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Derivatives of the Ancients
1 (September). Ōdī et amō. Catullus wrote these contradictory words to express his conflicted and painful feelings about his
beloved in Catullus 85. What English words can you find that derive from these three?
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2 (October). Nūlla terra exsilium est sed altera patria. This line is expressed in Dē remediīs fortuītōrum, sometimes attributed to
Seneca. What English words derive from this line?
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3 (November). Nēmō mē impūne lacessit. Can you think of any English derivatives coming out of this Royal Scottish motto?
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4 (December). Nōn enim tam praeclārum est scīre Latīnē quam turpe nescīre. Cicero makes this famous remark in Brutus, his
dialogue about oratory. Can you think of any English derivatives in this Ciceronian line?
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5 (January). Nec sine tē nec tēcum vīvere possum. Ovid offers this witty description of the emotional difficulties that love brings
in his Amōrēs. What English words derive from Ovid’s Latin?
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6 (February). Quod nēmō nōvit paene nōn fit. This line, aimed at alleviating the remorse of human conscience over bad deeds,
comes from Apuleius’s Metamorphōsēs. Can you find any English words deriving from this sentence?
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7 (March). Dūcunt volentem fāta, nōlentem trahunt. This line, originally written by the Greek philosopher Cleanthes, was
translated into Latin by Seneca. Are there any English words you can think of deriving from Seneca’s translation?
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8 (April). Rādīx omnium malōrum est cupiditās. This statement, quoted from Jerome’s Latin translation of the scriptures, known
as the Vulgate, comes from I Timothy 6:10. What English words derive from these Latin ones?
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9 (May). Tantae mōlis erat Rōmānam condere gentem! This exclamation comes out of Vergil’s epic, the Aeneid. Do any English
derivatives come out of this?
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10 (June). Fortēs fortūna adiuvat. This famous alliterative phrase, which features a pun on two similarly sounding words, comes
from the Roman playwright Terence’s Phormio. Can you find any English words deriving from his Latin?
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11 (July). Eheu . . . fugācēs lābuntur annī! The Roman poet Horace makes this expression of grief in his Odes 2.14.1. What English
words derive from Horace’s Latin?
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12 (August). Iacta ālea est. These words, reportedly said by Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon, are documented in
Suetonius’s The Life of Julius Caesar. Can you think of any English words that derive from Suetonius’s Latin?
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