Latin Quote of the Day: There Ain't No Cure for Love

"Nullis amor est medicabilis herbis" (Ovid)


Love is not to be cured by medicinal herbs.


(The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations)  

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So it seems the Romans did not invent cement after all...

It seems that the Romans have been wrongfully credited for inventing cement, according to archaeologists in charge of digging at Vergina, Northern Greece. A collection of some of the finest ancient treasures of Greece displayed at the Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum suggests that the Macedonians used cement 300 years before the Romans. Who would have thought that Alexander the Great's people were innovative builders on top of being excellent fighters?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13046299

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Latin Quote of the Day - Should We Offer Candies to the Government?

"Rempublicam duabus rebus contineri dixit, præmio et poena". (Cicero, attributed to Solon)


A state is regulated by two things, reward and punishment.


(The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations) 

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Libertini vs. Liberti

In ancient Rome slaves could gain freedom in a variety of ways and some manumission methods conferred the freed slave a higher status than others. A man who was legally freed was known as “libertinus” and a woman as “libertina”.

Ex-slaves who were legally freed were eligible for Roman citizenship, but this was not the end of the bod between the former slave and his former master. The ex-slave became a client of his former master, now his patron. This relationship was different from the patron’s relationship with other clients. Another term was used for a slave who was bond in this way to his former master, i.e. libertus. Thus, the term libertinus indicated the legal status of the slave, while the word libertus described his social status.

Liberti were considered member of the former master’s familia and were expected to act accordingly, since their patron continued to be their paterfamilias, albeit in another sense. Liberti were expected to obey without question their former owners and show them the same devotion that Roman children in owed their fathers. As a result, ex-slaves continued to execute small tasks, without compensation, for their patrons, both voluntarily and at their patron’s order. And just as Roman children were not allowed to take legal action against their parents, so ex-slaves were not permitted to take their former owners into court for any reason.

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Latin Quote of the Day - Isn't it time you watched your figure?

"Accipe nunc, victus tenuis quid quantaque secum afferat. In primis valeas bene". (Horace) 


Now learn what and how great benefit a moderate diet brings with it. Before all, you will enjoy good health.


(The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations)

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Blogum Primum

What is the Latin word for blog? Well, you will most certainly not find it in the Oxford Latin Dictionary. It might be blogum. Or blogus. Neutral is better than masculine, though. Other people suggested blogis, but since there is no definitive candidate for the word, I'll stick with blogum. Easier to decline as well, just remember the golden rule of neutrals.


In 2003, the Vatican published a two volume up-to-date Latin-Italian dictionary, with the intent of modernising a language that many consider dead or dusty at best. The Lexicon Recentis Latinitas contains words designating objects or actions the Romans wouldn't have dreamt about in their times. Here are some examples using English translations instead of Italian. It is easily noticeable that "modern" Latin is no longer a synthetic language, being impossible to express certain concepts in just one word.


barman - tabernae potóriae minister

basket-ball - follis canistrīque ludus

best seller - liber maxime divenditus

calculator - machínula calculatória detonator - apparatus displosīvus disco - taberna dischotecaria effervescent - bullans; fervens fifty-fifty - aequíssima partítio full time - munus pleni témporis gangster - gregalis latro gulag - campus captivis custodiendis horn - sonorus autocinēti index hostess - vectorum adiūtrix jazz - iazensis música jeans - bracae línteae caerúleae jeep - autocinētum locis iniquis aptum kamikaze - voluntárius sui interemptor lady - Ánglica múlier conspícua lasagna - láganum megalomania - effrenāta glóriae appeténtia minigolf - pilamálleus minūtus night-club - taberna nocturna nylon - matéria plástica nailonensis piano - clavicýmbalum (-i) picnic - cénula subdivālis pizza - placenta compressa popcorn - máizae grana tosta  pot-pourri - carnes oleraque vária punch - cálida alcohólica pótio radar - radioëléctricum instrumentum detectórium referendum - ad pópulum provocátio rugby - ludus follis ovāti safari - Africana venátio salami - tomáculum pretzel - crústulum sale condītum scotch - víschium Scóticum shampoo - capitilávium cigarette - fístula nicotiāna smog - fumus et nébula spray - liquor nubilógenus taxi - autocinētum meritórium traveller's cheque - mandatum nummárium periegéticum vodka - válida pótio Slávica week-end - éxiens hebdómada

selfishness - nímius amor sui

spaceship - navis sideralis

swimsuit - subligáculum balneare

travel agency - itínerum procuratrix (-trīcis)

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