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NOTA BENE: A student at Rhodes College sent me a note yesterday asking to spread the word about a blog he has created for his Latin composition class - you can see the first post here! Vinum: Vinum alcoholicus potus est~ ~ ~
HODIE: ante diem sextum Kalendas Novembres. 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. Today's dactylic verses are from Horace (Sermones), with a word list at NoDictionaries.com - it's Horace's definition of the simple life he longed for:
Hoc erat in votis: modus agri non ita magnus,English: "This was in my prayers: a bit of land, not too large, where there would be a garden and a source of ever-flowing water near the house, and a bit of woods besides." Glory hallelujah: I've found Horace's idyll here in Timberlake North Carolina (although our aqua iugis is a well underground, not a babbling brook aboveground as Horace probably hoped for!).
hortus ubi et tecto vicinus iugis aquae fons
et paulum silvae super his foret. [...]
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 begins Caesar's term as consul: eumque splendide impetrauit, Calpurnio Bibulo collega. Ut primum uero magistratum iniit, illico leges de agris diuidendis in gratiam multitudinis tulit, quae non consulem, sed petulantissimum aliquem tribunum plebis decerent.
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 that features a nice word-play in the Latin: Avaritia omnia vitia habet (English: Greed encompasses all the vices).
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 Nocumentum documentum (English: A loss, a lesson). 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: Metuendum est semper, esse cum tutus velis (English: If you want to be safe, there's always something to fear).
Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb in Leonine verse form is: Parva iuventutis plerumque est cura salutis (English: In general, youth has little concern for safety).
Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Melior est mors, quam vita amara (English: Better is death than a life which is bitter).
Proverbium Perbreve of the Day: Today's two-word proverb is: Fata obstant (English: The fates block my way - a saying adapted from Vergil's Aeneid).
Proverbium Breve of the Day: Today's three-word proverb is: Frango dura patientia (English: By being patient, I shatter things that are hard).
Vulgate Verse of the Day: Today's verse is Tempus flendi et tempus ridendi (Ecc. 3:4). 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 Corvus corvo nigredinem obicit (English: One crow is calling the other one black - something like our saying about the pot calling the kettle black!).
Latin Animal Proverb of the Day from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb is Canis reversus ad vomitum (English: The dog has gone back to its vomit; from Adagia 3.5.13 - something you've probably all seen in real life, of course - and it's made famous in the Biblical Book of Proverbs).
Proper Name Proverb of the Day from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb is Chironium vulnus (English: A wound of Chiron; from Adagia 2.8.21; this refers to the story of the centaur Chiron being shot with an arrow dipped in the hydra's poisonous blood - although Chiron was a great healer, he could not heal his own wound!).
Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Μὴ ὢν Σύρος μὴ Σύριζε (English: Since you're not a Syrian, don't act like a Syrian - kind of the opposite of "when in Rome, do as the Romans").
TODAY'S FABLES:
Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Cornix et Urna, the story of the wise crow who was able to get a drink from a deep pot of water.
Fable of the Day: Today's fable of the day from Barlow is DE LUPO OVIS PELLE INDUTO, a story of a proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing... although, as you can see from the illustration by Barlow, the disguise did not do the wolf any good!
