Exempla antiqua

Classical and Medieval Latin examples for learners

Gladius irae

The Psychomachia (War of the Soul)

Gladius īr(a)e frangitur in capite patientiae.

Illustrated manuscript with image of female figure wielding a sword which has broken over the head of another female figure, who is unarmed and remains standing.

Cotton MS Cleopatra C VIII, f. 12r


Note spelling of īrae as IRE, which is common in medieval texts, although PATIENTIAE has the textbook classical spelling.

From: http://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2017/01/the-psychomachia-an-anglo-saxon-comic-book.html

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.