Friday, May 20, 2011

Round-Up: May 20

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. You can keep up with the latest posts by using the RSS feed, or you might prefer to subscribe by email. I'm Twittering again now at Aesopus and AesopusEnglish.

HODIE: ante diem tertium decimum Kalendas Iunias (and yes, you can have your own Roman Google Calendar).

VERBUM HODIERNUM: Today's word is QUISQUAM - read a brief essay about the word at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in the essay: Melius est quidquam possideri quam nihil, "It is better to have something than nothing."

BESTIARIA PROVERBS: There are some new animal proverbs today for SCARABAEUS, the beetle, and SIMIA, the monkey. Here's a nice one: Diabolus est Dei simia, "The devil is God's monkey."

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Dieneces, the famous words spoken by the Spartan commander before going into battle against the Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae.

FABULAE FACILES: The new easy-to-read fable is Divinator et Latrones, a funny little story about a would-be fortuneteller.

MILLE FABULAE: FABLE OF THE DAY: The fable for today is Pastor et Lupus Familiaris, the story of a shepherd who entrusted his flock to the wolf. (You can also a free PDF copy of the Mille Fabulae et Una book.)

MILLE FABULAE: ILLUSTRATIONS: The latest fables with images are Astrologi et Asinus, the story of a donkey who can predict the weather, and Olitor et Plantae Silvestres, a gardening fable about why weeds grow so quickly.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Wall's Elementary Lessons in Latin and Clark's Sallust (another one of those books done by the "Hamilton" method with interlinear texts).

DISTICHA: Today's little poems are Antiquus gladius, vetus atque fidelis amicus / Sunt tibi pro muro, cum stas in tempore duro. (from Wegeler) and Ne dubites, cum magna petas, impendere parva: / His etenim rebus coniungit gratia caros. (from Cato's distichs).

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: Widgets available at Schoolhouse Widgets.

Tiny Mottoes: Today's tiny motto is: Spectemur agendo (English: Let us be regarded as we act).

3-Word Proverbs Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Vitae sal amicitia (English: Friendship is the salt of life)

Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Nascimur uno modo, multis morimur (English: We are born one way, we die in many). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

Maxims of Publilius Syrus: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Bona opinio hominum tutior pecunia est (English: People's good reputation is safer than money).

Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Ipsi testudines edite, qui cepistis (English: You who caught the turtles better eat them; from Adagia 1.1.87 - it's the punchline to a fable about Mercury and the fishermen.

For an image today, here is an illustration for the story of the fortuneteller: 890. Divinator et Latrones. Circulator quidam, medio in foro, divinatoriam profitebatur et inspectione manuum cuiuslibet sortes augurabatur, magna plebeculae turba stipatus, quam dum suis praestigiis incautam teneret, quidam ipsi annuntiat effractas fores domus suae et omnia a latronibus direpta et asportata. Quo audito, turbatus, relictis omnibus, ad domum cucurrit. Tunc unusquisque exclamabat, “O illusor et mendax, aliorum sortem divinare et scire te dicis, et tuam nescis.” (source - easy version)

Vates et Fur