Profound Senteniae Antiquae

Here's some profound sentences for ancient Roman authors.  The translations are all my own so all the mistakes are mine.

1. Nullus accusator caret culpa; omnes peccavimus (Seneca)
"No accuser is without crimes; we all have sinned."

Even pagan philosophers can figure out original sin!

2. Nulla pars vitae vacare officio potest (Cicero)
"No part of life can be free from duty."

This is also very true, even if we don't like it. 

3. Prima virtus est vitio carere. (Quintilian)
"The first virtue is to lack faults."

And so according to Seneca we do not have the first virtue

Latin and Economics

so....

I didn't post anything about Rome.  Instead I wrote long journals and emailed them to friends/family.

Anyways, there's this Latin phrase that showed up in both of my economics classes this term.  It is Ceteris Paribus.  It is usually translated as "holding everything else equal"

The funny thing is that there's 3 different ways to pronounce the phrase.

1. Classical Latin pronounces the 'c' as a hard sound.
2. Ecclesiastical Latin pronounces the 'c' as a ch sound.
3. Economic Latin pronounces it as a soft c sound.

Oh yeah, Rome was great.

Daughters are special

in Latin declension.

Another funny quirk in Latin.  Daughter = filia and son = filius.

For two of the declensions (pl. Dative et Ablative) filia and filius would be exactly the same.  So to solve the problem Latin makes daughter into filiabus.

Roman Proverb

Bis das, si cito das.

You give twice if you give quickly.

Now there's two possible meanings of this Roman saying.  1 is the real meaning and 1 is the meaning I came up with.

The real meaning is that if you give someone help quickly it's twice as valuable.

I thought it meant if you're haggling for something if you make your offer quickly you'll overpay for it.  According to my professor, I'm a cynical capitalist!

Latin translating and Math!

How many ways are there to translate "laudat" into English?  Well, there's 3 (2 really) genders and 3 different present tenses.  3*3 = 9.  So it could be he/she/it praises, or does praise, or am is praising.

I have great sympathy for Latin-English translators.

On a side note, I've now started with the infamous declensions!  The 1st one is almost all female nouns.  Whoever decided the order must have been very chivalrous.  Ladies first! :)

Edit: four posts in and I already post a grammatical error.  Oops!

Emotional Latin!

To me Latin is a very solemn language, in part no doubt because I would prefer to read ancient Roman authors like Virgil or Marcus Aurelius over someone like Ovid.  But the language itself is emotional!

There are two Latin phrases I just learned that are... rather histrionic.

In Latin, please is "amabo te".  That's literally translated as "I will love you".  So when you ask your acquaintance to "please pass the salt" in Latin.  You are really saying, "I will love you if you pass the salt".

And then, there's a common commencement of a letter, "Si vales, valeo"--- "If you are well I am well".

Clearly, the Romans were in need of some austere influence on their language!

Say the Black, do the Red

Absolutely no other person, not even a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in liturgy on his own authority.  [This authority is reserved to the Pope]

SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM, III, 22 §3

So whenever Father X changes, neglects, and/or adds words or gestures to Mass he is being disobedient to the 2nd Vatican Council.  It's easy though, all he has to do is say the Black, and do the Red.  (The rubrics are for the priest are written in black and red.  The black is what the celebrant should say.  The red is what the celebrant should do).

This doesn't just apply to priests!  If a lector, deacon, or Extraordinary minister of Communion adds, removes, or changes something then they too are disobedient to the 2nd Vatican Council.