Daily Latin
Episodes
Seneca on the way
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Stoics and Epicureans agree philosophy is the way.Philosophiae servias oportet, ut tibi contingat vera libertas.It is necessary that you must serv...
Virgil on fated vengeance
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Virgil prophesies Carthage’s avenger.Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultorMay someone arise, an avenger, out of our bonesExoriare: may you arise...
Ausonius on winning
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ausonius shows battles won without weapons, or anything else really.Armatam vidit Venerem Lacedaemone Pallas. “Nunc certemus,” ait, “iudice vel ...
Statius on dignity and justice
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Statius on the power of dignity and justice.Vade, atra dature supplicia, extremique tamen secure sepulcri.Go, you who are destined to suffer dark puni...
Lucretius on how to live
04 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lucretius on how to live in the world.Quod siquis vera vitam ratione gubernet, divitiae grandes homini sunt vivere parce aequo animo; neque enim est u...
Ovid drinks to oblivion
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ovid drinks to oblivionAut nulla ebrietas, aut tanta sit, ut tibi curas eripiatEither no drunkenness, or let it be so great that it dispels your worri...
Martial says the rich get richer
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Martial says the rich get richer.Dantur opes nullis nunc nisi divitibus.Wealth is now given to no one but the rich.Dantur: are givenOpes: wealthNullis...
Statius on the fatalism of epic warfare
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Statius on the fatalism of epic warfare.Huc mecum ad manes.Come here, with me, to the spirits of the dead.Huc: to hereMecum: with meAd: to, towardMane...
Seneca on success
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca is circumspect on success.Non est tuum, fortuna quod fecit tuum.It is not yours, what Fortune has made yours.Non est: it is notTuum: yoursFortu...
Gellius sets the stage
27 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Gellius sets the stage for a morality tale."In Circo Maximo," inquit, "venationis amplissimae, pugna populo dabatur."“In the Cir...
Aeneas makes landfall
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Aeneas makes landfall in Italy having lost his father.Hic labor extremus, longarum haec meta viarum.This, our final struggle, the last of our long wan...
Martial on the essence of wealth
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Martial’s irony captures the essence of wealth.Quas dederis solas semper habebis opes.The only riches you will always have, you will have given away...
Statius puts in a pin in self-help
22 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Statius is no self-help guru.Invida Fata piis et Fors ingentibus ausis rara comes.Fate spites the righteous and Fortune rarely attends to the daring.I...
Seneca's secret of contentment
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca’s secret to be content.Nisi sapienti sua non placentUnless to the wise person, his own things are not pleasingOr more idiomatically: The wis...
Virgil on the universality of sorrow
20 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Virgil, on the sorrow lived and seen as one wanders the world.Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt.There are tears for such things, and mort...
Martial is not in a hurry to die famous
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why rush fame, if the price is death? Martial is in no hurry.Si post fata venit gloria, non propero.If after the fates glory comes, I am not rushing.S...
Ovid says love is a battlefield
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Love is a battlefield, says Ovid.Bella mihi, video, bella parantur.Wars against me, I see, wars are being prepared.Bella: warsMihi: for me, against me...
Ausonius on passion ungoverned
14 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ausonius plays on passion ungoverned. Nymphis quae Hylam merserunt furtim: Naides amore saevo et irrito: ephebus iste flos erit.To the nymphs who se...
Seneca's theatre for two
13 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One friend is a stage, for Seneca.Satis enim magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus.Indeed, we are a large enough stage for one another.Satis: enough, qui...
Ovid on daring to love
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ovid speaks of the daring love requires.Per Styga detur, Stygias transabimus undas; sunt mihi naturae iura novanda meae.If passage be granted through ...
Seneca walks the walk
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca emphasises that philosophy is to be livedZenonem Cleanthes non expressisset, si tantummodo audisset.Cleanthes would not have imitated Zeno if h...
Statius on the trauma of war
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Statius shows the trauma of war. Tydea consumpsi! Quanam hoc ego morte piabo?I have destroyed Tydeus! By what kind of death will I atone this?Tydea: ...
Juvenal satirises insatiable ambition
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Juvenal satirises insatiable ambition.‘Acti,’ inquit, ‘nihil est, nisi Poeno milite portas frangimus et media vexillum pono Subura.’‘Nothing...
Martial laments Vesuvius
06 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Martial laments VesuviusHic est pampineis viridis modo Vesbius umbrisHere is Vesuvius, recently green with the shadows of vine leaves.Hic: this, here ...
Hermes Trismegistus inquiries into the esoteric
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hermes Trismegistus seeks out the esoteric.Cupio, inquam, rerum naturam dicere: deumque cognoscereI wish, I said, to speak of the nature of things, an...
Hecato goes full stoic
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hecato, via Seneca, goes full stoic.Desines timere, si sperare desieris.You will cease to fear if you have ceased to hope.Desines: you will ceaseTimer...
Ausonius on the Spartan ethos
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ausonius recalls the Spartan ethosMater Lacaena clipeo obarmans filium,“Cum hoc," inquit, "aut in hoc redi.”A Spartan mother, arming her son with ...
Augustine condemns the slave traders
31 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Augustine condemns the slave traders.Mercatores autem si non essent, illa non fierent.However, if there were not the merchants, those things would not...
Caesar dominates
30 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Caesar dominates.Iubet arma tradi, principes produci.He orders the weapons to be handed over and the chiefs to be brought forth.Iubet: he ordersArma: ...
Obsoquens records an ancient UFO sighting
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Obsoquens records an ancient UFO sightingC. Mario L. Valerio coss.Sub occasu solis orbis clipei similis ab occidente ad orientem visus perferri. C. M...
Themistius on the eternal
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Themistius ponders things of a timeless and higher order.Nam quae rebus mundanis excelsiora sunt, generationem non habent.For those things that are hi...
Livy on battlefield rites
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Livy records the rites before battle.Romani consules, priusquam educerent in aciem, immolaverunt.The Roman consuls, before they led out [their troops]...
Cicero on courage
24 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cicero recounts the brave standing up against injustice.Agyrinenses, viri fortissimi, iudicio se passuros esse dicebant.The Agyrinenses, bravest of me...
Seneca gets cheerful
23 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca finds happiness where others don’t look.Honesta res est laeta paupertas.Cheerful povery is an honourable thing.Honesta: honourableRes: thingE...
Petronius on parvenus
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Petronius begins a rant on new money.Uxor, inquit, Trimalchionis, Fortunata appellatur, quae nummos modio metitur.The wife of Trimalchio, he said, is ...
Lucretius on creation
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lucretius says nothing comes from nothingNullam rem e nihilo gigni divinitus umquam.No thing is at any time to be created from nothing by divine power...
Ausonius on oratory
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ausonius ponders the power of speech.Modo intellego, quam mellea res sit oratio.I understand only now how honey sweet a thing eloquence is.Modo: only ...
Seneca self deprecates
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca looks inward and finds himself wanting.Inquirenti mihi in me quaedam vitia apparebant.To me, inquiring into myself, certain faults became appar...
Martial on the artist
16 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Martial takes down an opponent with slight and wit.Non scribit, cuius carmina nemo legit.He writes not, whose poems no one reads.Non: notScribit: he w...
Cato on buying a house
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cato tells you what to do when buying a houseDe domino bono bonoque aedificatore melius emetur.A purchase will be better made from a good owner and a ...
Valerius on problem solving
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Archimedes sets the standard for focusing on a problem.Noli, obsecro, istum disturbare.Do not, I beg, disturb that (figures in the sand)Noli: do notOb...
Martial takes a tipple
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Martial makes sense of staying up late.Quod nimio gaudes noctem producere vino, ignosco.That you take pleasure to prolong the night with too much wine...
Sallust on power
10 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While Rome fights its enemy, its enemy bribes Rome’s rulers. Sallust comments on true power’s place in one’s mind.Sed dux atque imperator vitae ...
Seneca on wrath
09 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Medea, betrayed, lets loose at the injustice.Merita contempsit mea qui scelere flammas viderat vinci et mare?Has he despised my merits—who by treach...
Cassian on the dangers of idleness
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cassian chastises the lazyIn desideriis est omnis otiosus, et iterum: desideria pigrum occidunt.Every idle person is given over to desires; and again:...
Seneca has stopped having fun
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca bores of rhetorical games Fatebor vobis, iam res taedio est.I will confess to you all, this matter is now tiresome.Fatebor: I will confess.Vob...
Sidonius shows gratitude
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sidonius is grateful to have his life spared, and doesn’t care what others say about that.Vincant eloquio, dummodo nos domino.Let them prevail in el...
Sophocles shows the fear of someone who has lost their mind
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The great Ulysses knows to avoid the once great Ajax who has lost his mind.Videre mentis compotem compos queam.I wish to see him in possession of his ...
Martial and the gentle lion
02 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Martial challenges your expectations with this pithy line.Quid nunc saeua fugis placidi, lepus, ora leonis?Why do you now flee the fierce jaws of the ...
Horace on indiscriminate fate
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Horace reminds us that no fate surpasses any station we may hold in lifeAequa lege Necessitas sortitur insignis et imos.Necessity assigns according to...
Statius invokes the muse to continue being epic
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Statius needs to invoke the muse to continue his epic, as the poem gets more dark and intense.Alias nova suggere vires, Calliope, maiorque chelyn mihi...
Valerius on the goddesses departure
25 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The goddesses intervene in the hero’s affairs, then leave. Accepere deae celerique per aethera lapsu diversas petiere vias.The goddesses accepted a...
Vopiscus on the soldier emperor’s youth
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Quid vis, Thracisce? Num quid delectat luctari post cursum?What do you want, Thracian? Does it please you to wrestle after running?Quid: whatVis: you ...
Martial boasts of Rome's grandeur
23 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Martial boasts of the grandeur that is RomeBarbara pyramidum sileat miracula Memphis.Let savage Memphis speak not of the wonders that are her pyramids...
Vitruvius recounts a shipwreck
20 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Knowledge gives hope, and hope, survival. Vitruvius recounts the wash up from a shipwreck.Bene speremus! Hominum enim vestigia video.Let us hope for t...
Thebaid - Book VII
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Great are the stakes we try to change, but fate may bind the outcome. Statius gives an account of the dilemmas of gods."Exscindisne tuas, divum s...
Tibullus on love's wishes granted
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tibullus tells of the goddess of love granting his wishes."Exsolvit promissa Venus: mea gaudia narret.""Venus has fulfilled her promise...
Suetonius on Nero
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When self image and legacy are worlds apart, Nero said this:"Qualis artifex pereo!""What an artist dies in me!"Qualis: ”what kin...
Tacitus on the Germans
16 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some inherit privilege, others earn command. Tacitus on the Germans."Reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute sumunt.""They choose their k...
Terence - on love
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone who has loved has fought, and Terence doesn’t think this is a bad thing."Amantium irae amoris integratio est.""The quarrels ...
Sophocles shows the fear of one who has lost their mind
03 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The great Ulysses knows to avoid the once great Ajax who has lost his mind.Videre mentis compotem compos queam.I wish to see him in possession of his ...
Petronius on the high life
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Want to live like the rich and famous? Petronius satirises the high life in opulent RomeHic nescio quid boni debet esse.This must be something good, I...
Virgil - Aeneid II
11 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ever felt someone is trying to dupe you? Laocoon knew but it would not save him or his countrymen. quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis. Wha...
Seneca on life and death
10 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca faces up to that most valuable of things, time and how to spend our precious moments, when facing into his own mortality. Quid agam? mors me se...
Persius on vanity
09 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Something trivial getting under your skin? Persius knows this!O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane!Oh, the cares of humans! Oh, how much is v...
Boethius on glory
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Looming death can focus the mind. Here Boethius turns his attention on fame and glory. Gloria vero quam fallax saepe, quam turpis est!Indeed, how ofte...
Apuleius - Apologia
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The law courts did things differently 2000 years ago. Apuleius defends his modest possessions in a charge of witchcraft. Peram et baculam tu philos...
Ovid - Orpheus’ plea
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Orpheus pleads with Pluto to return Eurydice from the dead. In doing this, he points out the inevitability of where all must go. Tendimus huc omnes, h...
Seneca - dealing with anger
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ever regretted an outburst in anger? Seneca offers a solution. Maximum remedium irae mora est.The greatest remedy for anger is delay.Remedium (remedy ...
Statius - Thebaid VI
04 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Looking for hidden meaning in seemingly unrelated events? Portents of doom always make for a good story, says StatiusQuis fluere occultis rerum neget ...
Statius - Thebaid V
03 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How did the ancients excuse poor behaviour? Blame it on the gods of course! Deus ultor in iras apportat coeptisque favet.An avenging god brings them...
Manilius - On fate
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Want to change the world but feel like you cannot? Manilius thought the same. Quis tantum mutare potest sine numine fati?Who can change so much withou...
Obsopoeus - on booze
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Oh booze, you made so much sense at the time, and now the after effects! What does Vincent Obsopoeus say about that? Viribus exhaustis exhaurit et il...
Ovid - Heroides
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ovid’s reflections on the changes to the landscape around Troy reminds us of the impermanence of human endeavours. Iam seges est, ubi Troia fuit. ...
Seneca - A good man
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Be good, have courage, says the stoic sage in a lesson for the ages. Officia sua vir bonus exequetur inconfusus, intrepidus. A good man will perform...
Lucan - On Cato
29 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ever been on the right side that isn’t the winning side? Cato knows how you feel Victrix causa diis placuit sed victa Catoni. The victorious cause ...
Pliny - On Scipio
28 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ever feel that due credit isn’t given in public affairs? Perhaps sentimentality can triumph over magnanimity? To put this quote in context, Pliny ha...
Statius - Thebaid IV
27 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Want to look good going to work? Capaneus does! This line describing the impression he makes on his way to the battlefield in the Thebaid. Galeaeque...
Statius - Thebaid III
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Feel like throwing yourself into the action of something none can stop happening? Mars does, and doesn’t hold back. Sic orsus aperto flagrantes im...
Martial - Epigrams II.XXII
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ever felt frustrated with the creative process? Martial hears you and may have an opinion on where to point the finger of blame. Ecce nocet vati Mus...
John Cassian - Conférences
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The times may have changed but keeping our minds clear of distractions is an issue for the ages. Cassian promotes conscious recognition of something w...
Seneca - on busyness
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca gives a stoic and disdainful view on busyness. Nihil minus est hominis occupati quam vivere. Nothing is less characteristic of a busy man th...
Martial epigrams II.XIII
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A wry observation from Martial before recommending his friend pay his creditor first. Et iudex petit et petit patronus. Both the judge seeks and th...
Statius - Thebaid II
21 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pro, gnara nihil mortalia fati corda sui. Oh, how unaware mortal hearts are of their fate!
Statius - Thebaid I
21 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Unde iubetis ire, deae? From where do you command me to go, goddesses?
Cicero - On duties
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Detrahere igitur alteri aliquid et hominem hominis incommodo suum commodum augere magis est contra naturam quam mors. To take something from another a...
Caesar - Germanic tribes
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ut Germanis metum iniceret, ut Sugambros ulcisceretur, ut Ubios obsidione liberaret. In order to instill fear in the Germans, to avenge the Sugambri, ...
Terence - The Brothers
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Si sperat fore clam, rursum ad ingenium redit. If he hopes it will be secret, he returns to his nature again.
Suetonius - Vespasian
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Vae, puto deus fio. Alas, I think I am becoming a god.
Suetonius - Caligula
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Consulatum quoque traditur destinasse. It is also said that he intended the consulship.
Suetonius - Caesar
14 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Iacta alea est. The die is cast.
Hobbes - Leviathan
14 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bellum omnium contra omnes. The war of all against all.
Sallust- The Jugurthine War
14 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Romae omnia venalia sunt. In Rome, everything is for sale.
Cicero - First Catilinarian Oration
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
O tempora, o mores! Oh, the times! Oh, the customs!
Terence - The Self-Tormentor
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto. I am a man; I think nothing human is alien to me.
Tacitus - Agricola
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant. They make a desolation and call it peace.
Cato - Historical speeches
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem delendam esse. Furthermore, I advise that Carthage must be destroyed.
Livy - From the founding of the city
07 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Vincere scis, Hannibal; victoria uti nescis. You know how to win, Hannibal; you do not know how to use victory.
Lucretius - De Rerum Natura
06 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nil igitur mors est ad nos neque pertinet hilum. Therefore, death is nothing to us nor does it concern us in the slightest.
Decimus Laberius - Mimes
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Non possunt primi esse omnes omni in tempore. Not everyone can be first all of the time.