Hobbitus Ille

As a fan of The Hobbit, I had to post about a book I came across today on Amazon: Hobbitus Ille: The Latin Hobbit (Latin and English Edition).

It hasn't been released yet, but it is currently available for pre-order at Amazon. This joins a growing list of modern favourites that have been translated into Latin (such as Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Latin edition.)

Divination... haruspicy and augury

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 involved examining the various entrails of sacrificed animals for divine messages. The liver was especially popular for divining the future, and in fact a bronze 'demo' liver has survived from antiquity ("The Bronze Liver of Piacenza" - see the picture at the right.)

The Romans themselves were a little less... er... hands-on than the Etruscans. One of the 'official' forms of Roman divination was augury. At its core, augury involved observing the sky for signs from the gods. An augur would 'inaugurate' a region in the sky as his templum (a word which could denote any sacred area, not just a physical building). Then he would watch how birds flew across this region (did they fly from left to right? or right to left?), or for bolder signs like lighting (Jupiter clearly had something to say then...)

Unlike other forms of divination, augury was not intended to foretell future events - it was rather used to find out whether the gods approved of some course of action. So for example, before setting off on a military campaign, an augur would have to check with the gods - did they have permission to set out? (Always best to have Jupiter willing.)

Augurs were also consulted before assemblies - if the gods didn't approve, the assembly wouldn't be held. If some sign became apparent during an assembly, the assembly would be adjourned. Even the acts of assemblies could be made null & void, and in fact the college of augurs could even declare an election invalid. This happened in 163 BC, when the father of the Gracchi (at the time a consul and an augur) suddenly 'remembered' that he forgot to take the auspices before crossing the pomerium (the city's sacred boundary) for an assembly. The two new consuls who had been elected in that assembly were forced to resign their office. 'vitio facti abdicarunt' was recorded on the list of magistrates.

Clearly the opportunity for political manipulation was great...

"People called Romanes they go the house?!"

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

New Year's Resolutions

Time for some resolutions (what with it being New Year's and all). Here are some of my more academic goals:

1. Review my Latin & Greek grammar. It hurts, but it's good for you in the end. Like exercise.
2. 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.
3. Read the New Testament in Greek. Hopefully this will be a more relaxing read.
4. Quit procrastinating! (That's the toughest one by far...)

Happy New Year all! What have you got planned for 2007?

Google Scholar

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, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant research across the world of scholarly research.

I remember trying Google Scholar when it was first released. At the time, I didn't find it all that helpful and I more or less forgot about it. Recently, amidst the flurry of term-end papers, I came across it again and I must say it seems considerably more useful now. Classics majors will be happy to know that it searches JSTOR now. (JSTOR is a journal index that includes quite a number of Classics journals - if you are a Classics major and have never used JSTOR, go check it out! You can probably get full-text access to articles online through your university library.)

Speaking of libraries, one of Google Scholar's spiffy features is the ability to set your library preference (visit the preferences page and check out the 'Library Links' section). Pick your university's library and you'll get links next to search results (e.g. 'Get it @ Oxford'). This facilitates finding the book or article at your library (or getting online access through your library login).

Google classifies Scholar as 'beta', and rightly so - it still has a long way to go... (I sure hope it gets there!) Linked with Scholar is their full-text Book Search tool. It is also in beta, but is already quite useful (and will only get better as they add more books.)

Latin Morphological Analysis in IE7

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 morphology and links to Lewis & Short without having to load up Perseus first.

It's rather easy to set up:

1. Click the 'find more providers' link.



2. You'll get to a Microsoft website which provides a list of different search engines to add. There isn't a default link for Perseus (shocking, I know! Doesn't everyone want morphological analysis?), so you'll have to set it up yourself by following the directions in the 'Create Your Own' box.



3. Cut and paste the following URL where it asks for the search results page:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/morphindex?lookup=TEST&.submit=Analyze+Form&lang=la&formentry=1

And that's it!

300 (The Movie)

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 interesting to see what sort of correlation there has been between the release of all these sword-and-sandal movies of the last few years, and enrolment in Classics programs. I wonder if departments have seen a surge in numbers as of late. Gladiator must have had some sort of impact...

Occasionally I wonder whether these kinds of films are detrimental for Classics... but I tend to think the publicity is good. Let the movie draw students into the classroom, and let an excellent prof show them just how much more there is to Greek & Roman history.

Any thoughts?

The Electronic Resources site disappears...

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 plenty of links to other helpful Latin sites.

Whitaker's Words

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 your way through a passage quickly.

...now if only there was something like this for Greek too!

two years later...

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 hope to discuss learning & teaching methods, review books and resources, and maybe post some focused mini-lessons.

However, I'd also like to expand into the larger realm of Classical Studies. So, if you're at all curious about ancient history and the Romans & Greeks, then check back and hopefully you'll find something that interests you.

Comments are most welcome. (It makes me feel warm and fuzzy knowing someone actually is reading this stuff!)

falling behind...

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 understanding the lessons isn't really the difficult part at this stage. Having stuff sink in and process at a deeper level is the problem, and that's definitely not something that can be rushed. Still, I'm happy I spent a lot of time on some of the fundamentals earlier. For example, I've noticed that lately I haven't had to think "Hmm... now is that an accusative or genitive or what?" For the most part I'm recognizing the endings without much effort. It's nice knowing all the practice is paying off! I just wish some topics like the subjunctive were introduced earlier in the text... it would be nice to get as much practice with that as I can.

Anyway, I've gained a solid appreciation for the importance of doing Latin daily. When I first took a Latin class years ago, most of my time was dominated by other coursework. Back then, 'learning Latin' really meant marathon sessions immediately prior to assignment due-dates. Naturally, I promptly forgot what I learned. I imagine this review project wouldn't have been necessary had I instead broken the Latin into bite-sized chunks and done a bit every day...

So if you're learning a new language, take heed: doing a little bit every day is preferable to learning in huge chunks sporadically.

Ok, so no big surprise here... :P
Still, it's easy advice to ignore, and probably one of the most important factors in learning a language efficiently. Of course, I don't think learning a huge chunk once a week on TOP of doing a little bit every day could hurt... but then you're probably spending too much time doing Latin and not enough time enjoying other things in life. :P

whoops...

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

camping

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 secretion obtained from the beaver

edo, dormio, linguam latinam (et nunc graecam)

...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 Tutorials. It's a great site hosted at Berkeley that has a very helpful pronunciation guide. I imagine the rest of the drills and whatnot will be equally helpful when I get that far. The site is designed for Mastronarde's Introduction to Attic Greek (see link in Athenaze post below...), and in fact the author is one of the voices in the pronunciation guide.

With or Without You

I was listening to some U2, so I thought this quick sentence would be appropriate:

nec tecum possum vivere nec sine te

Martial, Epigrams 12.47

I can live neither with you nor without you.

...hmm... maybe I should try translating some song lyrics into Latin...

Electronic Resources for Wheelock's Latin

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 instant feedback.

(well. the feedback will be not-so-instant if your connection is slow... but almost-instant feedback is better than none at all, right?)

Cicero, On the Ethics of Waging War

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.)

civitas bellum sine causa bona aut propter iram gerere non debet.  si fortunas et agros vitasque populi nostri sine bello defendere poterimus, tum pacem conservare debebimus; si, autem, non poterimus servare patriam libertatemque nostram sine bello, bellum erit necessarium.  semper debemus demonstrare, tamen, magnum officium in bello, et magnam clementiam post victoriam.

adapted from Cicero,
De Officiis 1.11.34-36 & De Re Publica 3.23.34-35

My translation:

A city should not conduct war without good cause or because of anger.  If we will be able to defend the fortunes, fields, and lives of our people without war, then we must conserve peace; if, however, we will not be able to save our country and liberty without war, war will be necessary.  We must always demonstrate, nevertheless, great duty in war and great clemency after victory.

TEXTKIT - Greek and Latin Learning Tools

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 site is the vocabulary learning tool - have vocab e-mailed to you each day.

Athenaze

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 confidence and gets you reading (albeit simple) texts quickly.

So, I think I'll get a more intensive grammar to supplement it. I've been looking at these two...

1. Mastronarde, D. Introduction to Attic Greek
2. Hansen & Quinn. Greek: An Intensive Course

Any suggestions?

perfect system...

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 the task, I've been filling a scrap notebook with the various paradigms and whatnot. After writing a declension out 100 times, it's hard to forget... perhaps a bit tedious, but an effective way of commiting things to memory (...my hic-haec-hoc's are getting faster too!)

Flashcards have been an effective way to learn vocabulary (surprise!). I've been using a freeware program on my palm pilot, "Learn?!". Any wasted time during the day (waiting in line, for example), I study some vocab... it helps pass the time and makes the task of learning all those new words less daunting.