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Dear Language Enthusiast,
Greetings from Transparent Language! As we approach the year 2000 many questions
arise around the issues of Y2K, as well as cultural and religious responses to the new
millennium. Here at Transparent Language, Inc. we thought this would be a good opportunity
to review what Cicero says about cosmic divisions of time in the "Dream of
Scipio." A Latin excerpt appears below, with the English following it.
You will also find tips for using LatinNow! at the end of this newsletter.
Incidentally, "millennium" is not a classical Latin word-- it is a modern
coinage dating back to the early 17th century. The ancient Romans did not presume to
organize aeons the way they organized their armies.
Our thanks to everyone who responded to the contest last month, and our congratulations to
the three winners: Gabija Blotzer, Stephen Felder, and Anonymous. We enjoyed reading all
of your entries (one of which was entirely in Latin!) and wish we could have given a prize
to everyone who correctly identified the catastrophes, which are listed near the bottom of
this newsletter. There will be another contest next month.
Sincerely,
Transparent Language
www.transparent.com
latine:
Cicero: De Re Publica, Book VI: Somnium Scipionis (fragmentum)
Homines enim populariter annum tantum modo solis, id est unius astri, reditu
metiuntur; cum autem ad idem, unde semel profecta sunt, cuncta astra redierint
eandemque totius caeli discriptionem longis intervallis rettulerint, tum ille
vere vertens annus appellari potest; in quo vix dicere audeo quam multa hominum
saecula teneantur.
Namque ut olim deficere sol hominibus exstinguique visus est, cum Romuli
animus haec ipsa in templa penetravit, quandoque ab eadem parte sol eodemque
tempore iterum defecerit, tum signis omnibus ad principium stellisque
revocatis expletum annum habeto; cuius quidem anni nondum vicesimam partem
scito esse conversam.
In English:
Cicero: On the Republic, Book 6: The Dream of Scipio (excerpt)
Human beings commonly measure the year by the return of the sun-- a single star.
But when all the stars together shall have returned to the same place where they
started out, and, after long intervals, shall have assumed identical positions
across the entire sky, then the revolving Year can truly be said to have come
full circle-- a Year in which I can scarcely bring myself to say how many
generations of men are contained.
For as in olden days the sun appeared to abandon humanity and to be eclipsed at
the time when the soul of Romulus gained entrance to the sacred places of the
sky-- whenever the sun shall have been eclipsed once more in the same location
in space and time, then and only then, with all the constellations and the
stars having been recalled to the starting point, should you deem the Year
to have been fulfilled. And know this: the fact of the matter is that the
twentieth part of that Year has not elapsed. (Translated by R. Crowell)
Tips for LatinNow!
The following are some hints to help maximize your use of LatinNow!
Don't miss the Grammar information in the Grammar Window in the lower right-hand
corner of the screen! This window tells you the part of speech of the selected word
in the Title, along with other information.
LanguageNow! also includes a special Grammar Basics file to help you focus on
grammar. To open it, choose 'Reference / Grammar Basics' to see the first
page of Grammar Basics, or select a word in the Title, click the 'Word Tools'
button, and select a grammar topic which applies to that word to go directly
to the appropriate topic.
Contest Results
Here the the Q's and A's from last month's contest:
- August 24, 79 A.D., Campania: the eruption of Vesuvius.
- March 15, 44 B.C., Rome: the assassination of Julius Caesar.
- 216 B.C., Apulia: Hannibal destroys the Roman army at Cannae.
- July 18, 64 A.D., Rome: the great fire.
- 166 A.D., the entire Roman empire: a horrible plague begins.
- 390 B.C., Rome: the city is sacked by the Gauls.*
- 146 B.C., Corinth: the city is destroyed by Lucius Mummius.
* One astute customer pointed out that Oxford dates this event at 387 B.C.
Among those who got all the answers right were: Joe Beltran, Sara Johnson and Manuel
Nunes. When you enter the next contest, be sure to let us know if we have permission to
use your name.
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