HODIE: ante diem quartum Nonas 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 another one of the rhymes collected by Wegeler, with a word list at NoDictionaries.com as usual:
Vivamus puri, quasi simus cras morituri,English: "Let us live pure lives, as if we were going to die tomorrow; let us learn as if we were safe from time." What a WONDERFUL saying - it is not just delightfully paradoxical, but also very good advice, I think! : -)
Discamus veluti simus de tempore tuti.
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 gives some extravagant numbers for Caesar's warfare in Gaul: Non toto enim decennio in Gallia beiligeratus, urbes octingentis plures cepit, populos trecentos subegit, cum ter millies millibus hostium congressus diuersis proeliis quorum decies centena millia in acie interfecit, uiuos alterurn tantum cepit.
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: Cibus non qui plurimus, sed qui suavissimus (English: Food: not that which is most plentiful, but most sweet - which could be a good motto for those of us prone to holiday overeating!).
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 2-word motto is actually just one word: Tuebor (English: I will protect, watch over, etc. - these one-word mottoes are sometimes the hardest to translate, since you want all the various connotations of that crucial single word).
3-Word Mottoes: Nouns: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Virtute et sapientia (English: With excellence and wisdom… a good motto for any of us aspiring teachers and/or students).
3-Word Mottoes: Verbs: Today's 3-word motto with verb is Tempus fugit, utere (English: Time flies; make use of it - with utere as one of those sneaky passive imperative forms).
2-Word Proverbs: Today's 2-word proverb is: Optima speranda (English: We should hope for the best thing - and it's a good strategy: hope for the best, and be prepared to settle for less if necessary...).
3-Word Proverbs: Nouns: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Amicus vitae solatium (English: A friend is life's consolation - as often in these three-word proverbs, deciding where to divide subject and predicate is the trick!).
Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Elephantem saltare doces (English: You're trying to teach an elephant to dance). 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 Dente lupus, cornu taurus petit (English: The wolf seeks with his fang, the bull with his horn - in other words, you, too, need to defend yourself with the means at your disposal).
Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Ex minimo crescit, sed non cito fama quiescit (English: From a tiny thing the rumor grows, but it does not quickly come to rest… we'll see how long the rumor mill keeps working on Tiger Woods, for example).
Maxims of Publilius Syrus: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Res quanto est maior, tanto est insidiosior (English: The bigger the business, the bigger the trap - an elegant use of the Latin correlatives quanto…tanto as ablatives expressing how much bigger something is and how much more insidious it is as a result!).
Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Lux in tenebris lucet (English: A light shines in the darkness - although that does not catch the nice word play of lux lucet in Latin).
Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is Bonorum laborum gloriosus est fructus (Wisdom 3:15). 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 Quid cani et balneo? (English: What good is a dog in a bathhouse? from Adagia 1.4.39 - this is a bit like our "bull in a china shop," since a dog has no business in a bathhouse at all!).
Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Tentantes ad Troiam pervenerunt Graeci. (English: By making an effort, the Greeks reached Troy; from Adagia 2.2.37 - a proverbial saying Erasmus picks up from Theocritus).
Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Conybeare: Cautes Marpesia: A proverbe applyed to a stubborne fellowe that will not chaunge his opinion. (For more on this rocky cliff, see Vergil).
Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Φύσις πονηρὰ χρηστόν ἦθος οὐ τρέφει. (English: A bad nature - Greek physis - does not nourish a good character - Greek ethos).
TODAY'S FABLES:
Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Viatores et Pons, an ancient joke about a Boeotian, an Athenian and a Corinthian who think the moon which is reflected in the water is a wheel of cheese.
Gaudium Mundo: Today's Latin holiday songs from the Gaudium Mundo blog are O Abies, a Latin version of "O Christmas Tree," along with Resonet in Laudibus.
