LATIN CLASSES IN ROMA

SECOND LATIN LESSON FOR BEGINNERS - SATURNALIA THEMED

By magistra (teacher) Zelda Walpole

During our December festival, Saturnalia (in many ways ancestor festival of our Christmas), magistrae (teachers) Zelda Walpole and Tonina Rodenberger did the Second Latin Lesson for Beginners.
This was a special Saturnalia themed lesson and here you can read a summary of it.

This time you will learn some nice sentences you can use not only during Saturnalia but also in your Roman daily life and something more about verbs.

First of all, let's learn how to greet.

In Latin there is a little difference between greetings if they are addressed to one or more than one person.

Hello (addressed to one person): Salve! / Ave!
Hello (addressed to more than one person): Salvete! / Avete!
In the same way we say “goodbye”:
Goodbye (addressed to one person): Vale! / Valeas!
Goodbye (addressed to more than one person): Valete! / Valeatis!
Hello all / Goodbye all: Salvete omnes! / Valete omnes!
Literal meaning of salve is: be healthy; of ave: health to you; of vale: be safe.

Now we see how to ask “How are you?”, and how to answer.
Questions
1. How are you? (addressed to one person): Quid agis? / How are you? (addressed to more than one person): Quid agitis?
2. How is it going? (addressed to one person or more than one person): Quid agitur?
3. Is there something new?: Quid novi?

Answers to:
1. Quid agis / agitis?: Bene (fine); Satis bene (not too bad); Non bene (not good); Valeo (I'm fine) / Valemus (we are fine).
2. Quid agitur?: Bene (fine); Satis bene (not too bad); Non bene (not good).
3. Quid novi?: Nihil novi (nothing new).
If you have something else to answer than “nothing new” to Quid novi ... well, good Latin conversation!

These are some really Saturnalia themed sentences:
Io Saturnalia! (Hurrah Saturnalia!)
Annum novum faustum tibi (singular) / vobis (plural) opto (I wish you a happy new year)
Hoc Saturnalicium tributum tibi / vobis offero (I offer to you this gift for Saturnalia)
For a Christmas Christian greeting:
Faustum diem natalem Jesu Christi tibi / vobis opto (I wish you a merry Christmas)

And in the end, let's see how to say “thank you”, “my pleasure” and “please”:
Thank you:
Gratias (magnas) tibi / vobis ago (I give – many – thanks to you)
When you are in hurry, you can use also simply “Gratias” / “Gratias magnas”.
My pleasure:
1. Libenter hoc facio/feci (I do/did it with pleasure)
2. Libenter hoc do/dedi (I give/gave it with pleasure)
3. Libenter hoc dico/dixi (I say/said it with pleasure)
For every day life you could also use only “Libenter”. Please: “Quaeso” (I pray you). Quaeso could be used, instead of libenter, to mean “please, don't thank me”.

Let's talk about verbs.

In the last lesson, we found out that the ending -t is for the 3rd person singular (he/she/it) and we found it on verbs like sedet, gaudet, ridet.

In this lesson, you can find the words sedent, gaudent, rident. These are the same verbs, except that this time, they're in the 3rd person plural (they).

You can easily form the plural of every verb you learned in the last lesson by taking off the -t, which gives you the verb stem, and then adding -nt, the 3rd person plural ending (e. g. ridet -> ride -> rident).

This does not work with the verb "to be". Just as in English, it is an irregular verb in Latin. The 3rd person singular is est (he/she/it is) and the 3rd person plural is sunt (they are). The verb "to be there" is derived from the verb "to be" and has according forms: adest and adsunt. Adest is really just the verb "to be" combined with the preposition "ad" (at, towards).

Another thing you can easily learn: if you put "non"(not) in front of a verb, you make the sentence negative. E. g. "Quintus adest" = "Quintus is there" / "Quintus non adest" = "Quintus is not there".

Then, if you want to say something like "Quintus isn't there but is ill", use "sed" for the "but". So this sentence would be: "Quintus non adest, sed aegrotat."

That's all for this lesson, but if you want some texts and vocabulary to do exercises just send an im to Zelda Walpole and Tonina Rodenberger and they will send you the texts distributed during this lesson.

We hope to see you all at the next lesson :)

XIII LEGIO GEMINA Report.

XIII LEGION GEMINA - OSTIAE CASTRUM, ROMA S.P.Q.R.

ACTIVITY REPORT.

Salvete omnes, cari Roma cives et Legio fratres in armis, recently we have seen some activity going on in our Ostiae Harbor, and we at the Decima Tertia are proud to announce the reborn of the Portum Ostiae (the military port of Ostia) Which is going to be in service soon, with a new fleet, a new type of ship that will change the way we saw naval battles before!. These ships are designed to use the SL wind, so you must navigate using the sails, to gain speed, to calculate your turns and avoid the zero wind zone (the irons), all of this while an enemy fleet comes after you! So, if you feel blessed by Neptune and want to feel the thrill of Naval combats, come and ask about the Classis Cohort of the XIII LEGION GEMINA, and remember, the Navy is not just a job, it's an adventure!.

In other news as it was communicated at the end of december , the Legionaire of the month prize goes to Jale Swiftpaw (jale.albatros) He was at all the trainings, and he shows good fighting abilities and loyalty to the XIII Lion. On behalf of the Centuriones, Congratulations and keep it up!.

Also we want to inform about two promotions, 1: DECANVS Ragark Tiberivs Ivlivs was promoted by the Centuriones to the rank of OPTIO and was assigned the task of being the Legio's reporter to the ACTA ROMA, and to be the reference officer about the Classis Nautica of the XIII Legio. 2: OPTIO Revus Cornelivs Patavius was promoted by the Centuriones to the rank of DECVRIO, and he was assigned the command of the Equitata Cohors of the XIII Legio, many congratulations Revus, and good luck in this new task, on behalf of the Centuriones and your brothers and sisters in arms from the Decima Tertia!

Well that's all whats needed to be reported from our beloved legio fort in Ostia, I'll see you the next month with more informations from the Decima Tertia! Valete Omnes!

OPTIO Ragark Tiberius Iulius.

Latin Phrase of the Week

Audiatur et altera pars.

audire (verb) to hear (audiatur = 3rd pers. singular, present konj.passiv
= he, she, it may be heard)
et and, also
alter, a, um the other, the next, the second
pars, partis, fem. part, section, fraction


Audiatur et altera pars is a Latin phrase that literally means "Hear also the other side".
It is most often used to refer to the principle that no person should be judged without a fair hearing in which each party is given the opportunity to respond to the evidence against them.
It is considered a principle of fundamental justice or equity in most legal systems. The principle includes the rights of a party or his lawyers to confront the witnesses against him, to have a fair opportunity to challenge the evidence presented by the other party, to summon one's own witnesses and to present evidence, and to have counsel, if necessary at public expense, in order to make one's case properly.

Family quarrel in Roma?

From an anonymous source we got some alarming rumours!
The source tells about an arguement between two important families in Roma SPQR.
Allegedly Gens Camilla and Gens Seiana got into a serious discussion about a slave. Nobody knows exactly what happened between the families and what caused this quarrel, but Lucretia, the tavern servant, reported as an earwitness:
"Well, I heard them argue loudly and with not nice words....."
Another witness told: "With my own eyes I saw late in the night, that soldiers forced a slave into a villa in Subura, and believe me, it was not the villa of his Dominus!"
If these rumours are true Roma will probably encounter a struggling trial as both involved families are mighty and powerful.
Acta Roma will keep you informed! Stay tuned!

HOW THE URBS CONTINUES TO CHANGE ((31 JAN?))

The activity of our Praefectus as a builder in Roma is so incredible that it may be better to assign him the role of aedilis! After rebuilding the markets he is now restructuring Ostia. With the definitive help of Senator Ragark Tiberius Iulius, who received from the army the commitment to rebuild the military port, he completely redesigned the coastline of the city. In fact the civilians can now use the moorings at the beautiful new docks of Ostia.

The training area that was on the nice but secluded island of En-Garde, where citizens went to learn to fight with the gladius (and other barbarian blades), has been relocated. It is now to be found behind the tavern and the new thermae with direct access from the main plaza. It is a beautiful, long garden and makes a very suitable area for civilian training. "The officers of the XIII Legio Gemina strongly recommend to the citizens to practice martial arts", says Centurio Nina Tiberia," and I offer my military skills, together with my colleague Petrus Cornelius, to teach them the en-garde technique. "gitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum", as says Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus in his Epitoma rei militaris
(So, the man who wants the peace should be ready for the war)

THOSE PESKY WINTER MONTHS....

IF YOU WERE BORN after the end of December but before the beginning of March ......well, there was no month nor day for you to claim for your birthday. These were the pesky leftover no-one-knew-what-to-do-with-days

The Romans borrowed parts of their earliest known calendar from the Greeks. The calendar consisted of 10 months in a year of 304 days. The Romans seem to have ignored the remaining 61 days, which fell in the middle of winter. Romulus, the legendary first ruler of Rome, is supposed to have introduced this calendar to Rome in the 700s B.C.E.

March, dedicated to Mars was the first month
April, named from Venus, or Aphrodite, the second month
(some say April is so named from the word 'aperio', which is Latin for 'to open', because this month is full spring and the month when the buds and flowers are opening. )
May, the third month, comes from Maia, the mother of Mercury
June comes from Juno and is the fourth month
Next the months are numbered according to their order; so the fifth month was called
Quintilis for the number five
Sextilis, the sixth month
September, the seventh month
October, the eighth month
November, the ninth
and finally, December the tenth and last month of the Romulus calendar

In time the month of Quintilis would receive the name of July, or Julius, from Caesar when he defeated Pompey.
Of course it followed that Sextilis would become August, or Augustus, the second Caesar.

Domitianus desired to give his name to two months; Germanicus and Domitianus. However, on his being slain, these months reverted back to their original names, respectively, September and October.
November and December are the only two months that have kept their names throughout history without any alteration.

Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome following Romulus (715?-673? B.C.E.), is supposed to have divided the 'leftover' days into two extra months, January and February, and to have increased the number of days by 50, making the year 354 days.
Plutarch said that Numa, made January the first month of the year and made February the last.

January was named after Janus, a sky-god who was ancient even at the time of Rome’s founding.
January was given precedence by Numa to come before March, which was dedicated to the god Mars; because he wished to take every opportunity of intimating that the arts and studies of peace are to be preferred before those of war.

February comes from the Latin word februum, which means purification. During this month the purification ritual Februa was celebrated in which they make offerings to the dead, and celebrate the Lupercalia.
February remained the last month of the calendar year until c. 450 BC, when it was to become the second month of the year following January. (wiki )

There is another month deserving mention. Every other year Numa ordered the month of
Mercedinus, which was 22 or 23 days long, to be inserted toward the end of February. This was done to make the calendar somewhat match the solar year. Mercedinus, which translates as 'payment for work', was the time when property lessees paid rents due to their landlords.
Later in the Republic, Mercedinus gradually became known as Intercalans It would have a varying number of days and be inserted where needed to align seasons with the months. That is, until a certain Caesar came along.....

The return of Marcus Rufus (15th Jan MMXI)

Marcus Rufus is a relatively new citizen of Roma, and his name rises often among the gossips these days. He is a miles in the Legio XIII, with a particular skill in the equestrian. He is also devoted to the gens Cornelia, a family that has (and has had in the past) many equites in its ranks. As a client of that gens, he has a large domus in Subura, where he often invites the most illustrious citizens. Many of those people are found puzzling over the mysterious source of his income.
He has just returned from Greece where he visited the tomb of his father, the Centurio Celius Rufus, who died in the battle of Pharsalus under the command of Publius Cornelius Sulla (Caesarian praefectus alae). While in Greece, Marcus reportedly found some old documents that might explain some his history. Celius Rufus, his father, seems to have been the result of an extramarital relation of his commander,Sulla. However, there is still no information about the name of the woman who was his mother. Near to his death, Publius Cornelius Sulla could have
recognized Celius, leaving to his descendant a well settled farm in Greece. If this is true, Marcus might be not only a good marriage prospect for the roman ladies, in terms of money, but also a true Cornelius Sulla! It seems that Marcus has not yet advanced any official request to his possible paterfamilias, who is well aware of one thing; the slave Pompeus (one of the most renown chatterboxes of Roma), tells that Petrus has sent his spies to all corners of the empire in search of proof. He should consider public opinion, because Marcus is well esteemed but he wants to be sure.
His cousin Revus seems even more cautious in recognizing the new Cornelius, although his position in the hierarchy of the gens is not on the table.
So people, stay tuned to the Acta because this promises to be the source of the most important gossip of the next months.