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Dear Language Enthusiast,
Welcome to the Monthly, the
Internet newsletter from Transparent Language. In this
issue, we focus on one of today's most important
issues: the environment. As we move into the new
millennium, the impact of modern society on the
environment is a key concern. How did the ancient
Romans feel about the environment as they were
spanning the countryside with aqueducts and clear-
cutting forests for large estates and farms? Examining
how the people of Rome viewed and address this
critical issue offers fascinating insights into the
culture.
Although the Romans were the greatest builders in
human history, they always felt a strong attachment to
the natural landscape-- an attachment which manifested
itself most gracefully in the ornamental garden (opus
topiarium "a work of art consisting of landscape
gardening") that graced the inner courtyard of a rich
person's home.
Much of the Roman feeling for nature stems from their
proud tradition as a nation of soldier/farmers: the
Romans conquered nature with a mixture of
stubborness, intelligence and superstitious fear. They
believed that the landscape was inhabited by unseen
presences, by divinities who could not always be
named. It was for this reason that they had scruples
about tampering with the environment. Not because they
were afraid of wiping out the habitat of an endangered
species, but because they were afraid of wiping out
the sacred dwelling place of a god.
The best place to see this attitude in action is in
the most influential Roman work on agriculture (and
also the first surviving work of Latin literature):
the treatise de agri cultura ("About Agriculture") by
Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato, 234-149 BC). The
following selection, comprising paragraphs 139 to 141,
will give you a taste of how an ancient Roman of stern
old-fashioned morals viewed the process of clear-
cutting a forest to make room for a farm. I think
you'll find this month’s article thought provoking, as
well as effective in building your language skills.
Sincerely,
Transparent Language
www.transparent.com
In Latine:
Lucum conlucare Romano more sic oportet. Porco piaculo
facito, sic verba concipito: "Si deus, si dea es,
quoiium illud sacrum est, uti tibi ius est porco
piaculo facere illiusce sacri coercendi ergo harumque
rerum ergo, sive ego sive quis iussu meo fecerit, uti
id recte factum siet, eius rei ergo te hoc porco
piaculo inmolando bonas preces precor, uti sies volens
propitius mihi domo familaeque meae liberisque meis;
harumce rerum ergo macte hoc porco piaculo inmolando
esto."
Si fodere voles, altero piaculo eodem modo facito, hoc
amplius dicito: "Operis faciundi causa." Dum opus,
cotidie per partes facito. Si intermiseris aut feriae
publicae aut familiares intercesserint, altero piaculo
facito.
Agrum lustrare sic oportet. Impera suovitaurilia
circumagi: "Cum divis volentibus quodque bene eveniat,
mando tibi, Mani, uti illace suovitaurilia fundum
agrum terramque meam quota ex parte sive circumagi
sive circumferenda censeas, uti cures lustrare."
In English:
To make a clearing in a grove, you must use the proper
Roman ritual. After sacrificing a pig, recite the
following words:
"Whether you be a god or a goddess to whom this is a
sacred place: since it is proper to offer up to you a
sacrificial pig, for the clearing-out of this holy
place and these things, in order that what is done by
me or by another following my orders be rightly done,
I pray good prayers to you with the atoning sacrifice
of a pig, on this account, that you may willingly
grant good favor to me, to my house and household and
children; wherefore, a blessing be upon you through
the sacrifice of this expiatory pig."
If you want to dig up the earth, make another
expiatory sacrifice in the same manner and say this
besides: "For the sake of working the land." As long
as the work continues, see that part of it is done
each and every day. If you skip a day, or if public
festivals or family celebrations intervene, offer up a
second sacrifice.
This is the right way to consecrate a field. Order a
sacrificial trio (pig, sheep and bull) to be led
around it: "With the gods willingly granting a
favorable outcome, I leave it in your hands, O Manius,
to consecrate by your care my farm, my field and my
lands by driving or pulling this sacrificial trio of
pig, sheep and bull in a purifying circle in whatever
direction you deem fit."
LatinNow! Tips
For a fun and effective way to build your vocabulary,
make a list of CheckWords as you read a Title, then
play Vocabulous! or Crosswords with that CheckWord
List.
You can set Vocabulous! or Crosswords to select words
of a specific part of speech. On the Select a Game
screen, click Part of Speech and choose the type of
word you want.
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