HODIE: ante diem quartum Idus 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. It's a tiny little fable in iambic verse by Desbillons, featuring a tiny little animal: a gnat. There's a word list at NoDictionaries.com.
In cornu Tauri parvulus quondam CulexEnglish: "A teeny-tiny gnat once settled down onto the horn of a bull and he said that if he were weighing down the bull with his weight, he would fly off immediately, but the bull said to the gnat: I had not even realized you were there." If you are not familiar with iambic verse, this is a great little poem to start with, since there is nothing at all unusual about the meter here - there's one elision (avolaturum-illico), but no other substitutions - so give it a try; it's fun to read iambic verse in Latin, since it's a very familiar sounding meter for English speakers (just think Shakespeare!).
Consedit; seque dixit, mole si sua
Eum gravaret, avolaturum illico.
At ille: Nec te considentem senseram.
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 explains more about Julius Caesar solved the financial crisis he had found in Spain - but wow - talk about garnishing someone's paycheck! lege posita, ut de reditibus debitoris bessem creditor quotannis acciperet, dum ipsi satisfactum esset, reliquo debitor frueretur (very intriguing Latin word: bes, meaning "two-thirds").
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: Mala omnia pati melius quam malo consentire (English: It is better to suffer all evils than to cooperate in evil).
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 Phoenice rarior (English: More rare than the phoenix). 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: Qui debet, limen creditoris non amat. (English: Someone who owes money has no love for the creditor's doorstep - very much like the situation described in Caesar's Spain above!).
Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb in Leonine verse form is: Audi, cerne, tace, si vis tu vivere pace (English: Listen, look, and be silent, if you want to live in peace).
Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Iustitia in sese virtutes continet omnes (English: Justice contains in itself all the virtues).
Proverbium Perbreve of the Day: Today's two-word proverb is: Familiam cura (English: Take care of your household).
Proverbium Breve of the Day: Today's three-word proverb is: Insperata saepe contingunt (English: Unhoped-for things do often happen).
Vulgate Verse of the Day: Today's verse is Qui operatur terram suam, saturabitur panibus (Proverbs 12:11). 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 Aqua et panis est vita canis (English: Water and bread is the life of a dog - and it rhymes in Latin!).
Latin Animal Proverb of the Day from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb is Lupo agnum eripere postulant (English: They're hoping to snatch the lamb from the wolf; from Adagia 2.7.80).
Proper Name Proverb of the Day: Today's proper name proverb is Tantali talenta (English: The wealth of Tantalus… which did him no good, of course - but what a nice sound-play in the Latin!).
Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Ἄνεμον δικτύῳ θηρᾷς (English: You're hunting for the wind with a net… another one of those proverbial fool's errands).
TODAY'S FABLES:
Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Lupus et Grus, a version of the famous story of the crane who foolishly did a favor for the wolf.
Fable of the Day: Today's fable of the day from Barlow is DE AVIBUS ET QUADRUPEDIBUS, the story of the war between the birds and the beasts, with this wonderful depiction by Barlow of all the members of those animal kingdoms! Here is the illustration by Barlow (larger view):
