Be Well – A Grammatical Commentary /  by Anthony Gibbins

Today’s page has three sentences. The bare bones of the first sentence are Alanus canem filio dedit Alanus gave a dog to his son. Alanus is described as noster our, an affectionate epithet. In apposition to Alanus is pater benignus a kind father. In apposition to filio is his son’s name, Scipioni. His name, of course, is Scipio, but words in apposition must match the case of the word they are in apposition to. filio is Dative, so Scipioni must be Dative also (just as pater benignus is Nominative to match the case of Alanus). canem is described by the Adjective parvum small. The entire sentence begins with the Adverb nuper recently, clarifying when Alan gave Scipio the dog. Finally, the narrator interrupts her own statement with - ut narravi - as I narrated. ut with an Indicative Verb is most often translated as as. You may remember that the narrator told this part of the story in episode 8.

Recently – as I have narrated – our Alan, a kind father, gave a small dog to his son, Scipio.

The bare bones of the second sentence are tabernaria illos valere iussit The shopkeeper ordered them to be well. This sounds a lot stranger in English than it does in Latin. A common way to bid someone farewell in Latin is the Imperative Verb vale be well! (to one person) or valete be well! (to more than one person). Therefore, to say The shopkeeper said goodbye to them we must say, in Latin, The shopkeeper ordered them to be well. illos they is described by a Numerical Adjective tres three and a Present Participle discedentes departing. discedentes is expanded upon with a Prepositional Phrase, a zoopolio from the pet store.

The shopkeeper said goodbye to the three of them as they proceeded from the pet store.

The bare bones of the third sentence are psittacus ‘valete’ iteravit The parrot repeated ‘valete’. The parrot is described as loquax talkative.

The talkative parrot repeated ‘Goodbye’.

The Plan for April – A Grammatical Commentary /  by Anthony Gibbins

We will be doing something different with the April posts. Instead of riffing on this or that topic, each post will provide a Grammatical Commentary of the day’s page. Here is today’s post, to show you what I mean. I'm not sure who exaclty this particular level of grammatical analysis will help, but hopefully it will find its audience.

Today’s page has 4 sentences. The first contains only two words. salve is an Imperative Verb meaning Be well! It is a common Latin greeting. lector means reader. It is in the Vocative Case because the reader - that’s you - is being addressed.  

Hello reader!

The second sentence also contains two words. ut means so many different things in so many different circumstances. vales means you are well. But put the two together and make it a question and ut vales? means something like How are you doing?

How are you?

The bare bones of the third sentence are ades ut cognoscas num Marcellus in periculo sit You are here that you might find out whether Marcellus is in danger. This needs some pulling apart. ades means you are here. The Pronoun tu you is used, although it need not be, because ades already contains that information. ut cognoscas is a Purpose Clause, i.e. it explains the Purpose of why you are here. There are numerous ways to express Purpose and this is a common one; ut plus a verb in the Subjunctive Mood. ut cognoscas means that you might find out. num Marcellus in periculo sit is an Indirect Question. The Direct Question would be est Marcellus in periculo? Is Marcellus in danger? num at the beginning of an Indirect Question means whether. An Indirect Question requires a Subjunctive Verb, and sit is is the Subjunctive form of est. Marcellus is described as noster our, an affectionate epithet. The whole sentence in preempted with a Prepositional Phrase sine dubio without a doubt.

Without a doubt you are here that you might find out whether our Marcellus is in danger.

The bare bones of the fourth sentence are pauca narranda sunt a few things are needing to be told. pauca is an Adjective being used Substantively, which means that it is standing in for a Noun. The Adjective itself means few. pauca is Plural and Neuter so on its own, Substantively, it means a few things. If it was Plural and Feminine - paucae - it would mean a few women, and if it was Plural and Masculine - pauci - it would mean a few men or a few people. narranda is a Gerundive of Obligation, which is its own thing and just doesn’t exist in English. A Gerundive is traditionally described as a Verbal Adjective, although there are people who will argue against that definition. But anyway, here, at its most literal, narranda means needing to be told, and describes pauca. sunt means are. pauca is expanded upon with the Prepositional Phrase de tabernaria about the shopkeeper. tabernaria is expanded upon with the Genitive zoopolii of the pet store. primum is an Adverb meaning firstly and tamen is an Adverb meaning however.

Firstly, however, a few things are needing to be told about the shopkeeper of the pet store.

Guest Post : Magistra Lall on using Legonium in the classroom /  by Anthony Gibbins

While scrolling through my Twitter feed in October 2016, I came across several retweets of a new Latin series about a fictitious Lego community, Legonium. At the time, my upper level Latin students at Medfield High School, a public school just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, were reading sections of Julius Caesar’s De Bello Gallico. After perusing the first chapter of Legonium, I thought incorporating this modern reading into our class would be a refreshing break from the ancient texts we had been translating. I presented the first chapter to our class during an extended block period and told them that if they hated it, we’d never read Legonium again. The students immediately became invested in the story, were excited to read about the adventures of Marcellus, and felt empowered that they could actually read the Latin!

As the weeks of our school year progressed and new chapters of Legonium emerged, our class began a steady routine. Upon the release of each new chapter, students could work in groups of 2 or 3 to read the chapter, create a vocab list of any unknown vocabulary, and make a prediction for the next chapter. I was so impressed by the interest and creativity in their work, that I began exploring ideas for my students to write their own chapters of the Legonium series.

For the seniors’ midterm projects in January 2017, each student was tasked with writing their own version of chapter 7. They had to write in the same style as the previous six chapters of Legonium, and maintain the storyline and characters that we had previously encountered. Students wrote about Claudia’s secret jaunt to Russia for a date with Vladimiri Putinus, the inner workings of Pico the cat, and even creative ideas of how Marcellus would pay off his debt to the bank.  We truly look forward to the Kalends of each month to see if any of our predictions for the upcoming chapters have come true. We can’t wait to see what happens next!

--Anna Lall

Latin Teacher

Medfield High School

@MagistraLall

I have seen the product of these midterm projects, and they are outstanding. One of them was entirely illustrated with hand drawn pictures. You can see one of those pictures on today’s page. Thank you, Anna, for sharing your use of Legonium in the classroom. I hope your (extremely talented) students enjoy episode nine, which will release in just a few days.

Did you see the new clothes of Marcellus? Without a doubt Monas will notice his clothes. Is our Marcellus in danger? Oh no!

the ablative of time when /  by Anthony Gibbins

The Ablative Case is the Swiss Army Knife of Cases. You could write a book on the things it can do – in fact, I’m pretty sure that somebody has. Ablative of Separation. Ablative of Means. Ablative of Instrument. Ablative of Agent. Ablative of Description. Blah blah blah. One of my favorites is the good old honest Ablative of Time When. It tells you when something happens. Simple.

Take this expression for example; primus dies Autumni the first day of Autumn. Now let’s change primus dies to the Ablative Case; primo die Autumni. Just like that it means on the first day of Autumn. Let’s try another. quinta nox anni means the fifth night of the year. In the Ablative quinta nocte anni means on or during the fifth night of the year. One more; annus bonus means a good year. The plural anni boni means good years. The Ablative Plural annis bonis means in good years. colonus annis bonis laetus est The farmer is happy in good years.

On today’s page is a wonderful Latin expression hoc ipso tempore at this very moment. It is an Ablative of Time When. In the Nominative Case it would be hoc ipsum tempus this very moment. To break it down, hoc means this, ipsum means actual and tempus means time. So, literally hoc ipso tempore probably means at this actual time, but who wouldn’t prefer at this very moment?

To change tack for a second, do you like Marcellus’ new outfit? It once belonged to Newt Scamander from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I was wondering what Marcellus would do with all that money…

At this very moment the door of the small attic room of Marcellus opens and the painter himself (the actual painter!) exits, dressed in new and expensive clothing.

take the Legonium Fabulae quiz! (I did) /  by Anthony Gibbins

So, occasionally, maybe once every couple of weeks, I google Legonium to see what comes up. There is often something new. I have found a Quizlet set, some lessons plans, a Pinterest post, and a handful of links from Russia, the Netherlands, France, the USA and Rome. It’s cool to think that people and organisations are mentioning Legonium on their websites, and even cooler to think of it making its way into people’s classrooms. Yesterday I found something that I really enjoyed.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=j8uWO0wXZUuC61zDi54GbBfID-0LERlNmUsPazcICT5UOTZGS0NRT1VCUVFIVzVEWFNVMDEyRUZRNi4u

It is a Multiple Choice Quiz on Episodes 2-3 of Legonium. It is full of good humour and was a real pleasure to sit; I’m proud to say that I scored full marks! I hope you’ll give it a try and report back on how you did.  I don’t know who made it, but I’d love to hear from them if they read this. Indeed, I’d be grateful to hear from anyone who is using Legonium in the classroom, or in the home, to teach themselves or another Latin. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to make Legonium a place for Latin learners, and any feedback on how it is currently being used would be valuable. If you can spare five minutes to let me know, I really would appreciate it. You can leave it as a comment to this post. Ta.

‘Therefore, it behoves me to find someone (or someone) who seems to be richer by much than before. But how shall I find her (or him)?’

quid novi apud te? the Partitive Genitive /  by Anthony Gibbins

When you next bump into a friend you haven’t seen for a while, why not hit him or her up with a quid novi apud te? It means, more or less, What’s new? Hyper-literally, it means something more like What of new [is there] near you? novi is a Partitive Genitive. The Genitive has many roles, the most common of which is to express Possession. But the Partitive Genitive is super useful too.

As the name suggests, the Partitive Genitive is used to indicate the larger set of which something is a part. It could be a singular set, such as pars Legonii part of Legonium or a plural set such as pars civium part of the citizens. It is handy for differentiating between, say, multa aedificia many buildings and multa aedificiorum many of the building.

The words satis enough, nimium too much and aliquid something can be used with a Partitive Genitive too. satis pecuniae enough of money, nimium pecuniae too much of money and aliquid pecuniae something of money. ego aliquid pecuniae habeo I have something of money or, in better English, I have some money.

Strangely, the word milia thousands is followed by a Partitive Genitive, but not mille a thousand. And so, we get mille aedificia a thousand buildings but sex milia aedificorum six thousand of buildings or, in better English, six thousand buildings.

Another use is with both Comparative and Superlative Adjectives. For example, Scipio est laetior duorum puerorum Scipio is the happier of the two children. Scipio est laetissimus omnium puerorum Scipio is the happiest of all the children.

And, to finish off, let’s look at the usage on today’s page; plus pecuniae more of money.

‘Ravena said that the suitcase had been full of money,’ he thinks to himself. ‘Therefore the thief – or thieves –  now has more money than formerly.’

Guest Post : Who Benefits? by Wyatt B. and Lachlan M. /  by Anthony Gibbins

It is with considerable excitement that I introduce to you Legonium’s second (and third) guest posters. Wyatt and Lachlan are two Form VI pupils at the School in which I teach. They are currently studying Cicero’s pro Roscio Amerino and each has a keen interest in the history of economic theory. Enjoy!

But, before you begin, you may wish to reread this post on the expression cui bono?

In the pro Roscio Amerino, Cicero sets out to convince the jury of his client’s innocence. His client is Sextus Roscius, and the crime of which he stands accused is the murder of his own father. Cicero hangs his defense on two word - cui bono to whom is it a benefit? – a technique he claims to have inherited from an advocate of the previous generation. Cicero’s argument is that Roscius, a poor farmer (poor by the standards of the capital, at least), is accused of murdering his father for personal profit. Yet when Cicero asks cui bono?, it becomes clear who has benefitted most from the old man’s death. The accusers themselves have acquired large wealth by corruptly purchasing the father’s property at a ludicrous 0.03% of its worth: the defendant, meanwhile, has lost his father, his wealth, and his pride.

Cicero’s cui bono? is based on a belief that people act primarily for rational reasons, and aim primarily toward self-benefit. And it is cui bono? that enables Cicero to dismiss the accusations against Roscius as ridiculous. Cicero asks to whom is it a benefit? demonstrating that Roscius, who stood to gain nothing, could not reasonably be considered the murderer. The prosecution, on the other hand, would have been acting in rational self-interest by murdering Roscius’ father, since it gave them unfettered access to his estate. They, therefore, are more likely to be the guilty party.

This position, that humans are more likely to act out of self-interest than emotion, is at the heart of the work of Adam Smith, an 18th Century philosopher who proposed, in a line similar to Cicero’s, that most humans act out of a desire to further their own self-interest. In his manifesto, The Wealth of Nations (1776), Smith explains the concept of the division of labour, and argues for the necessity of personal motivation in meeting the most pragmatic of society’ needs. He explains that the production of a woolen sweater, for example, relies upon a division of labour into numerous disconnected activities; for the spinning of the wool, the workman’s tools, the spinner’s clothes, the farming of sheep, and so on. It is evident that even basic production relies on vastly divided resources and labour. And yet, somehow, this all requires coordination. What exactly drives this myriad of interactions? Smith suggests that personal profit is the only efficient motivator;

Man... will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favour, and show them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them... It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

Monas, meanwhile, is not trying to solve the problems of human motivation, only to find a missing suitcase. But it is a suitcase full of cash. And, if he can determine who appears to be benefiting from its content, perhaps it will lead him to its discovery.

With the sun setting, Monas meanwhile is sitting on the balcony of the restaurant thinking about Ravena and the suitcase. ‘To whom is it a benefit? To whom is it a benefit?’ he turns over to himself in his mind.

so happy together /  by Anthony Gibbins

happy, happier, happiest : All three are Adjectives. In grammatical terms, they are adjectives of differing Degree. The three Degrees of an Adjective (or an Adverb, for that matter) are Positive (happy), Comparative (happier) and Superlative (happiest or very happy).

Alanus est laetus. Alan is happy. Scipio est laetior quam Alanus. Scipio is happier than Alan. parvus canis est laetissimus. The small dog is very happy. parvus canis est quam laetissimus. The small dog is as happy as you can possibly imagine.

This little dog is so happy, because he has found both a new friend and a new home with Scipio.  He is also quite rare, by the way, having only ever appeared along with the Series 16 Collectable Minifigure, Dog Show Winner. If you’d like, you can check the Dog Show Winner out here, on the Brickset website. If you like Lego and don’t know Brickset, you are about to be very happy indeed.

Do you know what makes me very happy? The Latin word for together, una. It is an Adverb, but obviously has its origins in the Latin number unus one. It is written with a long final a, like an Ablative, and I prefer to think of it as a kind of Ablative of Manner. una exeunt. Not just they exit together but they exit as though they are one.

Soon Alan and Scipio and the small dog exit out of the pet store together. ‘Be well!’ the shop keeper shouts. ‘Be well!’ the parrot repeats. The very happy dog walks beside Scipio.