative – happier, and Superlative – happiest. I also hinted that those same Three Degrees could be found among Adverbs. Well, the time has come to explore that a little further.

Let’s begin with the Adverb sero late. sero is the Adverb in its Positive Degree. Miranda sero advenit Miranda arrived late. The Comparative form of sero is serius later. Miranda serius quam Jessica advenit Miranda arrived later than Jessica. quam, of course, here means than. The Superlative form of sero is serissime very late or latest. Miranda serissime advenit Miranda arrived very late or Miranda arrived latest. And, just as with a Superlative Adjective, quam can be used with a Superlative Adverb as such; Miranda quam serissime advenit Miranda arrived as late as possible.

So what does it mean to simply say Miranda serius advenit, without any point of comparison? Let’s look to the literature. In Book IV of the Metamorphoses, Ovid tells the tragic tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, two young lovers whose union has been forbidden by their fathers. They decide to leave their homes and sneak out to the edge of town to meet there in the shadows. Thisbe, arriving first, encounters a lion and sneaks into a cave. Pyramus arrives to see only the lion’s vestigia footprints and fears the worst. Why does he arrive after his love?

serius egressus, vestigia vidit in alto

pulvere certa ferae, totoque expalluit ore

Pyramus.                                                                                               lines 105-107

The answer can be found in serius egressus. egressus, which describes Pyramus, means having set out. serius could be understood to mean later, with quam Thisbe understood. But what seems more likely is that serius is too be understood in absolute terms, i.e. too late. Pyramus, tragically, set out too late.

With Jessica climbing [Ablative Absolute], Miranda arrived too late. She looked around and examined the area but she found no one. Alas!*

*Does anyone actually say alas anymore? Perhaps I need a new translation for eheu! Thoughts?

furcifer! and other observations /  by Anthony Gibbins

non potuisset she would not have been able. This is the Pluperfect Subjunctive form of non potuerat she had not been able. Notice the force of the Subjunctive Mood in this circumstance. It makes the sentence hypothetical. Jessica, who has a strong grasp of her own strengths and limitations, didn’t even try to climb the pipe holding the suitcase. But she would not have been able to if she had.

tenens holding. This is the Present Participle. It is more commonly seen in sentences like this; Jessica sarcinam tenens per viam cucurrit Jessica ran through the street holding the suitcase. What we have here is subtly difference; she would not have been able to climb the pipe as long as she was holding the suitcase. If you examine the translation below, you will see that the Present Participle can be used in English in exactly the same way.

furtim secretly. This is not so much an observation, as an interesting list. Here are some words that share something of form and meaning with furtim secretly; fur thief, furax inclined to steal, furor, furari, furatus sum to steal, furtificus thievish, furtivus stolen, furtum a theft, furunculus a pilferer.

I was surprised to find that the great Cambridge Latin insult furcifer scoundrel did not belong on this list. furcifer is made up of two words, fer carry and furca. A furca is a pitch-fork, but also the name given to (and I quote Cassell’s here) an instrument of punishment, with two prongs, to which the arms were tied. So, a furcifer is someone who might be forced to wear the furca. Go figure.

But holding the suitcase with her hand she would not have been able to climb the pipe. She therefore secretly hid it in the dumpster.

praepositio /  by Anthony Gibbins

praepositio is the Latin word for Preposition. It is made up a Noun, positio a placing, putting, posture and prae, which alone can function as both an Adverb before, in front or – fittingly – a Preposition before (among other meanings). And so we find that the Preposition takes its name from its habit of being placed before a Noun or similar. Here is some of what the Online Oxford Dictionary has to say about Prepositions:

A Preposition is a word such as after, in, to, on, and with. Prepositions are usually used in front of nouns or pronouns and they show the relationship between the noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. They describe, for example:

·      the position of something: Her bag was under the chair.

·      the time when something happens: Shortly after their marriage they moved to      Colorado. 

·      the way in which something is done: They stared at each other without speaking.

When learning Latin it is helpful to think in terms of the Prepositional Phrase. A Prepositional Phrase is a Phrase made up of a Preposition together with the Noun or Pronoun that follows it. Here are some examples: ad salutem to safety, sub sella under the chair, contra naturam against nature, cum eo with him, sine amica without a friend, apud Caesarem at the house of Caesar, post prandium after lunch. Note too that when the Noun or Pronoun is described by an Adjective, the Preposition is often placed between them, for example magna cum laude with great praise.

In Latin, a Preposition will force the Noun or Pronoun that follows it to be in a particular Case – that is, to have a particular ending. Some Prepositions demand to be followed by a Noun in the Accusative Case, such as ad towards*, post after and contra against. Others demand to be followed by a Noun in the Ablative Case, such as ab away from, cum with and sine without. Compare ad equum ambulo I walk toward the horse with ab equo ambulo I walk away from the horse. There are three Prepositions that can be followed by either Case – in, sub and supra – but that will have to wait for another posting.

*Be warned. I have given only the most common meaning of each Preposition. In a future post I will discuss how our understanding of a Preposition’s meaning is determined partly by context. Stay tuned!

Look! Are you able to see the drain-pipe (canalem aquosum) near the dumpster? Jessica certainly noticed it and immediately decided to climb it to safety.

the result clause /  by Anthony Gibbins

Jessica ran from Miranda so quickly that Miranda was soon not able to see her. Miranda was soon not able to see her. That was the result of Jessica running from her so quickly. Life is full of results (and consequences), and Latin is no exception. Today we will take a first look at Result Clauses.

It’s interesting how similar Purpose Clauses and Result Clauses are. Take a close look at these two sentences.

Purpose: Jessica celeriter a Miranda cucurrit ut mox Miranda eam videre non posset.

Jessica ran from Miranda quickly in order that Miranda would soon not be able to see her.

Result: Jessica tam celeriter a Miranda cucurrit ut mox Miranda eam videre non posset.

Jessica ran from Miranda so quickly that Miranda was soon not able to see her.

Indeed, the Purpose and Result Clauses themselves are exactly the same; ut mox Miranda eam videre non posset. It is another earlier word, tam so, in the main clause that tips us off that what follows is a Result.

It is instructive to examine a list of the words that signal to us that a Result Clause is coming. It is not only helpful for learning Latin, but it may also get us thinking about the very concept of a Result. tam so, tantus (=tam magnus) so great, tantopere so greatly, tot so many, totiens so often, ita in such a way, adeo to such an extent, so much. You may have also noted that the Verb in the Result Clause (posset) is in the Subjunctive Mood.

Here is a final example, taken from Pharrs’ edition of Vergil’s Aeneid;  tanta vis deorum est ut eis non possimus obstare. So great is the power of the gods that we cannot oppose them.  This could be the start of an essay question. Discuss.

Jessica ran from Miranda so quickly that Miranda was soon not able to see her.  She therefore followed her footprints.