HODIE: ante diem octavum 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. This one is the moral of Phaedrus's fable about the foolish doves who elected the kite as their king, with a word list for the entire fable at NoDictionaries.com, as usual:
Qui se committit homini tutandum improbo,English: "He who entrusts his safety to a wicked man will find destruction when he asks for help." Getting used to iambic meter can be tricky, but in these verses, there are some little tricks you can use, like syncopating hom(i)ni and treating the i as a semivowel in the second line: auxilja and exitjum (and watch out for both elisions: tutand'improbo and exitj'invenit).
auxilia dum requirit, exitium invenit.
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 describes the deeds of another of Caesar's soldiers: Et Cassius Scaeua, qui in pugna ad Dyrrhachium oculum sagitta, humerum itemque femur pilo confixus, exceptis scuto centum et triginta telorum ictibus, hostes uocauit, ueluti se dediturus;.
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: Rex eris, si recte facies (English: You will be a king [a ruler], if you do right [i.e. if you are straight as a ruler].)
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 motto is another single word saying: Illumino (English: I enlighten... a nice motto for the teachers out there! We could take it on as a group motto, too - Illuminamus... or an optimistic subjunctive: Illuminemus).
3-Word Mottoes: Nouns: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Artibus et armis (English: By strategy and weaponry - although that lacks the sound play of the Latin).
3-Word Mottoes: Verbs: Today's 3-word motto with verb is Deus me audit (English: God hears me).
2-Word Proverbs: Today's 2-word proverb is: Importunitas evitanda (English: Rudeness must be avoided... so, get out of the way rather than getting into an argument!).
3-Word Proverbs: Nouns: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Fama nihil celerius (English: Nothing is more quick than rumor - nothing that the word celerius is neuter, agreeing with the subject, nihil, while Fama is ablative in a comparison).
3-Word Proverbs: Nouns: Today's 3-word proverb with verb is Excessit medicina malum (English: The medicine has exceded the disease).
Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Tempus est vitae magister (English: Time is the teacher of life). 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 Si fuit hic asinus, non ibi fiet equus (English: If he was a donkey here, he will not become a horse there).
Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Non bene pro fulvo libertas venditur auro (English: It is not good to sell your freedom for tawny gold - the rhyme is not so strong, fulvo-auro, but the sentiment is a great one!).
Maxims of Publilius Syrus: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Iratum breviter vites, inimicum diu (English: You should avoid an angry man for a little while, but an enemy for a long time - because the anger will pass but enmity can last a long time indeed!).
Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Scientia inflat (English: Knowledge puffs up - for which it helps to know the context - I Corinthians: Scientia inflat, caritas vero aedificat; "Knowing puffs up, but love builds").
Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is Stultus 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 Aliud noctua sonat, aliud cornix (English: The owl makes one sound, the crow another; from Adagia 3.2.74).
Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Alterum pedem in cymba Charontis habet (English: He's got one foot in the skiff of Charon - which is to say, he's as good as dead; from Adagia 2.1.52; you can read more about Charon at Wikipedia).
Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Conybeare: Citra pulveris: Withoute any dust, a proverbe applied unto them which com to a thinge without any laboure (this is something like we would say "without breaking a sweat").
Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Μικρὸς ἀεὶ ὁ σὸς πῶλος (English: Your foal is always small... in other words: the neighbor's looks bigger, at least in your eyes!).
TODAY'S FABLES:
Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Equus et Asinus, the very wise story of the horse who refused to help his companion, the donkey.
Gaudium Mundo: Today's Latin holiday songs from the Gaudium Mundo blog are: Angelus ad Virginem along with Verbum supernum prodiens (this one comes with a YouTube video performance). The Angelus is a medieval Latin carol dating back to the late 13th century. It is even mentioned by Chaucer in his Miller's Tale: "Playing so sweetly that the chamber rang; / And Angelus ad virginem he sang..."
Here is a YouTube video performance of Angelus ad Virginem:
