La propuesta de L-A-P: nuevas conceptualizaciones

Like their modern counterparts, certain sections of Roman society were keen writers of graffiti. The above, more literate than most, is one of the thousands found in Pompeii, the Roman town south of Naples which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius in ad 79.

balneum, -ī(n) public baths; these were the entertainment centres of Roman towns and cities, and, apart from different types of baths, provided sports grounds and other facilities; vīna should be translated by the singular wine; Venus the divinity’s name is used for what she personifies, sexual love (see Unit 9); corrumpunt harm.

VoCaBuLary section a

Look at the words below. Can you complete the English translations?

áliquot (indecl. adj.) several

argéntum, -ī (n) silver

ars, ártis (f ) skill

bóna, -ōrum (n. pl.) goods, possessions

celériter (adv.) quickly

dīvīnus, -a, -um divine

fórtasse (adv.) perhaps

fóssa, -ae (f ) ditch

hóstis, -is (m) enemy (Latin often uses the plural where in English we would have the singular)

hūmānus, -a, -um _______

légiō, legiōnis (f ) largest unit in the Roman army, legion

mens, méntis (f ) mind

nātūra, -ae (f ) _______

necéssitas, necessitātis (f ) _______

pópulus, -ī (m) people

proélium, -ī (n) battle

quínque (indecl. adj.) five

Sabīnī, -ōrum (m) the Sabines (a people living near Rome)

sānus, -a, -um healthy

scālae, -ārum (f. pl.; cf. Unit 8) ladder (originally steps)

secúndus, -a, -um favourable, successful

sómnus, -ī (m) sleep

section B

aedíficō, -āre build

ascéndō, -ere, ascéndī, ascénsum _______

cēlō, -āre hide

dēsīderō, -āre (+acc.) desire, long for

dēvorō, -āre devour

incípiō, -ere, coépī, coéptum begin (the perfect and supine come from

a different stem and do not have a prefixed in-; see Unit 25)

līberō, -āre free, set free

mūniō, -īre fortify

pútō, -āre think

véndō, -ere, véndidī, vénditum sell

points to remember

3

3 Third declension nouns with an i-stem have genitive plural in -ium (all genders).

3

3 Third declension neuter nouns with an -i stem have their ablative singular in -ī and nominative, vocative, and ablative plural in -ia.

3

3 Third conjugation verbs ending in -iō (mixed conjugation; present infinitive in -ere) follow the fourth conjugation in future and imperfect.

3

3 An instrument or cause is expressed by the ablative (gladiō by/with a sword).

3

3 The price of something is expressed by the ablative.

3

3 The value of something is expressed by the genitive.

Excursus

TopoGrapHy oF anCIEnT roME

One of the delights of modern Rome is the number of monuments and buildings which survive from antiquity, some almost wholly intact. The map below and that opposite the title page give the location of those described here. The famous seven hills of Rome are the Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal, Viminal.

Aqua Claudia: one of the several aqueducts which brought water to Rome from the surrounding countryside.

Arches of Titus, Severus, and Constantine: built by the emperors, after whom they are named, to commemorate military victories.

Arx: the citadel of Rome. It and the Capitol are the two peaks of the Capitoline Hill.

Baths of Agrippa, Caracalla, and Trajan: three of the largest such buildings in Rome, which served as centres of social life as well as for bathing.

Castra Praetoria: the camp of the praetorian guard, an elite body of soldiers whose main function was to protect the emperor and his immediate interests.

Circus Maximus: the largest of the tracks for chariot-racing at Rome. In its final form it could accommodate over 300,000 spectators.

Cloaca Maxima: the sewerage tunnel running under the Forum

Romanum and flowing into the Tiber where its mouth is four metres wide.

It is still in use.

Colosseum: an amphitheatre completed in AD 80. It was used for gladiatorial combats and other types of fighting. It could seat 50,000 spectators and was equipped with an awning to provide shade.

Columns of Aurelius and Trajan: large free-standing columns on which military exploits of each are depicted in low-relief panels.

Forum Romanum and adjoining area

Forum Romanum: the original public square of Rome. By imperial times it had become so cluttered with buildings and monuments that other fora were constructed to the north.

Pantheon: a large round temple with portico of the first century ^AD which has survived virtually intact. Its dome, measuring over 40 metres in diameter, has an open skylight of nine metres to illuminate the interior.

Temple of Jupiter: on the Capitol, the holiest of Roman temples, where various state functions were conducted.

Theatre of Marcellus: a semi-circular, open-air theatre completed by the Emperor Augustus in 13 BC. Its tiered seats held 20,000 people.

Walls of Servius the original walls of Rome, popularly assigned to the sixth king of Rome but in actual fact built in the fourth century bc. Only a short section survives.

Walls of Aurelian: erected by the Emperor Aurelian in ^AD 271–5 when barbarian invasions were feared and Rome had long since expanded beyond the older walls. These walls are mostly in good condition.

Grammar

1 FIrsT anD sEConD pErson pronouns

Latin, just as English, has first and second person pronouns, which are declined as follows:

FIRST PERSON SECOND PERSON

SINGULAR

nom. égo I tu (also voc.) you (sing.)

acc. mē me tē you

Gen. méī of me túī of you

Dat. míhi to or for me tíbi to or for you

abl. mē (by, with or from) me tē (by, with or from) you

PLURAL

nom. nōs we vōs (also voc.) you (pl.)

acc. nōs us vōs you

Gen. nóstrum of us véstrum of you

nóstrī véstrī

Dat. nōbīs to or for us vōbīs to or for you abl. nōbīs (by, with or from) us vōbīs (by, with or from) you

notes

1 The nominative forms are only used when emphasis is required, ego