"Nullis amor est medicabilis herbis" (Ovid)
Love is not to be cured by medicinal herbs.
(The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations)
Love is not to be cured by medicinal herbs.
(The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations)
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
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?
Monday, 11 April 2011
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)
A state is regulated by two things, reward and punishment.
(The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations)
Sunday, 10 April 2011
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.
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)
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)
