Exempla antiqua

Classical and Medieval Latin examples for learners

Cinerary chest

DIS·MANIBVS·M·DOMITI
VS·PRIMIGENIVS·FECITSIBI
ET·SVIS·LIBERTTIS·LIBERTABVSQ
POSTERISQVEEORUM

Dīs mānibus M. Domitius Prīmigenius fēcit sibi et suīs libertīs libertābusque posterīsque eōrum.

Sculpted scene of male figure standing on pedestal making an offering to a reclining female figure. Two smaller figures at each side hold food and wine.

Marble cinerary urn with lid. Roman ca. A.D. 90–110. British Museum 27.122.2a, b (Fletcher Fund, 1927)

Ipse roundup

After relating the arrest and execution of Catiline’s co-conspirators, Eutropius tells the fate of Catiline.

Ab Antōniō, alterō cōnsule, Catilīna ipse victus proeliō est et interfectus.

Eutropius 6.15


Ipsīus imperātōris animus ad pācem inclinātior erat.

Livy 34.9


Nec tu illī nec mihi virō ipsī crēdis?

Plautus, Amphytrio 756


Quā dē causā Helvetiī quoque reliquōs Gallōs virtūte praecēdunt, quod fere cotidiānīs proeliīs cum Germanīs contendunt, cum aut suīs fīnibus eōs prohibent, aut ipsī in eōrum fīnibus bellum gerunt.

Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 1.1


Ipse emphasizing the reflexive pronoun

Patiēns et fortis sē ipsum fēlicem facit.

Publius Syrus


inclinātior — more inclined (nom. sg. masc.)

praecēdo, praecedere — to surpass
fere — almost
cotidiānus, -a, -um — daily
contendō, contendere — to contend, strive

Noun use of the relative

  1. Quī tacet cōnsentīre vidētur.
  2. Bīs [twice] vincit quī sē vincit in victoriā. (Publius Syrus)
  3. Crudelis [cruel] est nōn fortis quī infantem necat. (Publius Syrus)
  4. Fēlīx quī nihil dēbet.
  5. Male facere quī vult [= optat] numquam nōn causam invenit. (Publius Syrus)
  6. Quod est parātum nōn semper iuvat. (Publius Syrus)
  7. Quod cibus est aliīs, aliīs est ācre venēnum [poison].
  8. Multōs timēre dēbet quem multī timent. (Publius Syrus)

 

Qui bibit

Two monks observe a third who is asleep against a cask.

Quī bibit, dormit;
quī dormit, nōn peccat;
quī nōn peccat, sānctus est;
ergō: quī bibit, sānctus est.

Vocabulary:

peccō, peccāre, peccāvī, peccātus — to sin

sānctus, sāncta, sānctum — holy

Quem recitas meus est libellus

Quem recitās meus est, ō Fīdentīne, libellus;
sed male cum recitās, incipit esse tuus.

Martial 1.38

libellus, libellī, m. — liber parvus

male — badly (adv. of malus, -a, -um)

Funerary Altar of Tiberius Claudius Nicomacus

Rectangular stone with inscription

Marble altar. ca. 1st c. AD. 17 x 14 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Arthur Burkhard. 1963.49.

DIS MANIB
TI CLAVDIO
NICOMACO
ARAM FECIT
SIBI

Dīs Mānib(us), Ti(beriō) Claudiō Nicomacō āram fēcit sibi.

Cippus coin

Coin with equestrian statue

Silver denarius of Augustus. 16 BC.

Reverse of coin showing cippus with highly abbreviated inscription

Reverse

RIC I (second edition) Augustus 362. 1944.100.38334

SPQR
IMP CAE
QVOD V
M S EX
EA P Q IS
AD A DE

S(ENATVS) P(OPVLVS)Q(VE) R(OMANUS)
IMP(ERATORI) CAE(SARI)
QVOD V(IAE)
M(VNITAE) S(VNT) EX
EA P(ECUNIA) Q(VAM) IS
AD A(ERARIAM) DE(TULIT)

Senātus populusque Romānus imperātōrī Caesarī
quod viae mūnītae sunt
ex eā pecūniā quam is ad aerārium dētulit.


Around the edge of the reverse:

L VINICIVS L F III VIR

Martial 6.1

Sextus mittitur hic tibi libellus,

inprīmīs mihi cārē Mārtiālis:

quem terseris aure dīligentī,

audēbit minus ānxius tremēnsque

magnās Caesaris in manūs venīre.


Shelmerdine 12: carus + dat., numbers, si

Shelmerdine 13: Relative pron.

Shelmerdine 14: Present passive

Vocab

libellus, libellī, m. liber parvus
inprīmīs especially
tergeō, tergēre, tersī, tersus to wipe, clean
auris, auris, f. ear
dīligens, diligentis careful, scrupulous
ānxius, -a, -um anxious, uneasy
tremēns, trementis trembling, fearful
manus, manūs, f. hand (manūs here acc. pl.)

If you wait until ch. 16, don’t need to gloss manus; and tremens forms a good lead in to pres. act. ppl. in ch. 17.