certiorem facere /  by Anthony Gibbins

certiorem facere is a common Latin expression that means something like inform. Here are two examples from the writings of Gaius Julius Caesar; certiorem me sui consilii fecit he informed me of his plan Helvetii de Caesaris adventu certiores facti sunt the Helvetii were informed about Caesar’s arrival. The Helvetii, by the way, were the first peoples whom Caesar struck against in his ten-year campaign of aggression north of Italy. Even today, Switzerland is officially known as Confoederatio Helvetica, The Helvetian Confederation.

Looking at the two above examples we can learn a little more about how this expression is used. In the first an unknown entity informed ‘me’ sui consilii of his plan. In the second the Helvetii were informed de Caesaris adventu about Caesar’s arrival. ergo therefore, the expression can be used either with a Noun (or similar) in the Genitive Case OR with the Preposition de about, concerning followed – as it always is – with a Noun (or Similar) in the Ablative Case.

On today’s page we find tempus est te certiorem facere de nomine feminae literally: it is time to inform you about the name to the woman. It would have been equally correct, and simply a matter of style, to have written tempus est te certiorem facere nominis feminae literally: it is time to inform you of the name to the woman.

Let’s finish by dissecting the initial expression. facio, facere, feci, factum is a Verb meaning make, among other things. certus is an Adjective meaning, among other things, certain or sure. Like all Adjectives, certus has a Comparative Form, certior, meaning more certain. In the sentence dux Caesarem certiorem sui consilii fecit the leader informed Caesar of his plan, dux is in the Nominative Case - because it is the Subject - and Caesarem in the Accusative Case – because it is the Object. certiorem is also Accusative to Agree With Caesar (whom the leader made more certain).

She was carrying something in her right hand. It was a wrench (lit: mechanical key). (Perhaps it is time to inform you about the name of the woman.)

sententia longissima /  by Anthony Gibbins

Let’s take a moment to unpack this (relatively) long sentence. One hour later. Another way of expressing this might be Afterwards by one hour. The Adverb postea on its own has the meaning of afterwards. If, however, we wish to say afterwards [by a certain Period of Time] then the Adverb post is used, surrounded by the Time Period in the Ablative Case. Our story has jumped forward by one hour, hence una post hora, one hour later.

on the roof is a Prepositional Phrase, consisting of the Preposition in followed by the Noun tecto roof in the Ablative Case. in is one of the most interesting of the Prepositions. Followed by a Noun in the Accusative case, it can mean either into or onto. Followed by a Noun in the Ablative Case, it can mean either in or on. So, in tectum could mean into the roof or onto the roof. in tecto, meanwhile, could mean either in the roof or on the roof. Context will hopefully allow you to tell. A notable exception is in used with the verb pono, ponere, posui, positum to put or place, where we might expect the Accusative but instead find the Ablative. pecuniam in sarcina pono. I put the money in(to) the suitcase.

of the neighbouring building. This requires a straightforward Possessive Genitive. The Genitive has only as handful of roles, and expressing Possession is arguably its most important. English does this with the Preposition of or an apostrophe s. The Genitive of aedificium is aedificii. And, as any Adjective must Agree With (i.e. have the same Gender, Case and Number as) the Noun it is describing, the form we are looking for is proximi neighbouring.

that woman, already known to you. With that woman, we finally arrive at the Subject of the Verb and Sentence. The Subject of a Verb is expressed in the Nominative Case. Meanwhile, the Demonstrative Pronoun ille that, like an Adjective, must Agree With the Noun it is describing. Hence, illa femina that woman. known is expressed with the Adjective nota (which, of course, Agrees With femina). But known to whom? Certainly not to anyone who is not yet reading Legonium. But known to you! The term grammarians use for this is a Dative of Reference, because it is written or spoken in the Dative Case and tells us to whom the statement refers. The Dative of tu you is tibi. The Adverb iam means now or already.

more or less. Let’s be honest. We don’t know all that much about this woman. She has so far slipped in and out of the story without giving too much of herself away. plus minusve is found inscribed on numerous Roman tombstones to indicate that the exact age of the deceased is unknown. It means more or less. plus and minus are the Comparative Adverbs more and less, respectively. The –ve attached to the end of the second word means or.

was intently watching the small room again. This woman – don’t worry, we will learn her name soon enough – was last seen watching this small room in Episode 3 – Pico. Hence the Adverb iterum again. The Syllable ba in spectabat indicates that this Verb is in the Imperfect Tense, a Tense that describes ongoing or repeated action in the past. The t at the end indicates that the Verb is Third Person and Singular, which it must be to agree with its Subject femina. The Adverb intente intently tells us the Manner in which the woman is carrying out the Verb. And finally, parvum cubiculum the small room is in the Accusative Case. This is because the key role of the Accusative Case is to indicate the Object of a Verb, and the small room is the Object of was watching.

On hour later, on the roof of the neighbouring building, that woman, already known to you (more or less), was again intently watching the small room.

Adventure Time /  by Anthony Gibbins

Have you ever played Lego Dimensions? In case you are unfamiliar with such things, let me enlighten you. Lego Dimensions is a video game in the so-called toys-to-life category. Unless I’m missing one out, the first of these was Skylander, followed by Disney Infinity, Amiibo, and then Lego Dimensions. What defines a toys-to-life game is that you can buy physical toys – and lots of them - to place onto a plastic portal that plugs into the game. When you do this, the character appears in the game and you can play with it; not quite life, but you get the idea.

I’ve played two of these and my favourite by far was Lego Dimensions. It has this crazy Multidimensional Intellectual Property thing going on, where Doctor Who, Scooby-Doo and Sensei Wu can all appear on-screen together. When you buy the starter pack you get a pretty cool game, the portal, a bunch of Lego bricks and three minifigures; Gandalf, Batman and Wyldstyle (who is definitely not a DJ). This means that right off the bat you can visit their three Adventure Worlds too; Lord of the Rings, DC Comics and The Lego Movie. But if you want to visit the others – Harry Potter, Ghostbusters, The Simpson et cetera – you are going to need a few more minifigures. And want to visit them you will.

Why do I bring all this up? Because in today’s picture Claudia is wearing a lime-green backpack that is usually worn by the Finn the Human minifigure that comes with the Adventure Time Level Pack. Got it? I agonized for some time over what Latin word to use for backpack.  My German dictionary suggests pera wich the Oxford Latin Dictionary defines as a bag worn slung over the shoulder (for carrying the day’s provisions, etc.), satchel. So, other than the number of shoulders it was worn over, it seems kind of perfect.

On a side note, I looked up adventurer in the English to Latin section of the Collins Latin Dictionary and it suggested vir audax (bold man), which just goes to show that something as seemingly innocuous as a Latin Dictionary can sport a sexist world view. eheu!

‘Goodbye,’ both amicae said. Claudia, wearing her pera, went to the airport, Miranda [went] home. A pera, if you do not know, is a suitcase worn on the shoulders.

2 of 2 - Lego Pompeii and the Nicholson Museum /  by Anthony Gibbins

In February, Legonium episode 7, Claudia will be visiting Pompeii. This has been made possible by the incredible Lego Pompeii that forms part of the collection of the Nicholson Museum. Sydney University’s Nicholson Museum has a proud (if recent) tradition of displaying historical Lego models. In 2012 they displayed a wonderful Lego Colosseum, and in 2014 the Athenian Acropolis. Both were built by LEGO Professional Builder Ryan McNaught. Both brought in a huge number of visitors who otherwise may not have visited the museum. The latest model is their most ambitious by far; Pompeii. In Legonium episode 7 Claudia will visit Lego Pompeii. Here is a little about the model from the Nicholson Museum’s website.

LEGO Pompeii, one of the largest LEGO historical models ever built, is on display in the Nicholson Museum, constructed by LEGO Professional Builder Ryan McNaught aka The Brickman. The model includes Pompeii as it was at the moment of destruction in 79AD, as it was when rediscovered in the 1700s, and as it is today.

As with our LEGO Colosseum and our LEGO Acropolis the model incorporates fact and fiction, history and pop culture. Be on the look out for...

                  Admiral of the Fleet Pliny the Elder

                  Pink Floyd in concert at the Amphiteatre

                  Mozart feeling inspired in the Temple of Isis

                  Archaeologist Steven Ellis

                  Doctor Who and his TARDIS

                  Vulcanologist and antiquarian Sir William Hamilton

                    'Indiana Bones' Estelle Lazer

Soon, breakfast completed, the two amicae rose and embraced. I will send a letter to you,’ Claudia said.

1 of 2 - Lego Pompeii and the Nicholson Museum /  by Anthony Gibbins

Claudia is off to Pompeii. Lego Pompeii. About a thirty-minute walk from my home – I’ve done the walk more than a few times – is Sydney University. And in the Main Quad of Sydney University is the Nicholson Museum. And in the Nicholson Museum is a Lego model of Pompeii.

Here are some details on the Nicholson Museum from their website.

The Nicholson Museum is Australia's oldest University museum and home to the largest collection of antiquities in the Southern Hemisphere. Our gallery is located in the historic Main Quadrangle at the University of Sydney and open to the general public. Admission is free.

The museum was founded in 1860 following the donation by Sir Charles Nicholson (Sydney University’s second chancellor 1854-1862), of his private collection of antiquities and curiosities. Since that time the museum has been overseen by eight different curators, all with different expertise and vision for the development of its collections. As a result the museum has grown in size and scope, today comprising nearly 30,000 artefacts of artistic and archaeological significance from Egypt, Greece, Italy, Cyprus and the Near East. From the intriguing to the macabre, the Nicholson Museum provides insight into the minds of the archaeologists, collectors and curators who have contributed to making our museum a unique Australian cultural institution.

‘I have in mind,’ Claudia said to her amica, ‘to make a journey today to the city of Pompeii. I very much want to explore the ancient monuments of the city.’

haven’t I seen this photo before? /  by Anthony Gibbins

Yes! Well spotted! This is the same photo as appeared previously in episode 5, as Marcellus walked from his home to the barber shop.  It is my attempt to represent that the two episodes – 5 and 6 – occur in the same temporal space. You may remember that as Scipio knocked on the barber shop window and asked his father for money, that Claudia walked past wearing a backpack. Soon, all of that will make sense.

For on that day, a few hours before Marcellus found the suitcase, Miranda and Claudia were having a conversation about a journey.

ientaculum in terra mirabili /  by Anthony Gibbins

What a great word is ientaculum. Say it out loud. The i sounds like the y is yes. And the stress should be placed on the ta. yenTAculum. It means breakfast, although the Oxford Latin Dictionary supplies the rather charming a light early-morning refreshment.

Perhaps you are familiar with the following iconic lines from Alice Through the Look Glass;

Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said: ‘one can’t believe impossible things.’

‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

Here are those same lines from Clive Harcourt Carruthers’ 1966 translation, Aliciae Per Speculum Transitus.

Alicia ridens dixit: ‘id conari non usui est. eis rebus quae fieri non possint nullo modo credi potest.’

‘hoc fortasse te non multum exercuisti,’ regina inquit. ‘cum tot annos haberem quot tu nunc habes, cotidie semihoram me exercebam. aliquando etiam non minus sex rebus impossibilibus ante ientaculum credidi.’

That, without a doubt, I will soon do. First, however, I want to speak briefly about the breakfast of Miranda and Claudia.

quo modo (dicitur) (.com) /  by Anthony Gibbins

quo modo or quomodo is often translated as how, and that is a fair and reasonable translation. Still, it is nice to have a deeper understanding of the word(s). quo is a form of the Interrogative Pronoun and so on its own means what? modus means measure, size, way or method, among other things. Here we will take it as method. Now, you may remember recently reading a post on the Ablative of Manner. quo modo is an example of such a thing. So, taken together, the words mean by what method? Hence, how?

A very common expression in the Latin classroom is quomodo dicitur…? As in quomodo dicitur ‘cat’? Literally, By what method is ‘cat’ said? The answer to which would be ‘cat’ ‘feles’ dicitur.

There is an excellent Podcast called Quomodo Dicitur? that I cannot recommend highly enough. Here is the description lifted straight from their website quomododicitur.com;

Quomodo Dicitur? is a weekly Latin podcast about anything. In each episode Augustus, Iustus, and Iason chat about a particular topic, from life in the desert, to our favorite sports, to the kinds of hijinks we get up to on the weekends. Our goal is to provide meaningful, contextualized Latin input. It might get messy. Sometimes we’ll make mistakes. But we do hope it will be fun.

Hello reader. Recently I promised that I would narrate to you how that suitcase full of money was placed in the dumpster.