I had a question about the following funerary inscription:

DECENTIVS IN PACEM QVI VIXIT · ANNIS · V · MENSES · VI · DEPOSITVS DIE · XIIII · KALendas · APRILES ·

(4th century A.D.? narthex of S. Sabina, Rome)

Sourced from this website.

In the above link, the author points out how the inscription has "IN PACEM" instead of the expected "IN PACE," which can only mean, according to the author, that it's "an out right mistake" or "something more intriguing: that in the minds of the Christian parents who commissioned this stone or of the man who cut it, the peace of death is not a state, but a process towards which we move."

So, onto my question: if the latter is true, should the inscription be read as saying that peace is at the end of the process of whatever is after death, or is it trying to suggest that the individual is already in peace after death, and 'going further in' in some sense?

I'm not sure if this makes any sense or not. I ask because there's an idea in Orthodox Christianity that theosis (process of becoming more like God) continues even after death, I wanted to see if this is an early reference to this. Thanks in advance.

Salvete! I just wanted to inform you that r/Locutorium is restored now. If you don't know, it's a sub entirely in Latin.

I'm writing a paper about gender transformations in Ovid's Metamorphoses, and I'm currently focusing on the linguistic importance of patior (used for female suffering/submission) and potior (used for male dominance/power). Does anyone have any thoughts on the significance of both of these verbs being deponent, or even middle voice, and what that means thematically in terms of agency/autonomy? Any sources that discuss deponent verbs in this way would be welcome. Thank you!

I’m currently preparing for my latin a level and I’m getting stressed because I don’t know why but I find it so hard to know where to start when translating a text. I’ve tried to do some past papers but have been finding it extremely hard to translate accurately- I know it’s bad because almost none of my sentences match the translations from the marks chemes- which has been really demoralising and the first unseen translation paper is in two weeks. I know I should have gotten some more help earlier in the year and I regret prioritising literature, but I want to try my hardest from now to work on this, I’m just not sure how.

I’m also really unsure of how to structure my prose 20 marker as this is something I haven’t practiced yet

I would be really grateful for any tips like for how to be able to translate a text accurately and how to learn the grammar and for any resources anyone would be willing to share 🙏🏽 Thank you so much in advance

Salvete!

I was reading Livy I.18.6, when I came across “urbe condenda” in:

“Sicut Romulus augurato urbe condenda regnum adeptus est”

The teacher translated this as follows: “Like Romulus obtained the kingdom through the augury, when the city was yet to be founded.”

I don’t get why it’s translated as an ablative absolute (‘when…’), as condenda definitely is not a participle but a gerundive. It’s most likely a gerundive constuction, but that can never be translated with an adverbial clause (but with “by/with…”).

I’m lost.

I remember seeing a book a few years ago where the premise was a family living in ancient Rome. And it started out in English with the various family members being described, the rooms, what each member did etc. And with each sentence, a word would get replaced in Latin. So slowly you build up a Latin vocabulary. I'm looking for this book and was wondering if you guys could help.

Thanks in advance

Ego habebam studiere dis scholarum Linguam Latinam in academia sed non loquebator neque scribebam Latinam. Nunc habeo "De Viris Illustribus" et "Novum Testamentum Latine". Estne bene si lego illos et scribo latine in discord? Estne necesse mihi primo lego LLPSI (legebam partis ab LLPSI). Est bene si corrigitis meum.

Why isn't there a present active participle for sum? Though there happens to be -sēns in its derived terms: absum, absēns; praesum, praesēns. But yet again, exeptions for adsum, dēsum, supersum, etc.

From what I know, the original present active participle from in PI derived a separate sōns with the sense of 'guilty', but wouldn't there be a suppletive form to substitute for its old use? Compare how vīs from another root supplied the 2sg pres. act. ind. of volō, where vel was derived from the original non-suppletive form. Is there a possible explanation to this?

How are constructions supposedly with the present active participle be expressed otherwise? The use of quī may work in some scenarios, but not for some other uses of the English counterpart being.

Hey guys,

Im studying latin now for 2 years and had it in School for 8 years but even nowadays Im having my Problems with translating 100% accurate. I know its not always possible probably to Do this but I want to get as close as possible to the original texts. My problem is especially Prosa like Livius (my Translations are hella messed up in terms of livius), but I even have little Problems with Cicero. Im kinda good in poetry but yeah. Thanks for advices.

Currently I’m learning the NCI and got stuck on this particular sentence, which i had to translate. I translated it to: “It seems to me that you’re writing differently, feeling differently.” but the suggested translation from my workbook is: “It seems like you’re writing something other than you’re feeling.” Basically I’m confused about the translation of “aliud” here - where does the comparison come from? Assuming, that there’s some kind of convention here, my workbook isn’t pointing out.

the title

I’m knee-deep in chapter 41 of Roma Aeterna, and it’s becoming an massive slog.

I started familia romana January and have been pretty consistent with studying and rereading earlier chapters, but now I need to at least 3 hours to understand a new chapter, another 3 to learn all the words, and then complete the exercises in the workbook. All in all, it’s very slow.

I also find I am not understanding new concepts through context in the same way I did in familia romana. I could read a whole page of that with minimal reference to the marginal notes and do fine. Now I constantly look to the margins for help like a beached whale, and since I’ve gotten so good at using the notes, it feels like consulting an English dictionary rather than learning from context.

Does Roman aeterna hit a peak in difficulty and become easily comprehensible at some point?

In his Institutiones, Cassiodorus refers to Dionysius Exiguus as “qui mecum dialecticam lēgit” (1.23). I’m wondering about the meaning of mecum lēgit here. “Studied with me” seems the most obvious, but is there any possibility it could mean “taught me”? We seem to have incorporated both senses into modern English: to read history at university is to study it, but a lector or lecturer is a teacher.

I am currently reading the "Fabulae Syrae" supplement to LLPSI and I came across this sentence: "Dum igitur Coronis et amicus eius in silvis errant atque inter se oscula dant,..." (Cap. 27, 5.) The "eius" refers to Coronis' friend, not anybody else's. But I thoughτ "suus" was the reflexive one? Isn't "eius" meant to be used when the one in "possession" of something is not the subject of the sentence?

Can someone translate this ?

So, I was studying latin and conjugating the verb "dicere". In the passive voice of the present tense, 2nd person singular, it supposedly is "diceris" and not "diciris". I thought it was "diciris", since the vowel "-i" is used in 3rd conjugation verbs. Is this an exception or is it a rule for the 2nd person singular of the passive voice of the present tense of a 3rd conjugation verb to have the vowel "-e" instead of "-i"?

Thank you in advance for the help, and sorry for the confusing way I wrote this post.

Found in a woodland in prestwich, Manchester

The corroded part is two female names with born and death date early 1800’s. Google translate thinks it’s something along the lines of:

“TWENTIETH SISTERS EARLY FUNERAL Rescued THE SISTERS OF SUPERSTITIONS THEY WENT GOODBYE”

Thought it was interesting 😊

Salvete omnes.

I've been learning Latin a year and a half now and really wanted to start learning some prose composition. The following is a very loose retelling of the story of Sibi. I'm just a beginner, so I suppose it's full of erros. I'd be very grateful for any corrections and feedback. Thank you. Multas ago vobis gratias.

Vulgata olim per orbem terrarum fama iustitiae clementiae eloquentiae aliarumque Sibinis Ausinari virtutum, dii immortales temptare eum conati erant an secundis tantummodo rebus virtutem coleret an periclis quoque firmum se ostenderet via virtutis. Quam ob rem rex deorum immortalium hominumque sator Indra Tonans se accipitris Ignisque deus columbi ad formam mutati terram egressi sunt cernendum de virtute Sibinis.

Quondam iam die cum rex solio sedens iudicarat iustus accurit ei perterritus repenteque volans canus columbus. Ferens se sinu regis dixitque humana voce columbus: " Quom constat Avum nostrum omnium creatorem primum ea ratione reges creasse ut conserverent omnes legeque tenerent res iusta, non iustitiorem cernere rem possis omni fere orbe terrarum quam tutela innocentis suppliciumque nocentum. me paviudm expertemque omnino criminis nunc interficere devorareque vult nulla de causa accipiter ille ferox. Serva me, rex iustissime, gnate Ausinari. Protege me.

Quom natura iustus firmusque rex lege tum facundia avis miratus respondit se,quo usque posset, servaturum.

Dicto vix eo , accipiter cito volans columbum regis sinu sendentem lacessere coepit. Prohibitus rege regi dixit: "Cur, o rex, cum vocaris, et velis vocari, iustus, prohibes me esse conantem."

Cui et rex ita fatus est :" humana tu voce praeditus humanitate fortasse sentire posses.Quid, volucer, dein iustitior sit quam servare hydoneum protegereve innocuumque."

Accipiter: "Quae si ita sint, quam ob rem meam celas escam. Cur ad famem me ducis."

Rex:"Quomodo prodere possem profugum acceptum. Diciturne donum vitae omnibus enim donis maiorem esse."

Accipiter:" Dum multa enim animalia ederent alia alium uno quocumque die et non prohibes ea, qua de causa sum unus multorum prohibitus cibo natura dato."

Rex:" Trementem pavidumque columbum mecum refuguium quaerentem quomodo relinquerem ? Non vivo me pereat."

Accipiter: "sine eo cibo, quem sum multis periclis laboribusque assecutus, peream et pereant mei miselli pulli fame, me miserum, fataque plorantes mala. Idne tibi iustius videtur, o iustissime hominum ductor ?"

Multa cum mente volvasset Sibi quidnam faciendum esset, sic locutus est :" sermone tuo, o volucer insignis, rex volantium, ductus ad dubitatem sum quidni faciam, Quom neque columbum deserere neque negare te sine nece possem, una sola mihi visa est via salutis. carnem tibi meam dabo. Convenitne te ea ratio ?"

Accipiter:"Convenit. Columbi eius tuaeque carnis modo pondus aequum sit."

Dum rege "aequum erit" dicto sica illi oblata ipse femore carnem secatam dedisset, uterque deus suam in formam mutatus divina quadam luce candidus visus erat. Mellea denique voce quom patefecissent consilium suum, femurque integrum redidissent, votum poposcerunt regi optatum.

"perpetua",respondit Sibi " devotio religione sit firmusque tota mea vita iustusque regerem."

"Sic erit", dicto veniunt dii unde venierant.

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Etsi ars quidem cum ea non utare scientia tamen ipsa teneri potest... Hi guys. As you can See in the headline I need help with that "cum" because it has a weird placement in the sentence and idk if its Depending to potest teneri or to utare. And what Kind of cum is it? So an explicativum, inversum, iterativum and so on. Would appreciate a Translation aswell.

My brain is having a moment.

What is the verb tense that is being at Point A thinking about being at Point C remembering Point B?

Example: Right now (for simplicity's sake let's pretend it's Monday)(Point A) thinking about remembering Tuesday (Point B) on Friday (Point C).

A Thinking about C thinking about B.

Hi-- I saw a post before of a beginner in latin asking if it was possible to self study for the AP latin exam, and people shut it down and called him crazy. I know the exam is extremely difficult and hard to prepare for, but I wanted to explain my situation and ask what my chances are for doing well on the AP exam in May 2025.

I'm at the end of my sophomore year right now, took a year of latin in school but have to drop it next year to take the IB program. My teacher was great and we finished the first two books of cambridge latin course. Not to sound cocky, but I found the first year of latin really easy and my teacher offered for me to skip a year or two, which I had to turn down since I'm dropping the class. I'm nearly fluent in french (taken classes for 9 years) and find that a lot of the grammar and vocabulary translates over. So far, this has made learning latin a whole lot easier for me and I hope it will continue to be. My mom took latin in college and can tutor me with grammar but is also willing to do some of the AP reading along with me. I've also already read the Aeneid in english and Book 1 of the Gallic wars in latin (though I used a dictionary along the way), if that's worth mentioning.

Before you say anything, I completely understand the time commitment this will take and I'm motivated and willing to work every day at it. My tentative plan is to spend this summer working extensively on my vocabulary and grammar with CLC Book 3 and Wheelock's latin and then to start the AP readings next fall in alignment with the class. Although I won't be in his class, the latin teacher at my school is willing to help me and point me towards resources for the exam.

So, all of this being said, am I crazy? What are my chances of getting a 5 in 12 months?

The sentence is "Si mater infantem suum alere non potest sive non vult, infans ab alia mulier alitur, quae ei in loco matris est". My doubt is about the "ei" in this sentence. Would it be translated as "who is in the place of the mother for him"? It doesn't make a lot of sense.

We have managed to decipher a few but my father and I cannot seem to figure out the script on the bottom left or the top right. Can anyone help us out?

We are also trying to work out what the word in the red boxes are. I imagine it’s supposed to be abbreviated?

Thank you in advance!

Hi, I'm entirely self-taught in Latin and one consequence of that is that I don't personally know anyone else who's into learning the language. (I've read all of Wheelock's, Familia Romana, a big chunk of Roma Aeterna, a few of the LLPSI off-shoot books like the adaptation of Caesar, and am now working my way through Peter Jones' "Reading Ovid" selections, to give you an idea of my level.) Would anyone in New York City be into meeting up and talking about our interest in Latin, or maybe going through some poems together or something?