by Jove – it’s the third declension / February 10, 2017 by Anthony Gibbins

Latin has five families of Nouns, called Declensions. Each Declensions has the exact same Cases (Nominative, Vocative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, Ablative and – although rare – Locative). And each Declension has its own set of Case Endings, to indicate Case, that varies across Declensions. For example;

The Genitive Case has a number of roles, but it’s most common is expressing Possession – not unlike an ‘apostrophe s’ in English; templum Iovis Jupiter’s temple. Here are five Nouns, one from each Declension, along with the Noun in the Genitive Case. The Genitive Ending is highlighted to help you compare the differences:

Declension Noun Genitive Meaning of Genitive

First nauta nautae the sailor’s : of the sailor

Second taurus tauri the bull’s : of the bull

Third Juppiter Iovis Jupiter’s : of Jupiter

Forth currus currus the chariot’s : of the chariot

Fifth spes spei hope’s : of hope

Indeed, the Genitive Endings are so different, that a Latin dictionary will tell you what they are just so you can determine which Declension a Noun belongs to. Cool? Try it. Look up lion in a dictionary. leo, leonis m lion. That second form is, and always will be, the Genitive of the Noun. And because it ends in –is, leo must be a Third Declension Noun. Awesome.

Juppiter Jupiter appears in the Genitive Case twice on today’s page, to reclaim possession of his temple and statue. I’ve simplified things here a little; during its life the temple was actually rededicated to three gods, Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, often referred to as the Capitoline Triad, as each had a temple on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. Here are the entries from the official Pompeii Website - http://www.pompeiisites.org - in both English and Italian.

This dates from the 2nd cent. BC and has a high podium, with an entry staircase on the front, over which the cell rises: the latter, preceded by columns and divided into three by a double colonnade, held a statue of Jupiter, of which the head remains, from the Sullan period (approximately 80 BC), when the building was converted into a Capitolium and dedicated to the worship of the ‘Capitoline Triad’ (Jupiter, Juno, Minerva). The floor of the cell, as in the temple of Apollo, had a rhomboid polychrome stone pattern, arranged in imitation of perspective cubes (opus scutulatum). The podium was restored in the Tiberian period (14-37 AD), when the large altar located in the Forum, aligned with the temple, was also replaced.

Risale al II sec. a.C. e presenta un alto podio, con scala d'accesso sulla fronte, sul quale s'innalza la cella: questa, preceduta da colonne e tripartita da colonnati a due ordini, custodiva una statua di Giove, della quale resta la testa, di età sillana (80 a.C. circa), periodo in cui l'edificio è trasformato in Capitolium e dedicato al culto della 'Triade Capitolina' (Giove, Giunone, Minerva). Il pavimento della cella, come nel tempio di Apollo, era a rombi di pietra policromi, disposti ad imitazione di cubi prospettici (opus scutulatum). Il podio fu restaurato in età tiberiana (14-37 d.C.), quando pure fu sostituito il grande altare posto nel Foro in asse col tempio.

The huge temple of Jupiter is situated in the forum. Once a great statue of Jupiter stood in the temple. For many years the Pompeians were accustomed to give thanks here to Jupiter.

The Lego model of Pompeii is housed in the Nicholson Museum of The University of Sydney, Australia. Entry to the museum is entirely free, and you may visit Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 4:30. The Nicholson is Australia’s oldest University museum and contains the largest collection of antiquities in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Pompeii model was commissioned by the Nicholson and constructed by LEGO Professional Builder Ryan McNaught. It is the third such model the museum has exhibited, following the Colosseum and Acropolis. The Colosseum was returned to McNaught and recently exhibited around Australia. The Acropolis was denoted by the Nicholson to the Acropolis Museum in Athens. The Pompeii model is estimated to include 190 000 bricks and took 420 hours to complete.

Visiting the Forum / February 9, 2017 by Anthony Gibbins

The Pompeian Forum was a paved rectangle 40 meters wide and 150 meters long (130x490 feet). It was surrounded by a double colonnaded portico of white limestone and, behind that, by buildings of impressive architecture. In the centre were equestrian statues (the bases for over fifty have been found) honouring the emperor, imperial family and local dignitaries. Take a look at the picture;

In the upper left corner is the macellum, believed by most to be some kind of market building specialising in fish, meat and vegetables. As Mary Beard has noted, if it was indeed a meat market, then it was conveniently close to the sacrificial altars of some of Pompeii’s greatest temples. Was meat from the sacrifices then sold at the macellum?

The next two structures are, from left to right, a temple to the lares publici and a temple in honour of the genius Augusti. The lares were family gods worshiped at shrines in nearly every Pompeian home; the lares publici were the common lares of the entire Pompeian people. The genius of Augustus – the spirit of the emperor – was a way of not quite worshipping the emperor as a god.

The third building in this cluster is the Eumachia Building, but we will have more to say on this when Claudia visits. Beside this stood a voting hall, although it is absent from the model – I assume for reasons of space. At the foot of the Forum we see the facades of three municipal offices, the exact purpose of which are still debated. Most see them as a collection of offices, meeting halls and record storage.

In the bottom right hand corner, you can make out one side of the gate through which Claudia entered, although in reality it is a block or two further away. The long building displayed with an open ceiling – it was closed in reality - is the town’s basilica – or law court. (Churches have taken on the name basilica because of their similarly open design). Those of you familiar with the Cambridge Latin Course will remember Caecilius dragging Hermogones to the law court; tu, Hermogones, es mendax!

Left of the court is the temple of Apollo. And north of that is the imposing structure of Jupiter’s temple, or the temple of the Capitoline Triad. Again, we will have more to say on both when Claudia is there.

The forum was the focal point of Pompeii’s life, housing its institutions of government, its main market, and major cult buildings. It drew citizens and visitors alike to its colonnades, buildings and open space as people pursued their daily lives of marketing, attending meetings, dealing with officials and participating in religious festivals. John J. Dobbins

Soon I found the Forum. The Forum is surrounded by many buildings of great importance. I looked at all the buildings closely for a long time.

viae Pompeiorum / February 8, 2017 by Anthony Gibbins

I spent one of the best afternoons of my life in Pompeii. It was a winter’s day, but not too chilly. I was visiting the city alone, much as Claudia does in this story. It was not my first visit, but at least a half dozen years had passed since I had been there last. And then it began to rain. Not a drizzle, or even a heavy drop, but an absolute downpour. And it lasted a good hour and more. The streets all turned to drains, just as we have all read that they would, and suddenly those quaint and historically interesting stepping stones were 100% necessary for crossing the street. People fled, and when the sun finally came out, the city was a ghost town. I spent another three hours there and – I tell not one inch of a lie – I didn’t see another soul until home time. It was incredible.

A map of Pompeii is very much like a map of Manhattan; there are two distinctly different arrangements of streets. Both cities began organically, and at those points the streets run in every which direction. In Pompeii it is in the south west, around the Forum. In Manhattan it is at the southern tip. And then, as the cities grew, a grid system was enforced upon them both. It noticeably distinguishes the old from the new, the chaotic from the urban-planned. In Pompeii the streets have been given wonderfully evocative names in the modern era; the Via dell’ Abondanza, Via della Fortuna and Strada Stabiana among others. These larger roads split Pompeii into four districts; an area for outdoor amusements that centers on the amphitheatre, a general residential area of upmarket homes in the area of the Central Baths, a cultural district for theatrical entertainment, and the ‘Old Town’ surrounding the Forum.

Carroll William Westfall provides a wonderful introduction to the city’s streetscape. Today he dedicates his study to the classical tradition of architecture in America.

Pompeii exemplifies the urban legacy of Rome and presents an instructive example of a traditional town built to sustain and foster a life of civility. Population density was high by modern standards with the 167-acre city holding perhaps 10,000 to 12,000 residents, a number that swelled each day as people came from the countryside to enjoy the city’s markets and diversions. The same general urban character pervaded the city’s background buildings: atrium houses, row houses and other common types of residential party-wall construction, often with shops fronting the streets. The typical street cross-section had building walls rising directly from a sidewalk with curbs defining footpaths, although some streets lacked sidewalks on one or both sides, and some were narrower than others. The solidly built-up blocks were arrayed in an irregular grid pattern in which most streets change their alignment every few blocks, a condition the Romans exploited to great advantage as they imposed their urban order on the city.

I was walking very happy through the streets of the town for some time, as though through a dream. I saw many things about which I had read many times in books.

The Walls of Pompeii / February 7, 2017 by Anthony Gibbins

The city of Pompeii, that which is contained within its walls, measures approximately 66 hectares. It was enclosed by a 3.2 kilometer or 2 mile wall. The city could be entered or departed through seven gates, five of which led to other towns in the Campania region. The porta gate shown in this photo is the Porta Marina, the gate closest to the Forum and that which led to the town’s harbor. Fishing and maritime trade were important aspects of the Roman economy, and sailors, merchants and visitors would have passed through this gate daily. It is interesting that, despite the huge changes that took place in Pompeii between its birth and its destruction in 79 AD, the circuit of the town walls on their present line dates back to the sixth century BC.

And there are sharp differences of opinion about how the area within the walls was used in the sixth century BCE. One view holds that it was mostly enclosed farmland, and that our [archaeological] finds come from isolated agricultural buildings or cottages or rural sanctuaries. A more recent and rival position sees a much more developed urban framework, even at this early date. This does not mean that sixth-century Pompeii was a densely occupied town in our sense. In fact, even in 79 CE there was plenty of open, cultivated land within the circuit of the walls. Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town, Mary Beard, 2008

Today I arrived at Pompeii so early that the sun was not yet in the sky. The entire town is surrounded by tall walls. I entered through one of the gates.

the view from on high / February 6, 2017 by Anthony Gibbins

If you are planning on reading the entirety of Claudia’s Pompeii visit (and I certainly hope that you are), the view from the plane may help you orientate yourself. In the very top left corner can be seen the Temple of Jupiter, the first major monument Claudia visits in the Forum. Down from that, with the open roof surrounded by four colonnades, is the Eumachia Building, about which we will have more to say. Unmissable with its checked tiles is the bath complex, which would not have been quite so open to the sky, and down from there is the theatre, in which Claudia will watch a play. In the bottom right hand corner, you can see a public swimming pool. To the right of this, but sadly out of picture, was the amphitheatre, in which the Pompeiians watched gladiator bouts and animal hunts. If you compare the model against a ground plan of Pompeii you will find that, despite some necessary liberties having been taken, the model is true to the layout of the ancient town.

Yesterday I arrived in Italy. Flying above Pompeii in an airplane, I was able to look down upon the entire most beautiful town.

If you are well, it is well. / February 5, 2017 by Anthony Gibbins

Claudia’s letter to Miranda begins in the fashion of traditional Roman letter writing. Notice that the opening salutation occurs in the third person. Claudia suae Mirandae salutem dat Claudia gives greetings to her Miranda. This is modelled directly on Seneca’s letters to his student, Lucilius; Seneca Lucilio suo salutem. The formula was so, well, formulaic, that the final verb, dat, could even be dropped without any confusion. Indeed, the entire thing could be abbreviated to sal. or s.d.

Seneca begins one letter to Lucilius with a reference to an old and apparently discontinued nicety;

The old Romans had a custom which survived even into my lifetime. They would add to the opening words of a letter: ‘If you are well, it is well; I also am well.’

In Latin this is si vales, bene est; ego valeo. Claudia begins her letter si vales, bene est If you are well, it is well. And then dives straight into the topic of her letter.

Claudia gives greetings to her Miranda. If you are well, it is well. Today I visited Pompeii. It was a marvel! Now I should like to tell you everything.

the (Roman) art of letter writing / February 4, 2017 by Anthony Gibbins

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that there is nothing new under the sun. Despite this, Roman literature is often criticised for its reliance on preexisting Greek examples. Even the masterpiece that is Virgil’s Aeneid has suffered from comparison:

Virgil seems to have copied Greek models completely, imitating them slavishly and lifelessly, and so they appear as plagiarisms more or less devoid of spirit. (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, 1770-1831)

The late 1st Century Roman rhetorician, Quintilian, wrote satura nostra tota est Satire is ours alone, claiming it as an (only) original Roman genre. But there is another contender for Roman Literary Creation. Consider the following;

Not Satire, however, whose genealogical credentials are rather mixed, but letters, genuine correspondence, other people’s mail, are the major contribution of Latin speakers to the development of the literary genres. (Cecelia A. E. Luschnig, Latin Letters: Reading Roman Correspondence, 2006)

So, as Miranda settles down to read Claudia’s epistula, here are three extracts, each from one of Rome’s great letter writers;

And as for you, who have so often relieved my anxiety and depression by your talk and advice, who are my constant ally in public affairs, my confidant in private, my partner in every conversation and project, where on earth are you? For my spectacular put-on friendships with the great, though they are not without glamour in the world at large, give me no enjoyment in private. Thus when my house is well filled with callers in the morning, and I go down to the Forum surrounded by troops of friends, I cannot find in all that crowd a single soul with whom I can exchange an unguarded joke or an intimate grumble. Cicero

I am delighted, and I send my congratulations on your decision to wed your daughter to Fuscus Salinator. He comes from a patrician family, his father is a most honourable man, and his mother merits equal praise. The young man himself is devoted to his books and to literature, and is also an eloquent speaker. He has a child’s openness, a young man’s affability, and an elder’s dignity. It remains for him with all speed to make you a grandfather of children like himself. Pliny

Wherever I turn, I see evidence of my advancing years. I visited lately my country place, and protested against the money which was being spent on the building. My bailiff maintained that the flaws were not his fault, ‘but the house was old’. And this the house that grew by my own hands! What has the future in store for me, if stones my own age are already crumbling? I was angry, and I embraced the first opportunity to vent my spleen. ‘It is clear,’ I cried, ‘that these plane-trees are neglected; they have no leaves. Their branches are so gnarled and shriveled.’ The bailiff swore that he was doing everything possible, but those trees were old. Between you and me, I had planted those trees myself! Seneca

Miranda carries the letter to her chair. She sits down and begins to read. The letter was written by her amica, Claudia. Miranda smiles.

How the Dative Case got its Name / February 3, 2017 by Anthony Gibbins

Today’s page contains a clear and straightforward example of the Dative Case - doing the very thing that gives it its name. Let’s take the opportunity to have a closer look.

Imagine an alternate Legonium universe in which Marcellus did NOT misplace his envelope on the way to see the bank manager. He reaches into his pocket and pulls it out. Marcellus, in this alternative tale, is now holding (tenet) the envelope. Marcellus involucrum tenet. Marcellus is the Subject of the Verb (he is holding), and so Marcellus is written in the Nominative Case. The envelope is the Object of the Verb (it is being held), and so involucrum is written in the Accusative Case. All good.

Now he wants to give the envelope to the bank manager. Marcellus gives the envelope to Augustus. The Verb he gives is dat. Marcellus is the Subject of dat (he is giving) and involucrum is the Object (it is being given). Marcellus involucrum dat. But where does Augustus fit into this sentence? Marcellus is giving the envelope to Augustus. Latin has a special Case for just this circumstance, and it takes its very name from the verb dat. It is the Dative Case. Augustus in the Dative Case is written Augusto. And so our final sentence would be Marcellus involucrum Augusto dat Marcellus gives the envelope to Augustus.

tradit hands over is a Verb closely related to dat. Read the final sentence of today’s page; The postman hands over a letter to Miranda tabellarius epistulam Mirandae tradit. tabellarius is in the Nominative Case, epistulam in the Accusative, and Mirandae in the Dative. Too easy.

Now the Dative Case would be of limited use if that was all it was good for. Luckily it has spread its domain; it can be also be used to tell something to someone, show something to someone and do something for someone. Let’s imagine what might happen when Claudia returns from Pompeii.

Claudia donum Mirandae dat. Claudia gives a present to Miranda.

Claudia fabulam Mirandae narrat. Claudia tells a story to Miranda.

Claudia picturam Mirandae ostendit. Claudia shows a picture to Miranda.

Miranda cenam Claudiae parat. Miranda prepares dinner for Claudia.

Soon someone knocks on the door. Miranda hurries to the door and opens it. The postman is here! The postman hands over a letter to Miranda.