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Faustus

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Posts posted by Faustus

  2. Welsh roots lie in Spain and Portugal

    in Archaeological News: The World

    Posted

    The Welsh have more in common with sun-kissed glamour pusses like actress Penelope Cruz and footballer Christiano Ronaldo than pale- faced Germans like Helmet Kohl, according to an academic.

     

    Professor John Koch suggests the Welsh can trace their ancestry back to Portugal and Spain, debunking the century-old received wisdom that our forebears came from Iron Age Germany and Austria.

     

    full article at IC Wales

     

    Interesting Viggen, the seafaring nature of all the places suggested like Portugal, Northern Spain, Brittany, Atlantic Coast of France, Western part of British Isles (Wales); (but particularly Portugal) when you consider the "sea locked" aspect and the "seafaring nature" or strain suggested of all these populations. Portugal has always roused my curiosity. Now this geographical pattern combines with the mystery of the origin of the Celts, of whom it seems there is always more to come.

  3. Where do you see Latin today?

    in Lingua Latina

    Posted

    See-nay dee-yay

     

    Half right. The e in sine doesn't have a macron, while the e in die does. Hence, it's pronounced as "See-ne deeyay," in Classical Latin. :ph34r:

     

    I see upon looking it up that you are correct. It is sine and not sīnē and the marks in the link apply only to English and aren't intended to be used for Latin pronunciations. Thank you very much for the correction Ziriel! I like that big smile ;)

  4. Where do you see Latin today?

    in Lingua Latina

    Posted · Edited by Faustus

    sine die Definition sine die (sī′nē dī′ē)

     

    We occasionally hear this pronounced in the U.S. Senate, and House of Representatives. I have heard it, though it is rare, because in the context it is used there "without a day" means the House or Senate is adjourning without a set day (or date) for meeting in another session.

     

    The pronounciation you will often hear, even by the US Senator who most often makes reference to ancient Rome and specifically the Roman Senate, Senator Robert Byrd) is incorrect.

    ( You can listen HERE to hear the modern version )

    Unless corrected I believe the correct pronunciation sounds (phonetically) like this: See-nay dee-yay

     

    Faustus

  5. Rats! (and mice) Of Rome

    in Romana Humanitas

    Posted

    Lovely post, Faustus. I hadn't noticed that the Romans failed to distinguish between the rat and mouse, but of course you're right.

     

    Another page with more of Horace's satire (and a wonderful reading), see HERE.

    "Once on a time -- such is

    the tale -- a country mouse welcomed a city mouse in

    his poor hole, host and guest old friends both.

    Roughly he fared, frugal of his store, yet could

    open his thrifty soul in acts of hospitality. In

    short, he grudged not his hoard of vetch or long

    oats, but bringing in his mouth a dried raisin and

    nibbled bits of bacon he served them, being eager

    by varying the fare to overcome the daintiness of

    a guest, who, with squeamish tooth, would barely

    touch each morsel. Meanwhile, outstretched on

    fresh straw, the master of the house himself ate

    spelt and darner, leaving the titbits to his

    friend. At last the city mouse cries to him:

    "What pleasure can you have, my friend,

     

    in living so hard a life on the ridge of a steep

    wood? Wouldn't you put people and the city above

    these wild woods? Take my advice: set out with

    me. Inasmuch as all creatures that live on earth

    have mortal souls, and for neither great nor small

    is there escape from death, therefore, good sir,

    while you may, live happy amid joys; live mindful

    ever of how brief your time is!" These words

    struck home with the rustic, who lightly leaped

    forth from his house. Then both pursue the

    journey as planned, eager to creep under the city

    walls by night.

     

    And now night was holding the mid space of heaven,

    when the two set foot in a wealthy palace, where

    covers dyed in scarlet glittered on ivory couches,

    and many courses remained over from a great dinner

    of the evening before, in baskets piled up hard

    by. So when the town mouse has the rustic

    stretched out on purple covers, he himself bustles

    about in waiter-style, serving course after

    course, and doing all the duties of the home-bred

    slave, first tasting everything he serves. The

    other, lying at ease, enjoys his changed lot, and

    amid the good cheer is playing the happy guest,

    when of a sudden a terrible banging of the doors

    tumbled them both from their couches. In panic

    they run the length of the hall, and still more

    terror-stricken were they, as the lofty palace

    rang with the barking of Molossian hounds. Then

    says the rustic: "No use have I for such a life,

    and so farewell: my wood and hole, secure from

    alarms, will solace me with homely vetch."

  6. Rats! (and mice) Of Rome

    in Romana Humanitas

    Posted

    Lovely post, Faustus. I hadn't noticed that the Romans failed to distinguish between the rat and mouse, but of course you're right.

     

    Another page with more of Horace's satire (and a wonderful reading), see HERE.

     

    Thank you MPC. I's always great to get the text in Latin and English displayed side by side!

     

    Faustus

  8. Your Hidden Roman Name

    in Colosseum

    Posted

    "In my hands", I have irrefutable proof positive that Tyrannos Paragon is an itinerant ditch digger cum bathroom attendant! B)

    What you have in your hands has nothing to do with the Paragon Of Tyranny. no2.gif He does not hang-out in bathrooms. No comment on ditch-digging which is a noble trade IN DEED

  9. Earth humming to a Dionysian tune

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    It would be strange indeed if there were no "music of the spheres"

     

    "Indeed, all the spheres do it, all the planets and all the quasars and stars and moons and whirlpool galaxies, all vibrating and humming like a chorus of wayward deities singing sea shanties in a black hole. It's nothing new, really: Mystics and poets and theorists have pondered the "music of the spheres" (or musica universalis) for eons; it is the stuff of cosmic philosophy, linking sacred geometry, mathematics, cosmology, harmonics, astrology and music into one big cosmological poetry slam."

     

    "In other words, you love loud punk? Metal? Jazz? Deep house? Saint-Saens with a glass of Pinot in the tub? Sure you do. That's because somewhere, somehow, deep in your very cells and bones and DNA, it links you back to source, to the Earth's own vibration, the pulse of the cosmos. . ."

  11. US electoral system explained

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    Have no fear though, if obama is nominated, he will certainly lose to the Screamer, m'hat m'cane. I can just picture obama taking Dixie, Indiana, Idaho, Utah and such as Kansas.

     

    Mubarack Saddam Hussein Osama it's a strange name for a US presidential candidate especialy one that was raised in a muslim country and has a crazy priest that hates US ;) His name makes me remember a scene from the movie Crash when the governor was looking for a black hero and they only got an arab fireman named Hussein.

    It's hard to believe that he could get elected in an european country, a clear sign of the different way in which europeans and americans define themselves as nations.

    It

  12. Your Hidden Roman Name

    in Colosseum

    Posted

    snaaretonpnogar

    (consider him a barbarian of an unwelcome nature)

     

    Faustus, here's your "barbarian of an unwelcome nature":

     

    Tyrannos Paragon

    = snaaretonpnogar -e +y

     

    "A paragon of tyranny."

     

    -- Nephele

     

    Thank you. You keep great records, and you found a perfect match in only 25 minutes!

  15. Rate Cuts and the Costs of a Weak Dollar

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    Some lucky people could pay a mere 25% for a mortgage.

     

    At year end, back in the 80's, the banks would arrange for a 25% last trade for Fed Funds and nail me for that rate on my collateral loan which was at the Prime Rate the rest of the year.

    (Horror stories!)

    I got stuck on a 1979 five year contract at 8% on a spec house with a commercial loan at 18%, which I credited (no pun intended) Volker for help. But we all just had to work harder, and were helped some by inflation.

  17. Rate Cuts and the Costs of a Weak Dollar

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    And he selfishly says: I'd like to get my hands on some 14%, 30 year Treasuries. Missed them back on Volkers watch.

     

    Of course, and the rest of the world would find them attractive also, which should not be forgotten. Some interest rates (for construction and the like) in the very late 70's and very early 80's were at 18 percent at the commercial banks. We survived that: side contracts and trades/swaps became very popular.

  18. The Roman Army

    in Gloria Exercitus - 'Glory of the Army'

    Posted

    Desireable height was 5' to 5'3" (Roman measure?). Higher not considered strong; shorter preferred. Strongly built, big hands, intelligent.

     

    Best men in front rank. Each levy district furnished equal parts of each century for uniformity. 8 to 12 ranks; 250 to 375 files, covering a front of less than 1/4 mile.

     

    All these numbers and proportions are something to ponder; very interesting G.O. It will be interesting to see what others add to this.

     

    Putting the shortest men in front has lots of advantages: They present a smaller target, (usually) they are more agile (that

  22. Where did the Great Fire start?

    in Imperium Romanorum

    Posted

    Where did the Great Fire start? I have found some sources stating that it actually started in Regio I, by the Capena Gate. This was only a short hop from the eastern side of the Circus Maximus. Tacitus refers to the east side of the CM but the market area clustered around the gate actually fell in this area even though the CM was consigned to the regio XI.

     

    Tacitus states that the fire was driven by a southeasterly wind. He describes the fire as moving both south up the Aventine Hill and north up the Palatine, implying that this apparently unnatural pattern was due to arson. Today we know that the larger a fire becomes the more updraft it creates -- breezes that interfere with prevailing winds and allow the fire to spread out in search of oxygen, especially up a hill like the Palatine.

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