Latin · Unit 16

Capita 36–40

Puer Romanus

Pyrrhī medicus; Mārcus Atilius Rēgulus; Theātrum; Dē alcibus; Circus Māximus

184 lines

Pyrrhī medicus (Puer Rōmānus 36)

1
Once, as you all know, Pyrrhus, king of the Epirotes, made war on the Roman people of his own accord.
Ōlim,olim: formerly, once upon a time
utthat, in order that, that not
scītisscio: know
omnēs,omnis: every, all
populōpopulus: people
RōmānōRomanus: Roman
Pyrrhus,funeral pile, pyre
rēxrex: king
Ēpīrōtārum,Epirotes: Epirotes (a name)
bellumwar
ultrōultro: besides, beyond
intulit.infero: bring/carry in, import
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For when he saw that the Romans were powerful he consulted Apollo about the war.
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The god answered ambiguously, 'I say that you the Romans can conquer.'
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Thinking that this was said in his own favour, he came against the Romans, and fought them with varying success.
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For a long time there was a struggle for the supreme command between him and Fabricius, the Roman general.
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One day a deserter came from him into Fabricius' camp, and promised him that, if he set a reward for him, he would go back secretly into Pyrrhus' camp, as he had come secretly, and would kill him with poison.
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Fabricius had this man taken back to Pyrrhus; and that action of his was praised by the senate.
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For if empire is to be sought for glory's sake, let crime be far from it, in which there can be no glory; but if wealth itself is sought by any means whatever, it cannot be of use along with disgrace.
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Which Regulus too proved again afterwards.
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Why did I thank the stranger?

Pyrrhus: funeral pile, pyre
cōnsuluit: ask information, from consulo
ambiguē: ambiguously, equivocally
ēventū: occurrence, event, from eventus
Fabricium: skillful, from Fabricius
certāmen: struggle, contest
Perfuga: deserter
pollicitus: promise, from polliceor
expetendum: ask for, from expeto
sīn: but if
quōquō: wherever, in whatever place
īnfāmiā: disgrace, dishonor
arguit: prove, argue, from arguo

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Why did we all gather the next day?
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When he had seen this, what did Sulpicius say?
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And what did my brother answer him?
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What did Pyrrhus once do?
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Why did he consult Apollo?
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What did Apollo answer?
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When he had heard this answer, what did Pyrrhus do?
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Between whom was there a struggle for the supreme command?
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What did the deserter promise?

Mārcus Atilius Rēgulus (Puer Rōmānus 37)

20
This was a man of outstanding courage who at first beat the Carthaginians in several battles, but was at last beaten and taken by them under the leadership of Xanthippus the Spartan, and was sent to Rome to treat about an exchange of prisoners, having given his word that he would come back if he achieved nothing.
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When he had come to Rome and had been brought into the senate, he persuaded the Romans not to make peace with the Carthaginians; for they, he said, were broken by so many disasters and had no hope; and he himself was not worth so much that so many thousands of prisoners should be given back for one old man like himself and for the few Romans who had been taken.
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When the senate's decree had been made to this effect, he himself went back to Carthage; and when the Romans urged him to stay at Rome, he refused to stay in the city in which, after serving the Africans, he could not keep the standing of an honourable citizen.
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So when he had gone back to Africa he was put to death with the most elaborate tortures.
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But what a splendid fame he was winning for himself!
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Listen to what Horace says.
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This the far-seeing mind of Regulus had foreseen
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as he refused the shameful
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terms, and by his example drew
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ruin on the age to come,

commūtandīs: change, from commuto
indūctus: lead in, bring in, from induco
cāsibus: cottage, hut, from casus
cōnsultō: lawyer, jurist, from consultum
suādentibusque: persuasion
exquīsītissimīs: sought out, exquisite
suppliciīs: punishment, suffering, from supplicium
prōvida: prophetic, from providus
dissentientis: dissent, disagree, from dissentio
condiciōnibus: agreement, from condicio
perniciem: ruin, from pernicies
aevum: time, time of life

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if the captive youth were not to perish
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unpitied. 'I have seen the standards
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fixed up in Punic shrines, and arms
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taken from our soldiers without bloodshed,' he said,
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'I have seen the arms of citizens
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twisted back behind free shoulders
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and gates unclosed, and fields
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laid waste by our own war being tilled.
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Bought back with gold the soldier will return
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keener, no doubt. You are adding loss

immiserābilis: unpitied
captīva: prisoner, captive
pūbēs: adult, grown-up
adfīxa: fixtures pertaining thereto
dēlūbrīs: shrine, from delubrum
retorta: twist back, from retorqueo
populāta: ravage, devastate, from populo
repēnsus: weigh, from rependo
Flāgitiō: shame, disgrace, from flagitium

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to shame; nor does wool once dyed
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bring back the colours it has lost,
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nor does true courage, once it has fallen away,
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care to be restored to the worse sort.
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If a doe fights when she has been freed
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from the thick nets, then he will be brave
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who has trusted himself to treacherous enemies,
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and he will crush the Carthaginians in a second war
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who, helpless, has felt the thongs
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on his bound arms and has feared death.

lāna: wool
refert: bring, from refero
medicāta: heal, cure, from medico
fūcō: dye, from fucus
extrīcāta: disentangle, extricate, from extrico
perfidīs: faithless, treacherous, from perfidus
prōteret: crush, tread under foot, from protero
restrīctīs: draw tight, from restringo
iners: helpless, weak

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This man, not knowing how to keep his life,
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has mixed peace with war. Oh the shame!
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Oh mighty Carthage, raised the higher
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on the disgraceful ruins of Italy!'
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They say that he put from him the kiss of his chaste wife
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and his little children, as a man who had lost his rights,
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and grimly set his manly
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face on the ground,
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until by counsel never given at any other time
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he strengthened the wavering senators as their adviser,

pudor: decency, shame
probrōsīs: shameful, from probrosus
ruīnīs: fall, from ruina
pudīcae: chaste, modest, from pudicus
ōsculum: kiss
virīlem: manly, from virilis
torvus: pitiless
labantēs: totter, be ready to fall, from labo

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and amid his grieving friends
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hurried away, a glorious exile.
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And yet he knew what the barbarian
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torturer was preparing for him; all the same
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he pushed aside the kinsmen who stood in his way
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and the people who delayed his return,
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just as if he were leaving the long business of his clients,
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a lawsuit settled,
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and making for the fields of Venafrum
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or Spartan Tarentum.

maerentēs: grieve, be sad, from maereo
exsul: exile, banished person
atquī: but, yet
tortor: torturer
dīmōvit: put, dismiss
reditūs: return, going back
clientum: retainer, dependent, from cliens
dīiūdicātā: decide, settle, from dijudico
Lacedaemonium: basin, from Lacedaemonii

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What was Marcus Atilius Regulus like?
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Against whom did he fight?
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By whom was he beaten?
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Why was he sent to Rome?
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What did he promise to do if he achieved nothing?
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What did he persuade the Romans to do?
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What did he say about the Carthaginians?
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What about himself?
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What did the Romans try to urge him to do?
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What did he answer? What happened to him afterwards?

suādēre: urge, recommend, from suadeo

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Why did Regulus refuse the terms?
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What did he say he had seen in the Punic shrines?
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When will the man who has trusted himself to treacherous enemies be brave?
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Why did Regulus put his little children from him?
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When he hurried to Carthage as an exile, what did he know?
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What is dye?
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With what things do we catch does?
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What does a torturer do?
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What is the business of clients?
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Who settles a lawsuit?

Theātrum (Puer Rōmānus 38)

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The day before yesterday we came back to Rome and my father lets me go with him to the theatre.
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He sat in the fourteen rows, since he was born of the knightly order; for by an old rule fourteen rows of seats behind the senators have been set aside for the knightly order.
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After we had sat down, my father put his mouth to my ear and whispered, 'Do you see that old man with the long beard, who, whenever the usher comes near, always gives up his place and as it were runs along the knights' rows?'
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'Why, father,' I asked, 'does he do that?
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He seems to be afraid of the usher.'
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'And he is right to be afraid,' answered my father, 'for he has not the knight's property; and so he is not allowed to sit among these rows.
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For no one can be enrolled among the knights who has not four hundred thousand sesterces.'
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While my father was still speaking I saw the usher coming near the man again and wondered what would happen, when my father said, 'Watch what he is going to do; for he makes himself ridiculous, and everyone laughs at him; indeed Martial the poet wrote a poem to make fun of him.'
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Then I saw Nannius (for that is what my father told me the man was called) giving way to the usher until he reached the last seat of the fourteenth row.
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But he could not keep even this seat and was moved off by the usher.

quattuordecim: fourteen
assīgnātī: assign, distribute, from assigno
admōtō: move to, from admoveo
susurrāns: mutter, whisper, from susurro
dēsīgnātōre: arranger
Dēsīgnātōrem: arranger
adscrībī: add, insert, from adscribo
sēstertia: 1000 sestertii, from sestertium
lūdibriō: mockery, from ludibrium
dēsīgnātōrī: arranger
ultimam: far
sēdem: seat, from sedes
quartīdecimī: four
dīmōtus: put, dismiss

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So he stayed on one bent knee beside this seat, so as to seem to be sitting among the knights, although in fact he had no seat at all, but was outside the rows in the gangway.
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For my part it made me laugh so much that the next day I wanted to read without delay the poem my father told me Martial had written; I wanted to read it all the more because I had seen the man himself.
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And I think that you too, who have now heard about the man, all want to hear it.
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Listen, then:
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Nannius, who was always used to sit in the first row
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in the days when one might take a seat,
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twice and three times turned out, shifted his camp,
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and almost third among the very chairs
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sat down behind Gaius and Lucius;
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from there he peers out with his head covered by a hood

flexō: bend, curve
trānstulit: transport, from transfero
Lūciumque: pike
cucullō: hood, cowl, from cucullus
prōspicit: foresee, from prospicio

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and unbecomingly watches the games with one eye,
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and driven from here, poor man, he moves into the gangway,
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and half-propped on the end of a bench,
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badly received, he makes out with one knee
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to the knight that he is sitting, and to Leitus that he is standing.
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But now let us go back to the theatre, for I read the poem only the next day.
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As soon as the curtain is let down and we see the actor standing on the stage, what a din I hear!
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Indeed the actor's voice could not get the better of the sound of the applause.
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A tragedy was being acted, but amid so much noise of applause I could hear nothing.
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Nor did it really please the audience, for in the middle of the tragedy they began to shout and to demand that bears or boxers be brought on.

oculōque: eye
indecēns: put in or on, from indeceo
dēiectus: slope, sloping surface, from dejectus
subselliōque: bench
sēmifultus: half-propped
redeāmus: return, go back
aulaeum: canopy
histriōnemque: actor
scaenā: theater stage, "boards"
ēvaluit: increase in strength, from evalesco
pervincere: conquer completely, from pervinco
Tragoedia: tragedy
ursī: she-bear, from ursus
pugilēs: handful, a amount that can, from pugil

120
Then squadrons of horsemen and companies of foot soldiers run across the stage; there follow kings with their hands tied behind them, chariots, carriages, ships, panthers, camels, elephants, and so great a crowd of all sorts of things and animals that I at any rate soon grew sick of so long a procession.
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And the shouts of the audience are a nuisance to me too, for as Horace says
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You would think that the Garganian wood or the Tuscan sea were roaring,
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so great is the din with which the shows and the performances are watched.
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But at last the end was at hand, and while the curtain is raised I saw a wonderful thing, for figures of Britons had been woven into the curtain itself; and so, while the curtain was being raised, the Britons themselves seemed to be raising it with their own hands.
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For my part I thought that they were living giants, but after we had left the theatre my father explained the whole thing to me.
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Where did we sit in the theatre?
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Who are allowed to sit in these rows?
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What does the usher do?
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What was Nannius like?

turmae: troop, squadron, from turma
catervae: crowd, from caterva
esseda: war chariot
pīlenta: luxurious carriage used by women, from pilentum
panthērae: leopard, from panthera
camēlī: camel, from camelus
animāliumque: animal, living thing
Gargānum: fish-sauce, from Garganus
mūgīre: low, bellow, from mugio
Tūscum: frankincense, from Tusci
intextae: weave, embroider, from intexo
gigantas: giant

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Why was he afraid of the usher?
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Why did Martial write a poem about him?
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When he had reached the last seat, what did Nannius do?
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Why did he do this?
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It made me laugh so much that I wanted to do what?
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Why do I think that you too want to hear the poem?
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What was being acted in the theatre?
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How did I understand that the tragedy did not please the audience?
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What did the audience demand?
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What ran across the stage?

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What happened to me as I watched all this?
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What had been woven into the curtain?
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What did I think while the curtain is raised?
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How did I find out that the giants were not alive?
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What is a hood?
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Who was Leitus?

Dē alcibus (Puer Rōmānus 39)

146
As we went home we were talking about the great variety of animals we had seen on the stage, and my father said that it was absurd to bring all these wild beasts to Rome, each from the region that suited it.
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'Soon,' he said, 'they will send for the elk as well'; and when I said that I did not know what sort of animal an elk was, he said, 'Their shape is much like that of goats, and the markings of their hides, but they are a little larger in size and have stunted horns, and their legs have no joints or knuckles, and they do not lie down for rest, nor, if they have been struck down by some chance and have fallen, can they raise or lift themselves up.
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Trees are their beds; they lean against them and so, leaning back only a little, take their rest.
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And when it has been noticed by the hunters from their tracks where they usually take themselves, they either undermine all the trees in that place at the roots or cut into them, so that only the outward look of them standing is left.
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When they have leaned back here in their usual way they bring the weak trees down with their weight and fall along with them.
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In this way, since they cannot get up, they are easily caught by the hunters.'
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While this story is being told we quickly reached home, where I, worn out with seeing so many things, went off to bed without delay, and while I gather up my legs in the bed as it were into a circle, like a cat, I gave thanks to the gods that I had not been born an elk.
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So great was the variety of animals that I ___ (to wonder).
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Elks use ___ (trees) for beds.
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The hunter notices where the elks ___ (to take themselves).
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The weak trees are struck down by so great a weight that ___ (to fall down).

varietāte: variety, difference, from varietas
disserēbāmus: unfasten, unbar
absurdum: out of tune, discordant, from absurdus
alcem: moose, elk, from alces
arcessent: send for, summon
cōnsimilis: like, very similar
caprīs: he-goat, billy-goat, from caper
antecēdunt: precede, go before, from antecedo
mutilaeque: maimed, broken, from mutilus
nōdīs: knot, from nodus
articulīsque: joint, from articulus
afflīctae: overthrow, from adfligo
concidērunt: fall down, from concido
applicant: connect, place near, from adplico
reclīnātae: bend back, from reclino
vēstīgiīs: footprint, track, from vestigium
cōnsuērint: accustom oneself, from consuesco
rādīcibus: root, from radix
subruunt: undermine, from subruo
īnfīrmās: week, feeble, from infirmus
pondere: weight, burden, from pondus
circulum: circle, from circulus
fēlis: cat, from feles
dēcidere: fall down, from decido

Circus Māximus (Puer Rōmānus 40)

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The next day I took myself to the Circus Maximus to see the shows of the games.
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Through the whole of this circus a long barrier, like a wall four feet high, divides the middle of the course; at each end stands a turning-post, near which the charioteers usually turn their chariots.
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Indeed every best charioteer always tries to steer his chariot as close as possible and all but to graze the post with his wheels, for as Horace says:
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There are those whom it delights to have gathered Olympic dust
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with the racing car, and the post shunned by the burning
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wheels and the noble palm
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lift them up as lords of the earth to the gods.
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The first contest was of four-horse chariots.
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As soon as the consul had thrown down the napkin and given the signal, the chariots burst out of the starting stalls and poured into the course; the whole course was filled with the din of the rattling chariots; the dust rose in a cloud on high; all mixed together they did not spare the goad, each trying to get past the other's wheels and snorting horses.
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For the crowded horses pour their foam and their burning breath on the backs of the other charioteers and on the wheels of their chariots.

spīna: thorn
rādere: shave, from rado
curriculō: act of running, from curriculum
pulverem: dust, powder, from pulvis
iuvat: help, assist, from juvo
fervidīs: glowing, from fervidus
ēvītāta: shun, avoid, from evito
ēvehit: carry away, convey out, from eveho
quadrīgārum: four horse chariot, from quadrigae
mappā: white cloth
carceribus: prison, jail, from carcer
ērūpērunt: burst, from erumpo
stadium: stade, Greek measure of distance
crepitantium: rattle, from crepito
complēbātur: fill, from compleo
glomerābātur: collect, amass
commīxtī: intermingle, mix together, from commisceo
stimulīs: spur, from stimulus
frementēsque: roar
spūmam: foam, froth, from spuma
fervidōsque: glowing
flātūs: blowing

167
The spectators urge on one party or another with the din and shouting of their supporters; now the green, now the red takes the first place; but it gives way to the white, and the white to the blue.
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I, for my part, was supporting the white party, and for a long time my charioteer was running first.
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As he was driving his chariot to the last turn (for they measure out the whole course seven times) he brought his wheel nearer and nearer, and gave the trace-horse on the right its head and held in the left one.
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And up to this point all the chariots stood upright; but then the unruly horses of the green party carry the chariot away by force, and head on, when the sixth and now the seventh lap was being run, they drive their heads into the blue four-horse team; and from that one mishap one chariot smashes another and crashes.
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By now the whole course was filled with the wrecks of chariots.
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When the red charioteer saw this, he turns aside out of the track and holds in his reins, until he can drive past the others.
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Meanwhile that white driver, whom I was supporting, was driving his horses last of all in the last place, for he was setting his sure hope of victory in the finish; and as soon as he saw that the red driver was left alone, he strikes the sharp sound of his whip on the ears of his swift horses and follows him; and the two were carried along with their teams level; now one, now the other was ahead of the other's chariot by the horses' heads.
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And all the remaining laps that unlucky white driver had run with his chariot upright; then, while he gives the reins to the horse turning to the left, he drives without thinking into the post, and with his wheels broken he is thrown out of the chariot and tangled in the straps; and when he had fallen to the ground, his horses were scattered through the middle of the course, and that red driver won the palm.
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But when the supporters of the white party saw him flung from the chariot, now dragged along the ground, now stretching his legs towards the sky, they wept aloud over the young man's fate, until the other charioteers, having with difficulty at last held in the course of the horses, freed him, so fouled with blood that none of his friends knew the body.
176
Describe the Circus.

factiōnēs: party, faction, from factio
clāmōribusque: shout, outcry
incitant: enrage, from incito
prasina: leek-green, from prasinus
russāta: red, from russatus
albātae: clothed in white, from albatus
venetae: blue, from Venetus
septiēns: seven times, from septies
ēmētiuntur: measure out, from emetior
propiusque: near, nearly
fūnālīque: torch of wax or tallow
habēnās: halter, rein, from habena
laxābat: loosen, slaken, from laxo
cohibēbat: hold together, contain, from cohibeo
tenus: as far as, to the
contumācēs: proud, from contumax
septimusque: seven
impingunt: thrust, strike or dash against, from impingo
cōnfringit: break up, from confringo
replētus: fill again, from repleo
orbitam: wheel-track, rut, from orbita
frēna: bridle
inhibet: restrain, curb, from inhibeo
praetervehātur: sail by, pass by
russātum: red
vēlōcium: swift, quick
flagellī: whip, lash, from flagellum
quadrīgam: four horse chariot
flectentī: bend, curve, from flecto
sinistrōrsum: to the left, from sinistrorsus
frāctīsque: break, shatter
implicāturque: entangled, confused
prōlāpsō: glide or slip forwards, fall, from prolabor
dissipātī: scatter, disperse, from dissipo
Fautōrēs: patron, protector, from fautor
prōtendere: stretch out, extend, from protendo
vicem: turn, change, from vicis
dēplōrāvērunt: weep, from deploro
cruōre: blood, from cruor
foedātum: defile, from foedo

177
What does the charioteer try to do?
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What was done before the race took place?
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What was the first contest?
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How many parties were there?
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Give the names of the parties.
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Who won?
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What does Horace say about charioteers?
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Describe the chariot race.

The particulars

The course: Paine and Mainwaring, Prīmus Annus (Oxford, 1912) and Secundus Annus (1917); Appleton and Jones, Puer Rōmānus (1913); D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (Boston, 1911); Ritchie, Fabulae Faciles (1903). Public domain. The teaching pages, the glosses and the narration are ours.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
The app: The course on your phone, with the drills, your place kept and the audio offline.
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The book: The Aeneid, the work this course leads to, free to read here.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents