Archive for May, 2010
Ancient Roman Baths Posted by kunthra on May 28, 2010
In ancient Roman culture, bathing held a major significance in ancient Roman society. Bathing was a communal activity. Business deals, politics and even courtships between lovers were carried out in the public baths. The bathhouses even contained rooms for libraries, commercial stores like perfume shops, and theaters. There were also separate entrances for women, men and slaves…
In, On, Into Posted by kunthra on May 22, 2010
Let’s compare the two sentences below : 1) In scholā sunt = They are in the school 2) In īnsulā sunt = They are on the island In the first sentence “In” means “in” in English, but in the second sentence “In” means “on” in English. Also, the words that modified “In” like scholā and īnsulā…
Catullus Posted by kunthra on May 19, 2010
Cataullus was an ancient Roman poet known for his shocking and emotional poetry. This video is great because the speaker reads the poem with the appropriate emotion. There’s also a copy of the text he’s reading right on the screen, with an English translation underneath : This video presents a poem that Catullus wrote for…
“But” Sentences Posted by kunthra on May 16, 2010
To express the word “but” in Latin, use the word “sed“. Remember that Latin is a flexible language in which word order is flexible. Technically, you can place words anywhere because nouns have their proper declension and verbs have their proper conjugations. Therefore, it’s not the placement of the nouns or verbs that matter, but…
Dative of the First Declension Posted by kunthra on May 13, 2010
The dative (indirect object) of the first declension has a singular form and a plural form. The dative singular of the first declension looks a lot like the nominative plural of the first declension : 1) Estis nautae = You all are sailors. 2) Nautae scapham dō = I am giving a boat to the…
Distinguished Women of Ancient Rome Posted by kunthra on May 10, 2010
Despite the fact that women were barred from holding public office and participating in other freedoms enjoyed by men, some ancient Roman women wielded considerable power. In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I’d give tribute to some of the famous or should I say infamous mothers of ancient Rome. Valeria Messalina was the third…
The Indirect Object Posted by kunthra on May 7, 2010
The indirect object states who is receiving or benefiing from the action being performed by the subject. So whenever you do something “to” someone or “for” someone, that’s the indirect object. The indirect object is also called the dative. We will look at the dative of the second declension. 1) Virō fābulam narrō = I am telling…