Today’s dictionary work, for acies (Cicero, Ad Atticum 10.7): Mea causa autem alia est, quod beneficio vinctus ingratus esse non possum, nec tamen in acie [me] sed Melitæ aut alio in loco simili [oppidulo] futurum puto. My case, though, is different, because I’m bound by a favor and can’t be ungrateful, but nevertheless I’m not […]
Also tagged 1st century BC, 2nd century BC, acies, Cicero, Plautus, translation, trochaic septenarius, venter meusAll right, so my bugbear for the week has been anointment.  In particular, unguere (or ungere), a Latin word meaning “to anoint”. My problem is that “anoint” is one of those 1913ese words that doesn’t correspond well to anything we talk about today. In its historical or ceremonial context—where you might anoint someone king, say—the […]
Also tagged 1st century BC, anointment, Cicero, translation, unguereCicero, De Lege Agraria 2.97: Singularis homo privatus, nisi magna sapientia praeditus, vix cancellis et regionibus offici magnis in fortunis et copiis continetur. A private individual, unless he is endowed with great wisdom, is hardly restrained by the bars and boundaries of his position when among great wealth and power. I’ve been posting these less […]
Also tagged 1st century BC, cancelli, Cicero, officium, translationCicero on Caesar (Ad Atticum 10.8): Duarum rerum simulationem tam cito amiserit, mansuetudinis in Metello, divitiarum in aerario. He had lost, so quickly, his claim to two things—to gentleness because of Metellus, and to riches because of the treasury. Julius Caesar, on returning to Rome in 49 BC, had promised large amounts of money to […]
Also tagged 1st century BC, Cicero, translation