HODIE: pridie Kalendas Octobres. You can add a Roman calendar as a widget in your blog or webpage, or display it as a Google Calendar: here's how.
TODAY'S POEM: Here is today's little poem, from the Poetry Widget. This is another of the iambic fables of Desbillons - a whole little story in just four lines, with a word list at NoDictionaries.com!
Pugnam parabat inire cum Tauro Canis;English: "A dog was preparing to enter into battle with a bull. The dog said: I'll easily win, since I'm far better at biting. But the bull rushed at him head first and gored him with horns, much to the dog's surprise!" So, in just a few lines you have there a fine little fable about not overestimating your own abilities vis-à-vis (so to speak, ha ha) those of your enemy.
Et, Facile vincam, dixit; namque dentibus
Sum longe melior. Capite sed prono irruens
Hunc fodit ille nec-opinantem cornibus.
TODAY'S TWITTER:
Vita Caesaris: You can see my IVLIVS CAESAR feed with a sentence from Plutarch's Life of Caesar each day in Greek, Latin and English. Today's Latin portion moves us on from the Clodius scandal to a new figure of interest: Crassus! Caesar statim ex praetura prouinciam nactus Hispaniam, quum foeneratores debitum exigentes molesteque profecturum urgentes atque conuiciantes placare non posset, ad Crassum confugit, Romanorum ditissimum et qui uigore ac uehementia Caesaris indigeret ob dissensionem cum Pompeio.
Proverbiis Pipilo: You can see my Proverbia feed of Latin proverbs which I "tweet" while I am online each day (in English, too). Here's one from today: Qui non laborat, non manducat (English: He who does not work does not eat).
TODAY'S PROVERBS:
You can get access to all the proverb of the day scripts (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.
Audio Latin Proverb of the Day: Today's audio Latin proverb is Assidua stilla saxum excavat (English: The persistent drip wears through stone). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.
Maxims of Publilius Syrus: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Ratione, non vi vincenda adulescentia est (English: Youth must be tamed by reason, not by force - yes, even the ancient Romans would endorse the wonderful article about rational self-control for kids in New York Times this weekend).
Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb in Leonine verse form is: Exitus ostendit quo mundi gloria tendit (English: The end shows where the glory of the world goes - I even made it rhyme in English this time, ha ha).
Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Ait latro ad latronem (English: One thief is speaking to another... in which case honest people better watch out, because the thieves are bound to agree amongst themselves, at our cost!).
Proverbium Perbreve of the Day: Today's two-word proverb is: Respice, prospice (English: Look back, look ahead - a wonderful motto of situational awareness).
Proverbium Breve of the Day: Today's three-word proverb is: Pulchre, bene, recte (English: Nicely, well, rightly - although the adverb "well" breaks the charm of the pattern in English).
Vulgate Verse of the Day: Today's verse is Faenum agri hodie est, et cras in clibanum mittitur (Matt. 6:30). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.
Latin Animal Proverb of the Day: Today's animal proverb is In pace leones, in proelio cervi (English: Lions in peace, deer in battle - and deer were proverbially faint of heart; in English, we might say "scaredy-cats").
Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Ἀφροδίτῃ ὗν τέθυκεν (English: He's sacrificed a sow to Aphrodite... which is a big mistake: Aphrodite has had no fondness for any kind of pig ever since a boar killed her beloved Adonis!).
TODAY'S FABLES:
Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Lupus et Canis, the wonderful fable in praise of liberty!
Fable of the Day: Today's fable of the day from Barlow is DE RANIS ET EARUM REGE, another story about liberty - this time about frogs who foolishly thought having a king was preferable to their freedom.
Proper Name Proverb of the Day: Today's proper name proverb is Frustra saxum volvit Sisyphus. (English: Sisyphus rolls his rock in vain... alluding to the famous punishment of Sisyphus in the underworld). Here's an image of Sisyphus and his rock from a 6th-century B.C.E. vase painting:
