Classics
Caesar's Bold Report
Vēnī, vīdī, vīcī.
Julius Caesar (47 BC), sent to the Senate after the Battle of Zela.
Reading Passages
Classic texts and readings from popular Latin textbooks.
Today in Roman History
Thursday, July 30Jan 13 · 27 BC
Octavian Becomes Augustus
Octāviānō senātus nōmen Augustī tribuit.
The Senate voted Octavian the honorific 'Augustus', marking the start of the Principate.
Classics
On Time
Tempus fugit, sed memoria manet.
Adapted from Virgil — the classic reflection on impermanence.
Classics
The Wolf and the Twins
Lupa Romulum et Remum in silvā nūtrīvit. Posteā Rōmam condidērunt.
Roman founding myth, 753 BC.
Classics
Cicero on Friendship
Amīcitia nihil aliud est nisi omnium dīvīnārum hūmānārumque rērum cōnsēnsiō.
Cicero, De Amicitia — his dialogue on the nature of true friendship.
Wheelock's Latin· Chapter 1
Labor Improbus Omnia Vincit
Labor mē vocat. Errāre est hūmānum. Nihil sine labōre.
First reading in Wheelock — simple 1st conjugation verbs and the infinitive.
Wheelock's Latin· Chapter 3
The Poet's Fame
Poēta puellās amat et puellae poētam amant. Fāma poētae in patriā magna est.
Practice with 1st declension nouns and the present of 'amō'.
Wheelock's Latin· Chapter 5
Wisdom and Truth
Sapientia sine vēritāte nōn valet; vēritās sine sapientiā saepe errat.
Introduces the ablative of accompaniment and the negative particle 'nōn'.
Cambridge Latin Course· Stage 1
Caecilius est in tablīnō
Caecilius est pater. Metella est māter. Quīntus est fīlius. Caecilius est in tablīnō. Metella est in ātriō. Quīntus est in hortō.
The famous Pompeian family that opens every Cambridge Latin story.
Cambridge Latin Course· Stage 2
Cēna
Caecilius in tablīnō scrībit. Grumiō in culīnā labōrat. Grumiō cēnam parat. Caecilius cēnam gustat. Cēna est optima!
Daily life in the household of Caecilius — verbs of activity in 3rd person.
Cambridge Latin Course· Stage 4
In forō
Multī mercātōrēs in forō erant. Caecilius argentārius erat. Syphāx mercātor erat; Syphāx servōs vēndēbat.
Imperfect tense introduced through the Pompeian marketplace.
Ecce Romani· Chapter 1
Cornēlia
Ecce! In pictūrā est puella, nōmine Cornēlia. Cornēlia est puella Rōmāna quae in Italiā habitat.
The opening line of Ecce Romani — the point of the whole book pivots on 'Ecce!'
Ecce Romani· Chapter 2
Flāvia
Cornēlia amīcam habet. Amīca est Flāvia. Cornēlia et Flāvia sunt amīcae. Puellae sub arbore sedent et legunt.
Introduces plural nominatives and the ablative of place with 'sub'.
Ecce Romani· Chapter 5
In vīllā
Māter et pater in vīllā sunt. Servī labōrant. Cornēlia et Flāvia ex vīllā currunt et in agrōs veniunt.
Motion prepositions: 'ex' (out of) + ablative, 'in' + accusative (into).
Lingua Latina· Capitulum I
Rōma in Italiā est
Rōma in Italiā est. Italia in Eurōpā est. Graecia in Eurōpā est. Italia et Graecia in Eurōpā sunt. Hispānia quoque in Eurōpā est.
Ørberg's famous opening — pure Latin, no English, but every word is inferable.
Lingua Latina· Capitulum II
Familia Rōmāna
Iūlius vir Rōmānus est. Aemilia fēmina Rōmāna est. Mārcus, Quīntus, Iūlia līberī sunt. Mārcus fīlius est, Iūlia fīlia est.
Nouns of masculine, feminine, and mixed groups — the concept of 'līberī' as children of both sexes.
Classics
Horace on Seizing the Day
Carpe diem, quam minimum crēdula posterō.
Horace, Odes 1.11 — the origin of 'carpe diem'.
Classics
Virgil on Fortune and the Brave
Audentēs fortūna iuvat.
Virgil, Aeneid 10.284 — spoken by Turnus rallying his men.
Classics
Seneca on Learning
Nōn scholae sed vītae discimus.
Seneca, Epistulae Morales — a reversal of his own complaint about schooling.
Classics
Terence on Humanity
Homō sum, hūmānī nihil ā mē aliēnum putō.
Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 77 — one of the great humanist mottos.
Classics
Ovid on Change
Omnia mūtantur, nihil interit.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.165 — Pythagoras's speech on transformation.
Classics
Pliny the Younger on Books
Nūllus est liber tam malus ut nōn aliquā parte prōsit.
Attributed by Pliny the Younger to his uncle, Pliny the Elder.
Wheelock's Latin· Chapter 2
Patria and Pecūnia
Patria mea est magna. Fortūna puellae est parva, sed vīta bona est.
Practice with 1st declension nominatives and genitives.
Wheelock's Latin· Chapter 7
The Danger of Anger
Īra hominum bonōrum saepe magna est, sed nōn diū manet.
Third declension noun 'homō' + adverbs.
Wheelock's Latin· Chapter 10
Cicero on the Human Mind
Mēns hominis sapientis semper vēritātem quaerit.
Third declension genitives and the verb 'quaerō'.
Cambridge Latin Course· Stage 3
Ancilla in vīllā
Ancilla in ātriō stat. Ancilla est Melissa. Melissa est Graeca. Cerberus est canis. Cerberus dormit.
Meet the household — Melissa and the dog Cerberus.
Cambridge Latin Course· Stage 5
Mercātor et fūr
Fūr in vīllam intrāvit. Fūr pecūniam mercātōris cēpit. Sed canis fūrem vīdit et lātrāvit.
First taste of the perfect tense — the classic Cambridge thief story.
Ecce Romani· Chapter 3
Sextus
Sextus est puer molestus quī semper Cornēliam vexat. Cornēlia Sextum nōn amat.
Introduces relative pronouns with 'quī' and the accusative object.
Ecce Romani· Chapter 9
Iter
Cornēliī Rōmam petunt. Per viam Appiam iter faciunt. Rāeda lentē prōcēdit quod via est plēna hominum.
The family sets out for the capital along Rome's most famous road.
Lingua Latina· Capitulum III
Fluvius et īnsula
In Italiā sunt multī fluviī. Tiberis fluvius est in Italiā. In Tiberī īnsula parva est. Īnsula in fluviō est.
Ablative of place with 'in' and plural nouns.
Lingua Latina· Capitulum IV
Puer improbus
Mārcus puer improbus est. Iūlia puella proba est. Iūlius fīlium improbum verberat, fīliam probam laudat.
Adjectives agreeing with masculine and feminine accusative nouns.