tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40531372011-11-05T09:22:31.197-04:00Musings about the Classical world of the Romans & Greeks, and their not-so-dead languages.Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.comBlogger291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-25770598923898079052007-01-06T00:43:00.000-05:002007-01-06T00:57:27.461-05:00

It can be easy to forget about those daily activities & aspects of Roman society that are far from our everyday modern experience. Divination is one such routine element of the Roman world that I've recently been reading about.The Romans adopted the Etruscan art of haruspicy as one of their 'unofficial' forms of divination. Now the Etruscans liked their divination a little messy. Haruspicy

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-27220634938364615322007-01-04T14:40:00.000-05:002007-01-04T14:56:08.785-05:00

Well, classes are starting up again. Good luck to all you Latin students this term!

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-54311071114442668072007-01-01T23:48:00.000-05:002007-01-04T17:43:11.913-05:00

Time for some resolutions (what with it being New Year's and all). Here are some of my more academic goals:Review my Latin & Greek grammar. It hurts, but it's good for you in the end. Like exercise.Read the entire Aeneid and the Odyssey in their original languages. I've read chunks of both from here and there, but I've never read either 'cover-to-cover', so to speak.Read the New Testament in

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-75502502347072908722006-12-30T23:03:00.000-05:002006-12-30T23:59:35.597-05:00

First off, for those who are unfamiliar, here is Google's description of their Google Scholar search engine:Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories,

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-12111513794437945252006-12-27T04:01:00.000-05:002006-12-27T04:06:40.665-05:00

IE 7 has a new search box in the top-right corner of the browser window. It's possible to search with different search engines by selecting one using the little drop-down box. A few options are built-in, but it's also possible to add your own search engines.I've found it useful to add the morphological tool from Perseus to the list. Then I can just type in a Latin word and quickly get the

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-30130985882817560572006-12-17T00:26:00.000-05:002006-12-17T17:13:49.974-05:00

That's the latest trailer for '300', a new movie based on Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name. I've not read the comics, but a fellow Classics major says they're great. The movie looks like it should be fun - of course, it's certainly not intended to be some historically accurate depiction of Thermopylae... (check Classics sensibility at the door, sit back, and enjoy).It would be

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-41537155788762720042006-12-17T00:13:00.001-05:002006-12-17T00:13:05.565-05:00

Electronic Resources for Wheelock's Latin seems to have been taken down recently. All that is left: "Site Closed Until Further Notice". This is really too bad - it was an excellent and useful resource for students. I wonder what happened? Does anyone know?If you're looking for online resources related to Wheelock's Latin, you can check this list at the official Wheelock website. You'll find

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-9438807017493361072006-12-16T00:06:00.000-05:002006-12-16T00:07:03.137-05:00

If you need a quick definition of a Latin word, try Whitaker's Words. This little program's no-nonsense command-line interface may not be beautiful, but it is certainly fast and very useful. Words will even give you a morphological analysis of words you look up.It is certainly not intended to be a replacement for a solid Latin dictionary like Lewis & Short, but is a great tool to help you work

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-6346993580388993922006-12-12T01:10:00.000-05:002006-12-12T15:11:22.605-05:00

Their simple covers don't flash, though they fairly sing--sotto voce--their authority. They may look quaint, but these midget volumes have become the missals of the bookish classes. Generations have known them as "the Loebs," though they belong to what is properly called the Loeb Classical Library, and, within the English-speaking world, they are deemed an essential accouterment to the life of

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-8142824505128221322006-12-10T17:36:00.000-05:002006-12-12T00:27:04.798-05:00

After a really long hiatus, I'm going to resume writing in this blog.When I originally started, my intent was to write about my experiences of learning Latin. I'm happy to say that my Latin has progressed considerably since the last time I posted, but of course there's still much to learn and review. So... my continuing endeavour to master the language will remain a major thread of this blog. I

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1092281605940417162004-08-15T23:33:00.000-04:002006-12-09T01:02:18.213-05:00

Ack. I'm a bit behind schedule. I was hoping to have studied 30 chapters of Wheelock by September, but I've only just completed Chapter 17... I suppose if I work into September I might make it just before lectures start. Today I was feeling enthusiastic and read ahead a couple of chapters, but I still have to work through the exercises and sententiae antiquae.Of course, actually reading and

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1092074463407621572004-08-09T13:50:00.000-04:002004-08-09T14:05:35.656-04:00

castra hodie movi! Well, I've returned from camping. I realized (while reading some Latin out in the wilderness) that I made a mistake in my previous post. I thought 'ponere' was a second conjugation verb, but it isn't... so really, it should have read: castra cras ponam instead of: castra cras ponebo

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1091745009468573602004-08-05T17:34:00.000-04:002004-08-05T18:30:09.466-04:00

Castra cras ponebo! ...although, my camp won't be an encampment fortified by a ditch (fossa) and a mound (agger) surmounted by palisades (vallum), the literal definition of castra, -orum n. in Cassell's Latin Dictionary. (The singular castrum, -i n. is simply a castle or fort.) Skip a few entries up in the dictionary and we find the infinitely more useful word: castoreum, -i n., the aromatic

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1091071295327043352004-07-28T23:21:00.000-04:002006-12-09T01:07:09.230-05:00

...haven't posted in a while because I've been doing Latin instead! (At least, I'd like to think so.) I bought Athenaze today. I've been so hard at work doing my Latin exercises that I needed a treat (which, according to Churchill, means learning Greek).So I've started learning my alpha beta gamma's... I went hunting for some sound clips to help with pronunciation and came across Ancient Greek

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1090465764121852812004-07-21T23:01:00.000-04:002004-07-21T23:09:24.120-04:00

I was listening to some U2, so I thought this quick sentence would be appropriate: nec tecum possum vivere nec sine teMartial, Epigrams 12.47 I can live neither with you nor without you. ...hmm... maybe I should try translating some song lyrics into Latin...

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1090382270689478662004-07-20T23:57:00.000-04:002004-07-21T00:05:42.213-04:00

This site at McMaster University, courtesy of Paul Barrette, is full of various Latin drills (vocab, declinations, principle parts, verb forms, etc.) and other excellent learning tools. Although it's designed to coincide with the older 5th edition of Wheelock, and there are a few bugs & mistakes here and there, the site is still a valuable resource. It's a nice way to quiz yourself and get some

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1090253287189951972004-07-19T11:51:00.000-04:002005-05-03T20:24:23.983-04:00

Some Cicero (kind of...) today.  I'm catching up on some exercises in Wheelock, and this passage is found in Chapter 8 (6th ed).  Anyone who has been keeping track will notice that I mentioned reaching chapter 12 earlier... well, I tend to read a few chapters ahead and do most of the exercises later.  I find things tend to sink in a little better this way.  (Plus I'm a bit lazy sometimes. Heh.)

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1090197667735185462004-07-18T20:41:00.000-04:002004-07-18T20:47:23.053-04:00

I've been visiting this site daily for a while now - anyone learning a classical language will also want to visit TEXTKIT - Greek and Latin Learning Tools. The site is packed with Latin & Greek grammars and literature, and the forum is an excellent place to ask for help. There's also a place to converse in a classical language with others, which is a great way to practice. A new feature of the

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1089414565848871622004-07-09T19:08:00.000-04:002004-07-09T19:09:25.846-04:00

Come fall, I'm going to be starting ancient Greek. Apparently my prof has selected Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek for our text. I've heard mixed things about this book. I've read reviews that claim that the grammar content is seriously lacking; that by the time you finish the series you'll be ancient; that it assumes the student is an idiot... but I've also heard that it builds

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1088995466929638802004-07-04T22:44:00.000-04:002004-07-04T23:03:52.990-04:00

Well, I've reached chapter 12 of Wheelock. Chalk up another conjugation, personal pronouns, and FINALLY the perfect active system of all verbs. Looks like I'm on schedule to reach chapter 30 by September (yay!). There's been a lot of memorization in the last few chapters - well... I suppose there's been a lot of memorization in every chapter, but especially in the last few. :) To accomplish

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1088353115671065872004-06-27T12:00:00.000-04:002006-12-10T17:51:32.268-05:00

No Latin this time, just a quick note. As a collector of Roman coins, HobbyBlog caught my eye. Anyone interested in ancient numismatics should also check out FORVM. The discussion board there is an excellent place to ask questions and learn about ancient coin collecting. The Romans minted in such large numbers that authentic coins (especially bronze coins from the 3rd century A.D. and onwards)

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1088138026519897162004-06-25T00:09:00.000-04:002004-06-25T01:01:05.256-04:00

Nothing too involved tonight, just some quick sentences from Wheelock (chapter 10). First the Latin, then my translations and comments... officium meum faciamsemper magno cum timore incipio dicerefata viam invenientvive memor mortis; fugit hora'I will do my duty.' This is Terence. I like this sentence - sounds neat, short, to the point... 'I always begin to speak with great fear.' Adapted from

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1087880519628916812004-06-21T23:52:00.000-04:002004-06-22T19:09:44.916-04:00

Non vitae, sed scholae, discimus. - Seneca the Younger, Epistulae Morales 106.12 This was a new use of the dative for me - 'dative of purpose'. Not a tricky concept, but nevertheless one that ambushed me when I came across this sentence. Translated, this means, 'We do not learn for life, but for the lecture-hall.' This seems like an odd thing for Seneca to say, until we put it in context and

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1087767864982524752004-06-20T16:07:00.000-04:002004-06-21T19:31:36.586-04:00

Vergil or Virgil? Which is correct? Vergil's full name was Publius Vergilius Maro... so where did 'Virgil' come from? Professor William Harris offers some possibilities in his essay on The Secret Life of a Very Private Poet: Donatus adds that Vergil was so pure in life, in speech and in spirit, that he was nicknamed "Parthenias" or "The Maiden" at Naples, where he habitually lived. (One thinks

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1087568125203796932004-06-18T10:09:00.000-04:002004-06-18T10:15:25.203-04:00

(meant to post this last night but Blogger was down...) fessus sum, sed scribam. hodie longum erat, et tolerare laborem vix poteram. nunc requiescam -- fenestra aperta est et voces noctis audio. Phew. Speaking of labour... three simple sentences but so much work! I tried to fit in some of the stuff I've been learning recently... third declension & third conjugation. I'm not entirely sure

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1087510276837140682004-06-17T17:51:00.000-04:002004-06-17T19:55:38.066-04:00

I recently purchased this book and thought I'd mention it here. As the author, Hans Orberg, describes it, "LINGUA LATINA provides a Latin text that students can read and understand immediately without any need for translation. In this text every sentence is intelligible per se because the meaning and function of all new words and forms is made plain by the context or by illustrations or marginal

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1087445675639212712004-06-17T00:05:00.000-04:002004-06-17T00:14:35.640-04:00

Salve, quid agis? Haec adnotatio in ephemeride meo est prima in lingua latina. Si erro, mone me et relinque sententias tuas, amabo te. Scribam cras denuo. Well, there's my first entry in Latin. I was trying say something like, "This note in my journal is the first in Latin. If I err, advise me and leave your thoughts [ie. comments], please. I will write again tomorrow." I imagine the Latin

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1087444635342477872004-06-16T23:57:00.000-04:002006-12-10T17:55:38.370-05:00

So, having reached chapter 9 of Wheelock, I've been practicing my newly-learned 'hic-haec-hoc's. I confess I'm not quite as hardcore as this girl yet, but maybe one day I too will be able to recite all 30 forms in 5 seconds while standing on my head...

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4053137.post-1087362090946338832004-06-16T00:44:00.000-04:002007-01-04T17:02:48.211-05:00

If you're here (and you are not, in fact, me), then you are probably wondering why this blog exists. Simply put, I am trying to learn latin and thought that a journal of my studies might be helpful. I haven't quite determined why it will be helpful, but we'll see.In any event, it's fun. :)There will likely be random musings about various other (probably classics-related) topics. Comments are

Edgarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067277954197257091noreply@blogger.com1