February 20th, 2023 Latin of the Day - "Acheruntis pabulum"

 February 20th, 2023 Latin of the Day - "Acheruntis pabulum"

"Acheruntis pabulum," also rendered as "Acherontis pabulum" to give the river its more common Greek name

"food of Acheron" - Acheron, or Acheruns in some Latin renderings, is the name of a river of the Underworld. So, Acheruntis pabulum, "food of Acheron," is that which "feeds" the river of death - in other words, those doomed to die. One source recommended "food for the gallows" as an expression in English that captures the idea. 

~ Titus Maccius Plautus, Casina II.i.12

a.d. X Kalendas Martias anno A.U.C. MMDCCLXXVI 

February 16th, 2023 Latin of the Day - "Humanum amarest; humanum autem ignoscerest."

February 16th, 2023 Latin of the Day - "Humanum amarest; humanum autem ignoscerest."

"Humanum amarest; humanum autem ignoscerest."

"To love is human; but to be indulgent is human also." Note the contractions of amare est and ignoscere est.

~ Titus Maccius Plautus, Mercator, 320

a.d. XIV Kalendas Martias anno A.U.C. MMDCCLXXVI 

February 13th, 2023 Latin of the Day - "Ut saepe summa ingenia in occulto latent."

 February 13th, 2023 Latin of the Day - "Ut saepe summa ingenia in occulto latent."

"Ut saepe summa ingenia in occulto latent."

"How often it is that great geniuses lie hidden in obscurity,"

~ Titus Maccius Plautus, Captivi, 165

Idibus Februariis anno A.U.C. MMDCCLXXVI  

February 6th, 2023 Latin of the Day - "Quem di diligunt adulescens moritur, dum valet sentit sapit."

February 6th, 2023 Latin of the Day - "Quem di diligunt adulescens moritur, dum valet sentit sapit."

"Quem di diligunt adulescens moritur, dum valet sentit sapit."

"He whom the gods esteem dies young, while he still is healthy, perceptive, and wise." This sentence is spoken sarcastically in a Roman play by an enslaved person to his young enslaver, and the Roman playwright is paraphrasing a famous line from a Greek play by Menander in the first half of the line - ὃν οἱ θεοὶ φιλούσιν ἀποθνήσκει νέος

~ Plautus, Bacchides, IV, 7, 18.

a.d. VIII Idus Februarias anno A.U.C. MMDCCLXXVI 

February 1st, 2023 Latin of the Day - "Lupus est homo homini, non homo, quom qualis sit non novit."

 February 1st, 2023 Latin of the Day - "Lupus est homo homini, non homo, quom qualis sit non novit."

"Lupus est homo homini, non homo, quom qualis sit non novit."

"A human is a wolf, not a human, to another human, when he has not learned what they are like." (I note a number of translators render this as "Man is a wolf to man, not a man, when he's a stranger."). The form quom is somewhat archaic, the Classical Latin form would be cum.

~ Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254 - c. 184 B.C.E.), Asinaria, 495

Kalendis Februariis anno A.U.C. MMDCCLXXVI