Latin course for the Virtual School of Languages

Lesson 8: Marcus as tourist guide

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Text
Epicharmus et Demaratus amici Corneliae et Marci sunt.
Patria Epicharmi et Demarati Graecia est, sed cunctos Graecos iuvat
terras alienas videre, diu ibi esse, templa dearum et deorum spectare,
monumenta clara oppidorum antiquorum visitare.
Itaque libenter antiqua aedificia populi Romani spectare solent -
et Marcus cuncta templa deorum, cuncta monumenta Romanorum
monstrare properat.
Marcum iuvat fabulas antiquas narrare;
neque amici dubitant miram Marci scientiam laudare.

Vocabulary

Practise the vocabulary of this lesson by matching it.
	
Grammar
I'm sure you have noticed these strange, long, unexplained words like "dearum", "deorum",
"oppidorum" etc. when reading the text. They are part of today's grammar: the Genitive.
The Genitive is the case that answers the question "whose?", as in the example 
"Whose bike is this?" - "Peter's". In Latin and some other European languages, like e. g. 
German, the Genitive consists of more than just adding an s or an apostrophe.  
In the O-declension (both masculine and neuter!), the Genitive singular ending is -i 
and the Genitive plural ending is -orum. Examples from the text: amici Marci (Marcus'
friends), templa deorum (temples of the gods).
In the A-declension, the Genitive singular ending is -ae and the Genitive plural 
ending is -arum. Examples from the text: amici Corneliae (Cornelia's friends), templa 
dearum (temples of the goddesses).
It is very important to know of which word the Genitive is an attribute (Marcus' friends or
Marcus' house?) and unfortunately the Genitive doesn't show you to which noun it belongs
(unlike the adjectives). Fortunately, you can usually find it directly after the noun that it describes,
and sometimes between two words it describes. For example "miram Marci scientiam". Miram
is an adjective attribute for scientiam, "wonderful/amazing knowledge", and Marci is a genitive
attribute telling you WHOSE knowledge is wonderful or amazing: Marcus'.

Another new, though not as difficult, part of grammar introduced in this lesson is the infinitive. In
the vocabulary, you no longer see verbs ending in -t (the 3rd person singular) but -re. -re is the
infinitive ending in Latin. The infinitive is the dictionary form of a verb. It does not indicate
any person ("(I) am, (you) are, (he/she/it) is" aren't infinitives, but "to be" is). In English and Latin alike,
the infinitive is often used in expressions like "I like to do...", "It is fun to do..."(Latin: iuvat + infinitive)
"Hurry to do..."(Latin: a form of properare + infinitive), etc. in which case to do stands for any
verb in the infinitive. Very often you'll need to convey more than just a verb, for example the sentence
"It is fun to see foreign countries"(Latin: Iuvat terras alienas videre), in which "to see foreign countries"
(terras alienas videre) is fun, not just "to see"(videre). This means that the sentences can be more
complex than before. However, to make things easier, you can usually find the additional 
information belonging to the infinitive between the predicate (=conjugated verb, e. g. "iuvat") 
and the infinitive.

Exercise
Put the following words into the Genitive and insert them into the text at the right places: 
aedificium, Cornelia, deus, dea, divitiae, Marcus, populus Romanus, templum, Vesta. 

Example: Epicharmus amicus __ et __ est. 
The logical words to insert in this sentence are Marcus, Cornelia, because Epicharmus is Marcus' and
Cornelia's friend. First, put these two words into the Genitive: Marci, Corneliae. Then, insert them into
the blanks: Epicharmus amicus Marci et Corneliae est. 
Every word from the list above can only be used once. The words "Marcus" and "Cornelia" have just
been used for the example, so don't insert them below.

1. Fabulae __ et __ Romanos imprimis delectant.
2. Tullia et Cornelia templum __ intrant.
3. Nam iuvat ibi copiam(=amount, abundance) __ spectare.
4. Divitiae __ magnae sunt.
5. Etiam adversarii __ magnificentiam(=magnificence) __ laudant.

Information: Roman religion
Originally, the Romans had a peasant religion, in which very many gods and goddesses
each had a very limited accountability, for example there were gods for ploughing, for
horses, for cattle, etc.  Very early, foreign gods were imported, especially from Ancient
Greece, which had a great cultural influence on the merely militaristically-superior Romans. 
Some important ones, with the Greek equivalents in brackets: Jupiter (= Zeus), 
Juno (= Hera), Minerva (= Athene), Mars (= Ares), Vesta (= Hestia), Saturn (= Kronos), 
Vulcan (= Hephaistos), Cupid (= Eros), Neptune (= Poseidon).
Jupiter was the highest amongst the gods, the father of the gods;
Juno was Jupiter's wife and queen of the gods;
Minerva was goddess of war, weaving and science;
Mars was god of war;
Vesta was goddess of the fireplace, 6 Vesta-priestesses guarded the holy flame in her temple;
Saturn was god of agriculture;
Vulcan was god of forging;
Cupid was god of love;
Neptune was god of the sea and sailing.
You can find more information on these gods and some other mythological beings at
http://www.messagenet.com/myths/names.html
Of course there were more and more gods as the Roman Empire expanded. The legions
brought home cults originating from Egypt to Britain, from Portugal to Germany and Persia. 
And in some places, the ancient peasant religion still survived, in the form of house gods
for example.

Exercise answers:
1. deorum, dearum    2. Vestae                      3. divitiarum  
4. templi                   5. populi Romani            6. aedificii