Latin · Unit 9

Capita 1–5

Puer Romanus

Ego et vīta mea; Lūdus; Dē mīlite fortissimō sed īgnōtō; Cēna; Iter

458 lines

Ego et vīta mea (Puer Rōmānus 1)

1
I am going to tell you about myself, about my parents, about my brother, about my sisters, about my friends, about my whole life.
EGOI
dēde: down from; concerning
mēego: I
ipsō,ipse: self; even, very
dēde: down from; concerning
parentibus,parens2: parent, father, mother
dēde: down from; concerning
frātre,frater: brother
dēde: down from; concerning
sorōribus,soror: sister
dēde: down from; concerning
amīcīs,amicus: friend
dēde: down from; concerning
omnīomnis: every, all
meāmeus: my, mine
vītāvita: life
sumbe; exist
tibitu: thou, you
nārrātūrus.narro: tell, tell about, relate, narrate, recount, describe
2
I am a Roman boy, twelve years old.
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You do not know our names; I know that you do not know them, for no one has told you.
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So I shall give the names without delay.
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First about my father.
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He is called Sextus Cornelius Pollio.
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Sextus marks the man himself, Cornelius the clan, Pollio the family.
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And so he has these three, a first name, a clan name, a family name.
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Now I shall speak about my mother.
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She is named Terentia.

appellātur: call, from appello
Polliō: little bit, trifle
dēsīgnat: mark, from designo
praenōmen: first name, personal name
cōgnōmen: surname, family
nōminātur: name, call, from nomino

11
My brother's first name is Gaius; my sisters are called Prima, Secunda, Tertia.
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I myself am called Lucius.
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Whatever things you do every day, those I do too.
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I get up out of my little bed, I bid my father, my mother, my brother and my sisters good morning, I eat, I am at school, I play.
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At school, though, and it is a wonder to say it, I do not play but learn.
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For the master, who is extremely strict, does not let me play, nor the other boys either.
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If we play, we pay the penalty.
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Alas, with what severity the master punishes!
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I, poor wretch that I am, know with what severity he punishes!
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Are you asking what we do at school?

Lūcius: pike
quoque: also
lectulō: couch, bed, from lectulus
salvēre: save, from salveo
sevērus: stern, strict
Heu: oh! ah! alas!
sevēritāte: strictness, severity, from severitas
pūnit: punish, inflict punishment, from punio

21
We write, we recite, we read the poets.
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Are you asking which poets we read?
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I shall tell you while you learn.
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We read all the works of Horace, Virgil and Terence.
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What sort of men they were, and when they lived, you will perhaps learn some day.
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After school I go back home.
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How glad I am, how glad we all are, whenever we come out of the one school and make for the other!
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For in the one school, as I have said already, we learn; the other school is also called play.
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Who we are, my friend, you now know; what sort of people we are you partly know and partly do not; where we live you do not know at all.
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Alas, there is much, or rather very much, or rather everything, that you do not know.

sīmus: flatnosed, snub-nosed
partim: partly, for the most part
habitēmus: condition, state

31
A long task has been set before me, or rather a very long one.
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For I shall speak about Italy, about Brundisium, about Rome, about other lands and cities, about our soldiers, about the magistrates, about the emperor, about food, about clothes, about buildings, about everything and everyone.
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My father is a man of Brundisium, for he lives at Brundisium.
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He holds a magistracy, for Brundisium is a township in which there are two magistrates, who are called the duumviri.
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My father, then, is held in the highest honour among the citizens of Brundisium.
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But perhaps you say that you do not know where the township of Brundisium is.
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So I tell you to look at the map; if you look, you will see where the township stands.
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Do you not see it?
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There it stands, in the farthest corner of Italy, turned towards the east.
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The east is the quarter where the sun rises; the west is the quarter where the sun sets into the ocean; the south is the quarter to which the sun turns at midday; the north is so named because in that part of the sky seven stars are seen, which are called the seven plough-oxen, that is, seven oxen.

prōpositum: intention
magistrātibus: magistracy, civil office, from magistratus
Brundisīnus: brown
mūnicipium: township
duumvirī: two man board, from duumvir
honōre: honor, from honor
Brundisīnōs: brown
negās: deny, refuse, from nego
ultimō: avenge
angulō: angle, apex, from angulus
versum: toward, in the direction of
regiō: region, district
sīdera: star, from sidus
triōnēs: oxen used for plowing

41
Some people, however, call this constellation the Bear.
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But, leaving the quarters of the sky, we go back to the town in which we live, my father and my mother and I and the rest.
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Our house stands on the main street, the street where the nobler citizens live.
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You enter the house through the front door, which always stays shut unless someone is coming in.
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If you want to come in, you knock at the door.
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When you have done that, up comes the doorkeeper (he guards the door from inside) and unbolts it.
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When the door has been unbolted we go into the entrance passage, then into the atrium; for that is the name of the hall.
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In the middle of the atrium is a pool, called the impluvium, into which the rains fall and make the pool.
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Above the impluvium there is no roof, but an open space which they call the compluvium.
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Near the pool is an altar; near the altar stand the household gods.

Nōnnūllī: some, several
ursam: she-bear, from ursa
revertimus: turn back, go back
nōbiliōrēs: well known, noble, from nobilis
pultās: knock, strike, from pulto
iānitor: doorkeeper, porter, from janitor
intus: within, on the inside
reserat: open up, unseal, from resero
vēstibulum: entrance, court
ātrium: atrium, reception hall in a
aula: hall
impluvium: basin in atrium floor to
nōminātum: naming, from nominatus
compluvium: inward-sloping central roof
Larēs: gull

51
In the atrium we all spend the day.
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But we sleep in small rooms, of which there are many built round the atrium.
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The slaves, however, sleep in front of the doors of the rooms.
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Behind the atrium is the tablinum, which is my father's private room.
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There are also two passages, one on the right, the other on the left, through which one goes into an open space called the peristyle.
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Round this peristyle there are more rooms.
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Last of all there is another room joined on, which they call the dining room; here we dine.
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Now answer me as I question you about the house: tell me what you enter the house by.
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Why does the doorkeeper sit in his little room?
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Why do you knock at the door?

cellīs: storeroom, cellar, from cella
tablīnum: terrace
prīvātum: private citizen, from privatus
conclāve: room, chamber
bīnae: two by two, from bini
faucēs: pharynx, gullet
peristȳlium: inner courtyard lined with rows
adiūnctum: add, attach, from adjungo

61
Surely you do not fail to know?
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What a forgetful boy!
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If you do not know, I shall answer for you.
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But I tell you to pay attention, so that you may learn everything.
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You enter the house through the door; the doorkeeper sits in his room to guard the door; you knock at the door so that the doorkeeper may unbolt it.
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Now you answer, if you can.
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Why is there an impluvium in the atrium?
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Where do the slaves sleep?
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Can you tell me why they sleep there?
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My father is called Sextus Cornelius Pollio.

immemorem: forgetful, from immemor
attentō: attack, assail
istīc: there, over there

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I am called Lucius.
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Now I shall speak about my mother.
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My brother's first name is Gaius.
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I got up out of my little bed.
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My mother bade my father good morning.
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My sisters bade my father good morning.
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The boys will not play at school.
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After school I go back home.
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My sisters will soon go to school.
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What things is Lucius going to tell about?

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What do you know about Lucius himself?
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What are his father, his mother, his brother and his sisters called?
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What does Lucius do every day?
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What happens at school?
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Who were Horace, Virgil and Terence?
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What do the boys do whenever they come out of school?
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How old is Lucius?
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Whom does Lucius bid good morning?
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What happens when the boys play at school?
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Of what clan is Lucius?

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What did his mother call the father of Lucius?
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Is a family larger than a clan?
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Who pays the penalty?
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Who exacts the penalty?
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How many kinds of school are there?
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By what other name is the second school called?
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What is your first name?
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What is your clan name?
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Surely you have no family name?
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I say that I am a Roman boy.

genera: kind, variety, from genus
lūdōrum: game, play, from ludor

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I know that you do not know.
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You understand that I am going to tell about my whole life.
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I believe that my sisters will soon go to school.
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I bid my sisters good morning.
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I deny that we are allowed to play at school.
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I say that the master exacted a penalty from us yesterday.
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I think that we shall pay the penalty tomorrow.
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It is plain that we have not learnt enough.
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The master says that the boys are stupid.
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How strict the master is!

Manifestum: detected, plainly guilty, from manifestus

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What things shall I speak about?
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What sort of boy am I?
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How old am I?
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Do you go to school?
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Have you seen my books?
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Which do you prefer, Horace or Virgil?
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Did you break this window or not?
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Who is going to recite?
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Has he learnt his lesson or not?
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He asked me at what hour I had got up out of bed.

Frequentāsne¹: frequent, from frequento
Frēgistīne: break, shatter
annōn²: can it be that
Didicitne: learn

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I know how many sisters you have.
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I told him what we used to do at school.
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He does not know who did this.
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I informed him when I was going to leave.
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They inform us who is going to arrive.
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I am informed what sort of man Virgil was.
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They were informed how old I was.
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They asked me whether I was happy.
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He asks us whether we go to school or not.
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Why is the father of Lucius a man of Brundisium?

adventūrus: arrival, approach
fēlix: happy
necne: nor

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Why is he held in the highest honour among the citizens of Brundisium?
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What is Brundisium, and where is it?
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Where is our house?
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What do you enter the house by?
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Who is the doorkeeper?
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When the door has been opened, where do we go?
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What is the atrium?
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What is in the middle of the atrium?
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Where do we dine?
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What does a magistrate do?

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What is the east? Why is it so named?
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What is the west? Why is it so named?
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What is the south? Why is it so named?
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What is the north? Why is it so named?
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Why is the impluvium so named?
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What is the compluvium?
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What does the word Lares mean?
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What is the tablinum?
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What is the peristyle?
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Why do we go into the dining room?

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Why was the doorkeeper sitting in his little room?
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Why was there no roof above the impluvium?
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Why do you go to school?
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Why do we knock at the door?
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Why did the Romans have an impluvium in the atrium?
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Why do the slaves sleep in front of the doors of the rooms?
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Why do I never play at school?
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Why do we eat?
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Why do we learn?
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There is a roof over the house so that the rains may not fall on us.

pultāmus: knock, strike

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At school I keep quiet so that the master may not exact a penalty.
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The master sends a boy to look for a chair.
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The master teaches us so that we may become wiser.
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I go into the tablinum to find my father.
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I hide in the peristyle so that no one may be able to find me.
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I pretend to understand so that the master may not think me stupid.
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I take the food so that my brother may not eat it.
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I get up out of bed so that I may not come late to school.
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I gape at my book so that the master may think me more diligent.
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A friend came to dine at our house.

taceō: be silent
quaerat: ask, inquire, from quaero
sapientiōrēs: taste of, from sapio
Simulō: imitate, copy
sērus: late
inhiō: gape, be open mouthed with
dīligentiōrem: careful, from diligens

171
I got up before dawn to see the sun rising.
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I ate my breakfast so that I might not go hungry.
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I washed my hands so that they might not be dirty.
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We used to exercise our bodies so that we might not be fat.
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They went to their beds to sleep.
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My father went into the tablinum to write a letter.
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He had a private room so that we might not be a nuisance to him.
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My mother sent a slave to clean the atrium.
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The master praised me so that I might want to learn more.

Ientāculum: breakfast, from jentaculum
ēdī: Haedui, also Aedui, from haedus
iēiūnus: fasting, abstinent, from jejunus
lāvī: wash, bathe, from lavo
exercēbāmus: exercise, train
pinguēs: fat, from pinguis
molestī: troublesome, annoying, from molestus
purgāret: make clean, cleanse, from purgo

Lūdus (Puer Rōmānus 2)

180
Do you know what a school is?
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Surely you too go to school?
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It is a place in which we learn our letters.
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Properly it is called a school of letters.
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For there are other schools: a dancing school, where they learn to dance, and a gladiators' school, where gladiators learn to fight.
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We, though, my friends and I, go to school to learn our letters.
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Before daylight we make for the school, with our satchels slung from the left arm and a slave or tutor going with us.
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Once a certain boy chanted these little verses at the school gate:
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What have you to do with us, you wicked schoolmaster,
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a creature hated by boys and girls alike?

lītterārius: literary
saltātōrius: dancing-
saltāre: dance, jump, from salto
gladiātōrius: gladiatorial
frequentāmus: frequent
lacertō: lizard, from lacertus
suspēnsīs: hang up, suspend, from suspendo
paedagōgō: slave, who accompanied children to, from paedagogus
versiculōs: verse, from versiculus
scelerāte: defile, from scelero
invīsum: hateful, detested, from invisus
virginibusque: husband of virgin bride

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Alas, the master himself hears.
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At once he orders one boy to lift him on to his shoulders and another to hold his feet, while he himself beats him with rods.
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I keep quiet, so that he may not rage against me too.
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What a cruel master!
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Horace was not wrong to call his own master 'the flogger'.
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How many blows, how many beatings we are forced to suffer!
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The master usually sits in a chair, and we sit round him.
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Maps hang from the walls; not far off, in a corner, stand the cases in which the books of the poets are kept.
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We pupils hold a pen in the right hand and in the left either a sheet of papyrus or a waxed tablet, which we rest on the knee in order to write.
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We learn to write, to recite, and to do sums.

sublevāre: lift up, raise, from sublevo
retinēre: hold back, restrain, from retineo
virgīs: twig, sprout, from virga
saeviat: rage, from saevio
plāgōsum: fond of flogging, from plagosus
plāgās: stroke, from plaga
cōgimur: collect, from cogo
cathedrā: armchair, easy chair
solet: solace, console, from soleo
parietibus: wall, house wall, from paries
dēpendent: pay over, from dependeo
capsae: cylindrical case, bookcase, from capsa
calamum: reed, cane, from calamus
papȳrum: papyrus, the plant
cērātam: smear, from cero
ratiōnēs: account, reckoning, from ratio

200
We have already learnt Greek and Latin letters from the grammarian; soon I shall learn the art of rhetoric from the teacher of rhetoric.
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For the most part we recite the poets, especially Horace and Virgil.
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But we do not leave out the historians.
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Once the master read us out a famous story, which I shall tell over again.
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What is a school of letters?
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What other kinds of school are there?
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What do we carry when we go to school?
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Who goes with us?
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What did that wicked boy do outside the school?
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What did the master order us to do?

grammaticō: grammatical, of grammar, from grammaticus
rhētore: teacher of public speaking, rhetorician, from rhetor
rhētoricam: rhetoric, from rhetorica
praesertim: especially, chiefly
omīttimus: lay aside, from omitto
praeclāram: very clear, from praeclarus

210
Why was I keeping quiet?
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Why did Horace call his master 'the flogger'?
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Where do the cases stand? What do they hold?
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What sort of writers do we recite at school?
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What sort of person is a paedagogus?
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What sort of seat is a cathedra?
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What sort of tablet is a waxed tablet?
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What sort of person does sums?
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What does a grammarian teach?
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What does a teacher of rhetoric teach?

continent: hold together, hem in, from contineo
cērāta: ointment made with oil and, from ceratum

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What sort of writer writes little verses?
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What sort of writer writes histories?
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What part of the body is the shoulder?
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What is a rod?

Dē mīlite fortissimō sed īgnōtō (Puer Rōmānus 3)

224
In the first Carthaginian war a Carthaginian general, fighting against the Romans in the land of Sicily, seizes the favourable ground first.
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The Roman soldiers make their way with the greatest difficulty to a place that is dangerous and open to ambush.
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A certain tribune comes to the consul and shows that they will all quickly perish.
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'Give the order,' he says, 'if you want to save the situation, that some four hundred soldiers go to that mountain and seize it.
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When the enemy see them, every bravest man among them will turn against them, and those four hundred will without doubt be killed.
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But while the enemy are busy with that slaughter, you will be able to lead the army out of this place.
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There is no other road to safety.'
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'But those four hundred,' he says, 'who will there be to lead them to that place?'
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'If you have no one else,' says the tribune, 'I shall lead them.
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This life of mine I give to you and to the state.'

Poenus: Carthaginian, Punic
Carthāginiēnsī: of, Carthaginian, from Carthaginiensis
idōneōs: suitable, appropriate, from idoneus
occupat: seize, take possession of, from occupo
difficultāte: difficulty, from difficultas
īnsidiīs: ambush, from insidiae
obnoxium: liable, from obnoxius
peritūrōs: die, pass away, from pereo
praevertētur: anticipate
dubiō: doubtful, from dubius
caede: slaughter, from caedes
quisnam: who
reīpūblicae: the commonwealth, the state, from rēspūblica
animam: soul, spirit, from anima

234
The consul thanks the tribune; the tribune and the four hundred set out.
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When the place has been seized the Roman soldiers are surrounded, and surrounded they fight back.
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Meanwhile the consul withdraws the Roman army into safe ground.
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The immortal gods gave the tribune of the soldiers a fortune worthy of him.
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For he was recognized among the dead, wounded with many wounds.
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He recovered, and often afterwards served the state.
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Many others who have deserved well of the state are honoured for their courage with badges, statues and monuments; that tribune's praise is no less; yet not even his name has lasted down to us.
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Who seizes the favourable ground first? When?
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To what sort of place do the Romans make their way?
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What does the tribune show?

circumveniuntur: encircle, surround, from circumvenio
repūgnant: fight back, oppose, from repugno
subdūcit: lead up, carry off, from subduco
immortālēs: immortal, god
fortūnam: fortune, from fortuna
saucius: wounded
Convaluit: grow strong, from convalesco
meritī: merit, service, from meritum
monumentīs: reminder, from monumentum
ob: on account of
decorantur: adorn, embellish, from decoro
usque: all the way, right on
permānsit: flow through, from permaneo

244
Who leads the four hundred?
245
Surely the tribune did not die?
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Do you know the tribune's name?
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What did the tribune say to the consul? Turn it into indirect speech.
248
How did the Romans escape death?
249
What sort of monument has the tribune?
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What does the word tribune mean?
251
Express the word badge in another way.

oblīquam: slanting, from obliquus
mortem: death, from mors
Aliter: otherwise, differently
exprime: squeeze, squeeze, from exprimo

Cēna (Puer Rōmānus 4)

252
Yesterday my father invited his friends to dinner.
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At the ninth hour the guests arrive, among them two Roman senators and the consul himself, a man of the highest rank.
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They are all led by slaves into the atrium, and from there into the dining room, where dinner is taken.
255
I, though, do not go with the guests; how I wish I had been there at the dinner!
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But there is no place for boys in the dining room; those splendid dinners are usually prepared for men alone.
257
My father promised me, however, that I should be there for the dessert, to declaim something out of the poets.
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For I have learnt many fine poems.
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First a starter was set on the table, to make the guests keener to eat.
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Then (for it was a full dinner) many other dishes are brought in, such as fish, capons, wild boar; nor was there any lack of lettuce, cabbage and bread.
261
When all this has been eaten up, the second tables are set out at once.

convīvae: guest, table companion, from conviva
dīgnitātis: worth, excellence, from dignitas
dēdūcuntur: lead, from deduco
illinc: there, in that place
comitor: accompany, go along with
sōlum: alone, only
Prōmīsit: promise, from promitto
dēclāmārem: declaim, make speeches
impositus: impose, put upon, from impono
gustus: tasting, appetite
rēcta: virtue, from rectum
īnferuntur: bring, import, from infero
fercula: food tray, from ferculum
capōnēs: capon
lactūca: lettuce
brassica: cabbage
cōnsūmptīs: burn up, destroy, from consumo
continuō: immediately, forthwith
appōnuntur: place near, set before, from appono

262
Now at last a slave comes for me and brings me in to declaim my poem.
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I follow at once, not without hope of a reward; for when the poem has been recited, who would refuse me a reward?
264
When I had entered the dining room I saw the guests placed in order.
265
There were three couches, which I saw arranged like this: the middle one, the top one on the right, the bottom one on the left.
266
On each single couch three guests were reclining, whom I count from the right like this: of the top couch the top, middle and bottom place; of the middle couch the top, middle and bottom place; of the bottom couch the top, middle and bottom place.
267
Having seen this I greet the guests, and when I have greeted them I stand near the door and wait for my father's orders.
268
He calls out with a laugh, 'Here is our declaimer!
269
Recite us something, my dear Lucius; for your master says that you can declaim extremely well.'
270
At these words they all turn their eyes on me, and I recite a poem of Catullus that is well known.
271
You know what Catullus is speaking of: of Lesbia's sparrow.

dēclāmem: declaim, make speeches, from declamo
intrōdūcit: introduce, bring, from introduco
spē: hope, from spes
ōrdine: row, rank, from ordo
lectī: chosen, from lectum
dispositōs: rich, from dispositus
numerō:—summī: number, from numerus
mediī: mediator, from medium
vīsīs: strength, force, from visum
rīsū: laughter, from risus
Ēn: behold! see! lo! here! hey!
dēclāmātor: one who composes
dictō: words, from dictum
convertunt: turn upside down, from converto
passere: sparrow, from passer

272
Mourn, you Venuses and Cupids;
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my girl's sparrow is dead,
274
the sparrow, my girl's darling,
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whom she loved more than her own eyes:
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for he was sweet as honey, and knew his own
277
mistress as well as a girl knows her mother.
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Nor would he stir from her lap,
279
but hopping about now this way, now that,
280
he would chirp on and on to his mistress alone.
281
Now he goes along the dark road

Lūgēte: mourn, grieve, from lugeo
Cupīdinēsque: Cupid, son of Venus, from Cupido
dēliciae: favorite
mellītus: sweetened with honey
gremiō: firewood, from gremium
circumsiliēns: leap, from circumsilio
pīpilābat: twitter, chirp
tenebricōsum: dark, from tenebricosus

282
to that place from which they say no one comes back.
283
But bad luck to you, wicked shades
284
of Orcus, that devour all pretty things:
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you have taken so pretty a sparrow away from me.
286
Oh, the pity of it! Oh, poor little sparrow!
287
It is your doing that my girl's
288
little eyes are red and swollen with weeping.
289
At this they all shout, 'You declaim splendidly.'
290
And one of the guests says, 'I think, Cornelius, that this boy of yours will be a poet himself.
291
But let him declaim something else, I beg: for he is gifted with a sweet voice.'

quemquam: anyone, from quisquam
tenebrae: darkness, obscurity
Orcī: pot or jar with a, from Orcus
dēvorātis: devour, consume, from devoro
vae: alas, woe
miselle: poor, wretched, from misellus
operā: work, care
flendō: breathe, from fleo
turgidulī: swollen, from turgidulus
rubent: be red, become red, from rubeo
ocellī: eye, from ocellus
futūrum: about to be, from futurus
praeditus: gifted

292
Roused by this praise, I declaim that other poem as well.
293
Issa is naughtier than Catullus' sparrow,
294
Issa is purer than a dove's kiss,
295
Issa is more coaxing than any girl,
296
Issa is dearer than Indian jewels,
297
Issa is the little dog that is Publius' darling.
298
If she whimpers, you will think she is speaking:
299
she feels both sorrow and joy.
300
She lies resting on his neck and takes her sleep,
301
so that not a breath of her is heard.

arrēctus: set upright, tilt upwards, from arrigo
nēquior: wicked, from nequam
ōsculō: kiss
blandior: flatter, delude
cārior: dear, from carus
Indicīs: hand, from Indicum
lapillīs: little stone, pebble, from lapillus
catella: puppy, young
queritur: complain, from queror
sentit: perceive, feel, from sentio
trīstitiamque: sadness
nīxa: shine, glitter, from nitor
cubat: lie, from cubo
suspīria: deep breath, sigh, from suspirium

302
So that her last day may not carry her wholly away,
303
Publius sets her out in a painted picture,
304
in which you will see an Issa so like her
305
that not even Issa herself is so like herself.
306
In short, put Issa beside the picture:
307
either you will think both of them real,
308
or you will think both of them painted.
309
Again they all applaud, but they say they do not know who wrote the poem.
310
They ask whether the poem is by Martial.
311
I say it is; then I go out loaded with cakes and other good things.

rapiat: drag off, from rapio
suprēma: funeral rites or offerings
similem: like, similar, from similis
pōne: behind
utramque: each of two, each, from uterque
vēram: true, real, from verus
Mārtiālis: of or belonging to Mars
āiō: say
crustulīs: little rind, from crustula
dēlectāmentīs: delight, amusement, from delectamentum

312
When do the invited guests arrive?
313
Who leads them in?
314
Where do they lead them?
315
For whom are the dinners prepared?
316
What did the father promise?
317
For what purpose was I there afterwards?
318
List the dishes.
319
When are the second tables set out?
320
In what frame of mind do I follow the slave?
321
What did I see when I had entered the dining room?

Ēnumerā: count up, pay out, from enumero

322
In what order were the couches arranged?
323
When I have greeted the guests, what do I do?
324
Whose poem do I declaim?
325
How much did Lesbia love the sparrow?
326
What did the sparrow do?
327
Where did the sparrow go?
328
Why are the girl's eyes red?
329
How did I declaim the poem?
330
Whose poem do I recite afterwards?
331
Who was Issa?

dēclāmāvī: declaim, make speeches

332
What was Issa like?
333
What will you think if Issa whimpers?
334
For what purpose does Publius set Issa out in a painted picture?
335
What do the guests ask?
336
What sort of reward do I get?
337
Explain in what order the food is served.
338
Describe the dining room and the couches.
339
Describe Lesbia's sparrow.
340
How can we tell that the picture is like Issa?
341
What do we usually do in the dining room? What in the atrium?

appōnantur: place near, set before

342
Why are the second tables so called?
343
Who was Orcus?
344
What does catella mean?

Iter (Puer Rōmānus 5)

345
We have left Brundisium; now we live at Rome.
346
In how small a sentence I have taken in how great a change of things! But I am the same man I was before; I am the same at Rome as I was at Brundisium.
347
For what does Horace say?
348
They change their sky, not their mind, who run across the sea.
349
My father, you see, was summoned to Rome by Caesar; he was ordered to set out within three days.
350
Brundisium had to be left behind, the house I was telling you about had to be left, a long journey had to be made.
351
With the greatest speed we gathered our baggage, and when it was gathered we set off, some riding in carriages, some on horses; the slaves loaded the baggage on mules.
352
For mules carry pack-saddles, in which we stow the baggage.
353
It is a long journey from Brundisium to Rome, for they are three hundred and fifty-seven miles apart.
354
That is a journey of fifteen or sixteen days.

Quantulā: how small, from quantulus
mūtātiōnem: change, alteration, from mutatio
comprehendī: catch, from comprehendo
mūtant: move, change, from muto
Scīlicet: of course
arcessītus: summons, sending for
trīduum: three days’ time, three days
imperātum: command, order
collēgimus: collect, assemble, from colligo
collēctīsque: compact, concise
discessimus: depart, go away, from discedo
rēdīs: four wheeled wagon, from raeda
mūlīs: she-mule, from mula
clītellās: pack-saddle, sumpter-saddle, from clitellae
dīstant: stand apart, be distant, from disto
trecenta: three hundred
quīnquāgintā: fifty
quīndecim: fifteen
sēdecimve: sixteen

355
Every day towards nightfall we turn aside to some inn to spend the night.
356
How many new places I came to, how many inns! And in each single inn there is an innkeeper, one kind, another mean.
357
They take in those who arrive and send off those who leave, sometimes not without a quarrel.
358
The first part of the journey was spoilt by rain; and so it came about that, held up by the mud and tired out, we only reached Rubi after four days.
359
The next day we rode to Canusium, where the bread is as gritty as can be.
360
There is hardly any difference between that bread and a stone.
361
It is otherwise in the little town we reached on the sixth day, whose name has slipped my memory; for here the bread is very good, but water, the cheapest of things, is sold for a price.
362
Here too the mules are freed of their pack-saddles, and we turn aside to an inn to rest a little.
363
My brother and I go off to play, my father and mother to sleep.
364
I always wonder, for my part, why grown-up people are so fond of sleep.

dēversōrium: hotel
pernoctēmus: spend the night
caupō: shopkeeper, salesman
malīgnus: spiteful
excipiunt: take out, from excipio
rixā: violent or noisy quarrel, brawl
corrumptum: spoil
lutō: mud, dirt, from lutum
Rubōs: red dye, from Rubi
quadrīduum: period of four days
dēmum: at last, not till then
Postrīdiē: on the next day
Canusium: basket
lapidōsus: stony, full of stones
lapidem: stone, from lapis
vix: scarcely, hardly
interest: be, be in the midst, from intersum
oppidulō: small town, from oppidulum
memoriā: memory
excidit: cut out, from excido
vīlissima: cheap, common, from vilis
pretiō: price, from pretium
līberantur: free, from libero
aliquantulum: little, small, from aliquantulus
requiēscerēmus: quiet down
mīror: be amazed
adultī: grow up, mature, from adolesco

365
For how much better is play!
366
The next day we came to Trivicum, where there was no inn, but the country house of a friend took us in.
367
Then we came through the mountains by the straight road to Beneventum.
368
This place showed itself worthy of its own proper name.
369
For its name is in truth the fatal and ill-omened Maleventum, and we in truth met with an ill wind.
370
Our host at the inn was busily preparing dinner for us in the kitchen; he was turning very fat thrushes on the fire; suddenly that ill wind caught up the flame, the flame slipped through the old kitchen and was hurrying to lick the top of the roof, and the host himself was almost burnt.
371
There is an uproar all through the house, there is shouting, there is howling.
372
The guests eagerly snatched the dinner out of danger, the slaves brought water to put out the flames, and we laughed at it all.
373
We ate our dinner half burnt.
374
After this we reached Capua, where my brother and I went off to play; we played ball for a whole hour.

Posterō: coming after, following, from posterus
Trivīcum: place where three roads meet
rēctā: straight, direct, from rectus
dēmōnstrāvit: point out, explain, from demonstro
fātāle: fated, destined, from fatalis
inauspicātum: without auspices, from inauspicatus
Maleventum: cheeks, jaws
oppositī: opposite, from oppositus
Nempe: truly, certainly
hospes: host
sēdulō: carefully
culīnā: kitchen
turdōs: thrush, from turdus
īgnī: fire, from ignis
versābat: keep turning, spin, from verso
corripuit: seize, grasp, from corripio
flammam: flame, blaze, from flamma
lambere: lick, from lambo
ārsit: be on fire, from ardeo
Turbātur: disturb, agitate, from turbo
ululātur: howl, yell, from ululo
avidī: greedy, eager, from avidus
afferre: bring to, carry, from adfero
exstinguendās: put out, extinguish, from exstinguo
sēmiūstam: half-burnt, singed

375
We play ball in this way.
376
Three players stand in three corners, each one of them holding a ball; and they throw the balls wherever each one wishes.
377
When the ball slips from the hands and falls, that is a fault.
378
Those who are better at the game can catch with the right hand and with the left, but who can catch three at once?
379
Which is just what happened to me.
380
For I caught one with my right hand and another with my left, and the third hit me in the middle of the nose; and so it came about that the blood flowed and the game came to an end.
381
When we began the journey again the next day, my father, a very learned man, discoursed to us at length about Hannibal; which displeased my brother and me very much; for surely a carriage is not a school of letters?
382
Surely my father is not that Orbilius, from whose cane Horace pulled his hand away?
383
We wanted to play at odds and evens on our fingers, while he went on about Hannibal.
384
What is Hannibal to us?

lūsōrēs: player, from lusor
Perītiōrēs: skilled, skillful, from peritus
laevā: left hand
ūnā: in the same place, at
contigit: touch, from contingo
efflūxerit: flow out, flow forth, from effluo
doctissimus: learned, wise
valdē: greatly
displicuit: displease, from displiceo
Orbilius: circle
Quippe: of course
micāre: vibrate, quiver, from mico
cupiēbāmus: wish

385
What if he wasted one winter at Capua, what if his soldiers were made soft by luxury?
386
What if Quintus Fabius Maximus the Delayer beat him?
387
In learning we too are delayers.
388
If he restored the state by delaying, we by delaying beat the Delayer himself.
389
When the teaching was over, we were allowed at last to play at odds and evens.
390
We play in this way.
391
One player suddenly raises his hand, and with his hand raised now stretches out some of his fingers and now closes them; it is for the other to say how many fingers he has stretched out.
392
On this day we grew sick of the journey because of Hannibal.
393
Then by the Appian Way through Sinuessa, where we first saw the Tyrrhenian sea, we make for Formiae, soon along the coast, and at last we make for Fundi, where we spent the night.
394
At Fundi we were greeted by the prefect, a man (so it seemed) out of his mind; for he was so full of himself that he gave himself the airs of a praetor.

trīvit: rub, wear away, from tero
mollēs: soft, from mollis
luxuriā: luxury
cūnctātor: delayer
cūnctātōrēs: delayer
cūnctandō: delay, impede, from cuncto
restituit: restore, from restituo
pūblicam: public officer, from publica
ērēctāque: upright, erect
aliquot: anyone
extendit: stretch, from extendo
comprimit: press, fold, from comprimo
pertaesum: it wearies, from pertaedet
Appiā: Appius
maritimam: maritime, from maritimus
Fundōs: sling, from Fundi
perēgimus: disturb, from perago
praefectō: commander, from praefectus
īnsānō: mad, raging, from insanus
glōriōsus: glorious, full of glory
speciem: sight, appearance, from species
praetōris: praetor, from praetor
prae: before, in front of

395
For Fundi is a prefecture, not a township; but he had claimed the title of praetor for himself.
396
So he appeared dressed in a bordered toga and a broad purple stripe.
397
What a ridiculous business!
398
What an empty-headed man!
399
Now that Brundisium has been left, where do we live?
400
What does Horace say about those who travel?
401
Why did we set out for Rome?
402
How did we carry the baggage?
403
How far is Brundisium from Rome?
404
Where did we turn aside towards nightfall?

praefectūra: command
arrogāvit: ask, question
praetextā: toga bordered with purple worn
clāvō: nail, furnish
rīdiculam: laughable, funny, from ridiculus
vānum: empty, vain, from vanus
dēvertēbāmus: divert, turn away

405
What was the first part of our journey like?
406
What then happened to us?
407
What is the bread like at Canusium?
408
What is sold for a price in that town whose name has slipped my memory?
409
What did I do here?
410
What did my father and mother do?
411
Why is Beneventum so named?
412
What did the host do here?
413
What did the slaves bring to put out the flames?
414
How did my brother and I play at Capua?

415
How did it come about that the blood flowed from my nose?
416
What was my father telling us about on the journey?
417
How did Fabius Maximus restore the state?
418
Describe the game we play with flicking fingers.
419
There is an uproar all through the house.
420
There is shouting.
421
There is howling.
422
There was a rush to the inn.
423
The fighting was fierce.
424
The slaves brought water to put out the flames.

Concursum: running to and fro, collision, from concursus
ācriter: sharply, fiercely
attullērunt: bring

425
I go off to play.
426
My father and mother went off to sleep.
427
We shall go to bed.
428
We gather the baggage for the journey.
429
I went into the tablinum because I wanted to find my father.
430
He was wearing a bordered toga because he wanted to give himself the airs of a praetor.
431
We left because we had eaten enough.
432
I kept quiet because I had seen the master.
433
We turned aside to an inn because we were sick of the journey.
434
I was yawning at school because I had not slept enough.

Cubitum: elbow
taedēbat: be tired, from taedet
hiābam: gape, open wide, from hiō
dormieram: sleep, rest

435
Because I was tired I begged my mother to let me go to bed.
436
I went off as fast as I could because my mother had given me leave.
437
I was afraid of the master because I had lost my book.
438
He made for the shop because he was hungry.
439
Who received us at Fundi?
440
What was this prefect like?
441
What was my mother telling us while we were leaving Fundi?
442
Why did Jupiter order all the birds to come together?
443
What sort of king was he going to make?
444
What then did the jackdaw do?

ōrāvī: beg, ask for, from oro
veniam: favor, kindness, from venia
āmīseram: lose, from amitto
Tabernam: tavern, inn, from taberna
creātūrus: creation
grāculus: jackdaw

445
What appearance did he give himself?
446
What was Jupiter going to do?
447
What did the other birds do?
448
And what happened to the jackdaw?
449
What does the word clitellae mean?
450
Why is an inn called a deversorium?
451
What is a kitchen?
452
In what do we ride on a journey?
453
Why was Quintus Fabius Maximus called the Delayer?
454
What does a praetor do?

455
In what dress is he clothed?
456
Why must tongues be held at a sacrifice?
457
What is an assembly of men?
458
What does an innkeeper do?

habitū: condition, state, from habitus
amicītur: clothe, cover, from amicio
favendum: favor, befriend, from faveo
conventus: agreement, compact

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