HUM 493 / REL 493 - Continuation of Intermediate Latin
Course Notes - Week 1
Book 4 of the Cambridge Latin Course finishes the story of Quintus (Stages 35-40), and then advances to unadapted, original texts by Latin authors.
The Emperor Domitian is one of the linking figures for the various parts of this book. The story about Salvius is conjectural - we do not know how the real Salvius ended his life, not even if he was as corrupt as the fictional presentation given in the story. We do know that Agricola, the great general, was recalled from Britain and sent into virtual retirement - probably because the Emperor Domitian was jealous of him.
Stage 35 gives examples of the style used when writing letters between friends.
The setting is around the year AD 83.
The Emperor Domitian made a Triumphal Procession to celebrate his claim of victory over the Chatti tribe in Germany in AD 83. Thereafter he insisted on wearing a crimson toga, the mark of a victorious commander, when he went to the senate, and he renamed the month of September the "mēnsis Germānicus". He was generally hated and despised, so the name did not remain after his death.
The front cover of the book shows a coin from the time of Domitian, against a background of a mosaic floor.
The photo on page 1 (EPISTULAE) is of a writing tablet - there were four leaves of waxed wood.
The hunting scene on page 5 is from a mosaic from the fourth century, from Sicily - note that mosaic techniques have advanced - it is much more detailed than the earlier ones from Pompeii, and is in color rather than black-and-white.
The mosaic of the country estate (page 8) is late fourth-century, from Tunis - it illustrates a typical county villa of the time, with a walled courtyard, colonnade, and towers at the corners. The estate includes an orchard, and a flock of geese, ducks, and pheasants.
Pliny's villa (model, page 10) was just 17 miles from Rome. The covered colonnade (12 on the plan) was called a "cryptoporticus", and Pliny's private suite (14 on the plan) was a "diaeta" which Pliny had built himself so that he could have a quiet place to study.
The photo on page 11 is of a wall-painting of a sea-side villa, from Naples. Pliny had a similar villa overlooking Lake Como (in the north of Italy).
The inscription on page 17 is from an epitaph to a young slave who had been a secretary for his master :
HOC CARMEN HAEC ARA H(I) C(I)N-
-OVERI SEPULCHRUM EST XANTIA
QUI MORTE ACERBA RAPTUS ES(T)
IAM DOCTUS IN COMPENDIA
TOT LITERARUM ET NOM(I)NUM
NOTARE CURRENTI STILO
QUOD LINGUA CURRENS DICERE
IAM NEMO SUPERARET LEGEN . . .
This poem, this altar, these ash-
-es are the tomb of Xanthius
who has been snatched away by bitter death.
Already he was skilled in shorthand
so many letters and names
to write with running pen
as the running tongue (could) speak.
No-one was better (at reading ?) . . .
The photo on page 20 is of a wooden tablet found at Vindolanda, on Hadrian's Wall in Britain. I cannot read old Latin hand-writing, but the Cambridge notes tell us that it was an invitation from Claudia Severa to Sulpicia Lepidina, inviting her to a birthday party on the third day before the Ides of March.
M'. Acilius Glabro was a real person. He became a consul in AD 91, but ran afoul of Domitian. He was forced to fight as a gladiator in a public arena, survived that, and then was deported. In AD 95 he was charged with "atheism" and executed. "Atheism" meant non-adherence to the worship of the Roman gods and goddesses, and could imply sympathy with Christianity or Judaism.
Lupus is a fictitious character, but the Helvidii were a historical family.
Helvidius Priscus the elder opposed the Emperor Vespasian, and was exiled and then executed.
His son, Helvidius Priscus the younger, was accused by Domitian before the senate, condemned and executed. The charge was probably atheism or treason, but the real reason was probably because he had written a satirical play which Domitian did not like.
Glabro's letter to Lupus, page 35, lines 30-31, mentions the trial of Vestal Virgins for unchastity.
There was indeed such a trial, and the Virgins were allowed to choose the manner of their deaths, rather than being buried alive as the law demanded. Some years later there was a second trial, and another Vestal Virgin was indeed buried alive.
Suetonius, Pliny, and Plutarch all wrote accounts of the trials and executions.
We will meet the poets Martial and Ovid in later chapters.
Back to this Week's Assignment
Source : mainly from the Cambridge Latin Course Teacher's Manual
