Ludi Megalenses (Nova Roma)/MMDCCLXVI

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Revision as of 09:58, 6 April 2013

Publius Annæus Constantinus Placidus omnibus civibus Novæ Romæ S.P.D.

It is a great pleasure of mine to welcome you all into the Sixth Edition of my ongoing, and by now very much appreciated by all of you Citizens of Nova Roma, *IPSE DIXIT *quiz -- a game about language, culture, history and famous people, which, as usual, is meant to entertain you while at the same time educate you a little bit (at least I hope so) in the great and by no means dead language of our ancestors -- the immortal Latin.

Each day, for the duration of these Ludi Megalenses, I shall post seven items based on famous phrases written in Latin. They are not necessarily from Ancient Roman times, and at least one of them has no connection whatsoever with Ancient Rome or its time. But all of the phrases are, of course, pure Latin, and Latin is exactly what I am inviting you here to play with, and hopefully have fun with.

The difficulty level of the quiz shall be variable. Some items, like the first one below, are quite easy, but do not rest on your laurels too much... a harder item may be on your way sooner than you expect!

Now, without any further time to waste, let's move to our *FIRST ITEM.*

• ITEM ONE: NON OLET*

1.What is the literal translation into English of this phrase? (2 points.)

2.Who is the famous person that this phrase is attributed to? (2 points.)

3.Who attributed the phrase to the person in the previous question, i.e. who is the actual writer of the phrase? (More than one answer is acceptable here. 2 points)

4.What is believed to be the origin of the phrase? (2 points.)

5.What is its most common figurative meaning? (2 points.)

Please send your answers to ugo.coppola@tin.it <mailto:ugo.coppola@tin.it> -- *DO NOT *reply directly to this message and *DO NOT *post your answers on the main list, otherwise you shall be disqualified. You are warmly advised to use books for your research work rather than the Internet, even if, of course, I have no power to control this. :-)

• Anyone*within Nova Roma -- regular citizens, new citizens, passers-by

-- is allowed to enter this quiz. Answers sent to me by members of my Cohors Ædilicia are fully allowed.

You have time until the end of the Ludi Megalenses to send me your answers, so do not worry if you are not immediately able to answer, as you can always catch up. I will be posting scores and standings regularily; however, all of the solutions shall be posted together at the end of the game.

So, all of you, join me in this Sixth Edition of our continuing quest for the Perfect Language. Read, search, identify, translate, learn... in a nutshell, *HAVE FUN!!!*

Optime valete omnes!

Publius Annæus Constantinus Placidus

Ædilis Curulis Novæ Romæ