::Monday, March 14, 2005 6:41:20 AM::
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pridie idus martias

• Festival of Mars continues (day 14)
• Equirria-- essentially a horse-racing festival which was part of the Festival of Mars, it gave the cavalry an opportunity to 'loosen up' the horses for the upcoming campaign season
• 222 A.D. -- Severus Alexander is given the title Augustus

::Monday, March 14, 2005 6:38:55 AM::
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Today's selection:

nimiety @ Dictionary.com (great word!)

spontaneous @ Merriam-Webster

undecennary @ Wordsmith

malebolge @ Worthless Word for the Day

::Monday, March 14, 2005 6:33:56 AM::
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Praesidens apud cives gratissima  (11.3.2005)

Ex investigatione interrogatoria nuper facta apparet praesidentem Tarja Halonen apud Finnos maxima gratia valere.

Octoginta quinque centesimae (85%) civium censent illam munere praesidentis optime aut admodum bene functam esse.

Tantum tres centesimae, ex quibus maior pars sunt factionis conservativae, illam vituperant.

Tuomo Pekkanen
Nuntii Latini, Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE)
(used with permission)

::Monday, March 14, 2005 6:30:42 AM::
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::Monday, March 14, 2005 6:25:48 AM::
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Father Foster's latest (haven't listened to it yet):

Quoting from the Bible, our “Latin Lover” says 'What's new under the sun?' Meaning that as history always repeats itself translating from the Russian is an easy task, even when it comes to complicated words like “perestroika”

Listen

::Monday, March 14, 2005 6:25:04 AM::
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Latest headlines from Akropolis World News (in Classical Greek):

British Parliament approves polemic antiterrorist law - Everest, how tall are you?
   
Copy of Rosetta stone, to go from U.K. to Catalonia - Cars get ready for end of petroleum era

::Monday, March 14, 2005 6:24:05 AM::
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From Nigeria's Sun Times (a tabloid type newspaper) comes an omen  worthy of Obsequens:

It was shock, disbelief and palpable fear for the thousands of people who thronged Dandu, a neighbourhood of the Wuro Hausa suburb of Yola, capital city of Adamawa State penultimate Tuesday. They had gone there to confirm a tale that was spreading like wild fire across the city: that a woman, in her late thirties, had given birth to a goat. But that was not all the story: she was alleged to have carried this same odd pregnancy for almost twenty-five odd years.  [more ... including a photo and interview with the midwife!]

Cf. some omens from Obsequens (via the Latin Library):

163 B.C.: Caere porcus humanis manibus et pedibus natus, et pueri quadrupes et quadrumanes nati.

I can't seem to find an example of a human giving birth to a non-human in Obsequens (plenty of multiple-limbed humans and multiple-headed animals) ... but clearly this is the sort of thing needing expiation ...

::Monday, March 14, 2005 6:13:17 AM::
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The Cape Cod Times alerts us to what is the sort of thing I'd likely use in my classroom, if I were forced to teach Language Arts again:

Knowing that thousands of words are based on Latin and Greek, a retired teacher wrote a vocabulary curriculum based on the two classic languages.

But she couldn't give up an idea she thought the world could use. So her retirement has turned into hours spent scouring dictionaries and Web sites to find the Latin and Greet roots of English words.

Her research thus far has been translated into 108 vocabulary lessons that she has sold to 120 different locations nationwide.

The lessons teach students in grades five to 10 vocabulary words that come from Latin and Greek. That way, the students are able to grasp an entire "family" of words at once. The one root word is the glue that allows them to recall the meaning of many words, said Pat Polillo, general manager of Miller's company, Word Web Vocabulary.

The basis of each lesson is a spider web containing at its center a Latin or Greek word, prefix or suffix, such as "bi."

Bi in Latin means "two."

From "bi," Miller found 20 related English words including bisect, bifocal, bigamy, bicycle, biceps. She placed these around the spider web, and also added two brand names: "Bisquick," which comes from the word "biscuit" so named because biscuits used to be baked twice.

Zwieback, a crunchy teething cookie, comes from the same concept as biscuit only in German, she said.

Miller has been using Latin and Greek words to help students learn new vocabulary from as far back as 1966 when she worked as an English teacher in Utah, West Virginia and Maryland.

When she founded her own private school, the Banner School in 1982 in Maryland, all the students used it, she said.

And when she retired here, she thought her audience should keep on growing.

"We're not a household word yet, but we expect to be," Miller said. [more]

Of course, the program has a website ...

::Monday, March 14, 2005 5:56:29 AM::
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Reports on this one have just begun to trickle in ... hopefully we'll get a few more details, but until then, the coverage from the Australian seems to be most complete:

A SKELETON of a Gaul more than 2100 years old was discovered under Geneva's cathedral and is believed to be that of military or religious dignitary from the Allobroges tribe, the Swiss press reported today.

The body of a man aged about 45, buried around 120 BC, was found some 10m underneath the church's choir, the weekly Le Matin said.

Only the legs, pelvis, arms and half of the lower spinal cord have been exposed, as the rest of the body was covered by rocks that were difficult to move.

"I would not be surprised if it is the remains of a great military leader," said Charles Bonnet, the archaeologist who made the discovery, who is known for having found the statues of the black pharaohs in Sudan in 2003.

The Allobroges were a Gallic tribe that occupied the region more than 2000 years ago. They were defeated by the Romans who took control of most of the Rhone valley.

The man seems to have been the object of a cult over the centuries that followed his death, as evidenced by a strange cavity dug under his head as well as the remains of burnt boughs which could have been used during ritual ceremonies. [more]

::Monday, March 14, 2005 5:50:21 AM::
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From the Palm Beach Daily News:

Tales of love, woe, bravery and treachery flowed like nectar at Palm Beach Day School Thursday as Greek gods and goddesses threw open the gates of Mount Olympus and revealed themselves to an earthbound audience of parents during the 15th annual Banquet of the Gods. Pandora rued the day she ever opened the golden box. Helen of Troy recounted the 10-year Trojan War that revolved around her. Seated on the Matthews Auditorium stage, ringed with white cotton ball clouds, the school's fifth-graders acted out their lessons on Greek mythology.

The mighty Zeus shed his earthly form of 11-year-old William Kemp, of Tequesta, who said he qualified for the role because he has a loud voice.

With a silver lightning bolt at his side and a jeweled crown on his head, the chief deity took turns with his wife, Hera, in calling cohorts down off of their mountain to speak to the humans. Afterward, Kemp shared some key points about his character.

"He had a bad temper," Kemp said. "He liked to flirt with all the girls."

... a fair assessment

::Monday, March 14, 2005 5:46:29 AM::
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7.00 p.m. |HINT|  Mystery Gold of the Black Sea Warriors
Long before Egypt and Babylon left their imprint on history, a remarkable culture crafted a vast treasure trove of exquisite golden objects that dazzles the eye and tantalizes the senses. They were the Thracians. Feared and ruthless warriors, they challenged the might of the Greek and Roman empires. According to Homer, they fought on the side of Troy during the Trojan Wars. They left behind an enduring legacy, epitomized by the renegade slave Spartacus, then disappeared into history's mists. 

8.00 p.m. |SCI| What the Ancients Knew: The Romans
Backed by the legions, military and engineering skills, the Romans built one of the largest empires in human history. Technology helped shape the ancient world and reverberates in our western lifestyle and amenities today.

9.00 p.m. |SCI| Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome
Recreate these spectacular, awe-inspiring monuments. The men who envisioned the Pantheon, the Aqueducts of Rome, the Via Appia, the Baths of Caracalla, Trajan's Markets, Circus Maximus and the Colosseum created the epitome of human achievement.

10.00 p.m. |SCI| The Mummies of Rome
The discovery of two Roman-age mummies in a tomb outside Rome was a shock to the scientific community, since there is no record of mummification in Rome's annals. Trace the ongoing steps being taken to unravel this mystery.

HINT = History International

SCI = Science Channel

::Monday, March 14, 2005 5:43:34 AM::
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