Pliny on the dangers of being in the shade (Naturalis Historia 17.18): Iam quaedam umbrarum proprietas: iuglandum gravis et noxia, etiam capiti humano omnibusque iuxta satis. Now there is a certain distinctive property to some shades: that of walnut trees is unwholesome and harmful, both to human life, and to anything else close enough. He […]
Tagged 1st century, juglone, Pliny, proprietas, translation, walnutsMark Antony to Cicero (Ad Atticum 14.13a): Occupationibus est factum meis et subita tua profectione ne tecum coram de hac re agerem. Quam ob causam vereor ne absentia mea levior sit apud te. It happened that because of my business and your sudden departure that I couldn’t pursue this matter with you in person, so […]
Tagged 1st century BC, absentia, Cicero, Mark Antony, translationPliny on Rhodopis’ pyramid (Naturalis Historia 36.17): Hæc sunt pyramidum miracula, supremumque illud, ne quis regum opes miretur, minimam ex iis, sed laudatissimam, a Rhodopide meretricula factam. These are the marvels of the pyramids, and the greatest of all—lest anyone marvel at the riches of kings—is that the smallest but most admired of them was […]
Tagged 1st century, Cinderella, Pliny, pyramis, Rhodopis, translationCicero on haruspicy (De Divinatione 2.16): Caput est in iecore, cor in extis: iam abscedet, simul ac molam et vinum insperseris; deus id eripiet, vis aliqua conficiet aut exedet. There is a ‘head’ in the liver, a heart among the entrails. It may immediately disappear as soon as you have sprinkled on the groats and […]
Tagged 1st century BC, abscedo, caput iecoris, Cicero, haruspicy, mola, translationCicero on those judging his emotional state (Ad Atticum 12.40): Quam bene, nihil ad rem, sed genus scribendi id fuit quod nemo abiecto animo facere posset. How good it was is not the point, but the style of writing was that which no one with a depressed mind could have made. He criticizes them, stating […]
Tagged 1st century, abicio, Cicero, translationCicero on untimely deaths (Philippica 2.46): Etenim, si abhinc annos prope viginti hoc ipso in templo negavi posse mortem immaturam esse consulari, quanto verius non negabo seni! Indeed, if nearly twenty years ago—in this very temple—I said there could be no such thing as death being premature for someone who has been consul, how much […]
Tagged 1st century, 1st century BC, abhinc, Cicero, death, happiness, Seneca, translationPliny on Egyptian dyeing (Naturalis Historia 35.42): Mirumque, cum sit unus in cortina colos, ex illo alius atque alius fit in veste accipientis medicamenti qualitate mutatus, nec postea ablui potest. And amazingly, while there may be only one color in the vat, one color after another is made out of it in the cloth; it […]
Tagged 1st century, mordants, Pliny, qualitas, translationCicero comparing governments (Ad Atticum 2.9): Etenim si fuit invidiosa senatus potentia, cum ea non ad populum sed ad tris homines immoderatos redacta sit, quid iam censes fore? After all, if the power of the Senate was unpopular, then what do you think it will be like when it has passed, not to the people, […]
Tagged 1st century BC, Cicero, immoderatus, senatus potentia, translationCicero on sending word (Ad Atticum 11.23) Ipsum Agusium audies, sed tardius iter faciebat. Eo feci ut celeriter eunti darem. You’ll be hearing Agusius himself, but he was making his way rather slowly, so I’ve arranged to give [the news] to someone moving faster. The comparative shows itself here to be more flexible in Latin […]
Tagged 1st century BC, celeriter, Cicero, comparatives, translationCicero on rigged elections in Sicily (In Verrem Secunda 2.52): Herodotus cum Roma revertitur, diebus, ut ipse putabat, XV ante comitia, offendit eum mensem qui consequitur mensem comitialem, comitiis iam abhinc XXX diebus factis. When Herodotus returns from Rome, on what he was thinking was fifteen days before the comitia, he’s shocked to find it’s […]
Tagged 1st century BC, abhinc, calendars, Cicero, translation