HODIE: pridie Idus Decembres. 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 one of the epigrams by Owen, this time composed of two couplets, and with a word list at NoDictionaries.com as usual:
Mori incertarum rerum certissima. Cunctis,English: "To die is the most certain of uncertain things. For everyone, it is uncertain when they will die, but certain that they will die sometime. No person is far from his setting, no person is far from his rising, yet a person has no memory either of the one or the other." The metaphor of our "setting" and "rising" is from the rising and setting of the sun - of course, the sun gets to do that every day, while we get to do each but once.
Incertum quando, || certum aliquando mori.
Nullus ab occasu procul est homo, nullus ab ortu.
Nec tamen illius, || nec memor huius homo.
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 portion provides two reasons for Caesar's popularity with his men: Huiusmodi autem spiritus militum et animi ardores Caesar ipse excitauit atque aluit, primum honoribus et donis largiendis, ostendens non se sui luxus aut uoluptatum causa bello diuitias parare, sed eas opes tanquam communia uirtutis praemia apud se recondi, diuitiis ad hoc tantum se uti, ut militibus pro meritis dare praemia possit; deinde quod omnibus ultro periculis se obiiciebat, et nulli labori succumbebat.
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: Validior vox operis quam oris (English: The voice of the doing is louder than the voice of the mouth moving... I tried to catch a bit of the Latin wordplay at least!).
TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS
You can get access to all the proverb of the day scripts (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.
2-Word Mottoes: Today's tiny motto is another one word declaration: Labore (English: With labor).
3-Word Mottoes: Nouns: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Silentio et spe (English: In silence and hope).
3-Word Mottoes: Verbs: Today's 3-word motto with verb is Miscui utile dulci (English: I have mixed the useful with the sweet... that makes a good motto for trying to teach Latin grammar through fables and proverbs!).
2-Word Proverbs: Today's 2-word proverb is: Cygnea cantio (English: The swan's song... the swan, of course, was famous for singing only at the moment of its death).
3-Word Proverbs: Nouns: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Sua cuique hora (English: To each his own time).
3-Word Proverbs: Nouns: Today's 3-word proverb with verb is Aureo piscatur hamo (English: He's fishing with a hook of gold... and money is a great hook to fish with).
Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Si multis placuerit vita tua, tibi placere non poterit (English: If your life is pleasing to many, it won't have been pleasing to you). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.
Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Similiter spirant omnia et nihil habet homo iumento amplius (English: All things live and breathe the same, and a man has nothing more than cattle - a saying from the Bible).
Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Esuriens venter manducat cruda libenter (English: The hungry stomach gladly eats raw food).
Maxims of Publilius Syrus: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Quam miserum est, ubi te captant, qui defenderent (English: How wretched it is when those who were to protect you make you prisoner!).
Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Date et dabitur vobis, dimittite et dimittemini (English: Give and it will be given to you; forgive, and you will be forgiven).
Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is Stultus, cum ipse insipiens sit, omnes stultos aestimat (Ecc. 10:3). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.
Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Non missura cutem, nisi plena cruoris hirudo. (English: The leech won't let go of your skin until it's full of blood; from Adagia 2.4.84 - for an Aesop's fable on a similar theme, see the story of the fox and the ticks).
Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Nestorea senecta (English: The old age of Nestor - which is to say a fine old age indeed; from Adagia 1.6.66).
Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Conybeare: Sybaritica mensa: A proverbe applied to feastes and bankettes which doe excede in delicatenes (the people of ancient Sybaris were notorious for their luxurious way of life).
Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Ἄρκτου παρούσης ἴχνη ζητεῖς (English: The bear's right there, and you're looking for tracks).
TODAY'S FABLES:
Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Vacca, Capella, Ovis et Leo, the story of the lion's share in both prose and verse.
Gaudium Mundo: Today's Latin holiday songs from the Gaudium Mundo blog are: Dum Servant Pecus Pastores, a Latin version of "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night," along with De natali Christi, a Latin version of the Polish carol, "Z narodzenia Pana."
