#pliny tag

[girlcaelius]

natural history 28.2. okay.......

[didstwt]

used photo found on pinterest as reference for this one aa ]

[fluentisonus]

tree that you chop down and when you look at the cross section of the part you cut instead of tree rings there's a cross section of a human body that's been perfectly sliced in half in there inside the tree under the bark

[quidam-sirenae]

inspired of course, by the mcelroys. A silly song about Pliny for day five of classicstober.

[madebypointlesswords]

Rating all the Latin authors I've read in the past two years in honor of my oral Latin exam tomorrow

Caesar (De Bello Gallico)

This is a weird one because while his prose isn't extremely difficult, it was also the first unedited work I read, so for lil 15-year-old me, this was very difficult. But I learned a lot from Caesar (especially that he made it an art to making his sentences as long as possible. We read an entire 200 words, and IT WAS JUST ONE SENTENCE.), and the sense of nostalgia while rereading it is very pleasant, so I will give you a solid 6/10

Pliny the Younger (Epistulae)

Mixed feelings about this one again. This could also be just because I despise prose. I really do not like it at all. Pliny's epistulae were pretty okay. I liked them a little better than Caesar's because of their variety (for those that don't know, epistulae means letters). His letter about the Vesuvius was a lot of fun to translate, even with all the hyperbata, but his letters about or to his third wife were very uncomfortable. Like, I get things were different back then. BUT YOU WERE 45, PLINY. 45. SHE WAS WHAT? 14? 15 TOPS? MY GOD. THAT'S A BIGGER AGE DIFFERENCE THAN I HAVE WITH MY FATHER.

7/10

Ovid (Metamorphoses)

Ovid is life Ovid is love. He was the one who introduced me to Latin poetry, and I will always love him for it. He was an icon and a legend. The poems of his that we read (Daedalus & Icarus, Latona and the Lycian peasants, Diana and Actaeon) were all bangers, and I love them all to death. I never wanted to go back to reading prose after this (but unfortunately, I will have to next year. ew)

11/10 (I love you, Ovid)

Vergil (The Aeneid)

*deep sigh* Listen. I love his complex works, and I have great respect for this poem but by the GODS. Vergil's poetry is the most difficult I've had to translate by a long shot. He made me rethink my entire career in Latin. I have considered quitting so many times because of this man. I felt like a complete idiot most of the time. This is not a guy to fuck with. Luckily I got through it on my finals (barely.) but Christ alive this man made my life difficult.

5/10

Horatius (Satires and Odes)

Horatius will always have a special place in my heart. We read his poetry right after Vergil's, and it almost completely restored my faith in my abilities. He's just my little guy and I have fond memories of translating his works. We still know many Latin phrases that he wrote (Carpe Diem being the most famous. Hello, DPS fandom). Also, he and Vergil were most definitely in love. I don't make the rules. I have evidence if you want me to elaborate.

9/10

Catullus (love poems)

Ah, Catullus. Horny poet of the year. Had a wild affair with an older married woman. Nepotism baby. Sappho stan. Didn't know how to budget, but we aren't holding that against him. Just wanted to write poetry and dance (who doesn't, honestly). Gave fuck-all about education. Wrote nearly all of his poetry about the older woman he had an affair with. Might I add that this woman was married to one of his father's bestest buddies? Yeah. Icon. Here's a kid's choice award.

8/10

Martialis (Epigrams)

This dude had ZERO chill. Roasted everyone in the city. Literally, no one is safe. Wasn't afraid to call people out by their real names. Some people allegedly committed suicide after being roasted by this guy. Translating his epigrams gave me more joy than hearing we had seen the end of Vergil. His humour may be a little silly now, but I will not accept any Martialis slander on my blog.

10/10

And that is all folks

[garland-on-thy-brow]

Lucius Plancus, who had been named umpire in the wager, placed his hand upon the other [pearl] at the very instant that [Cleopatra] was making preparations to dissolve it in a similar manner, and declared that Antony had lost—an omen which, in the result, was fully confirmed.

[Pliny 9.58 via Perseus.]

Of course fucking Plancus was there. As if this episode is not annoying enough without him.

[marciuscoriolanus]

tbosas ship chart

noticed there wasn't one up yet (i think)

i know i skipped/missed a few due to lack of relevance or forgetting, if you wanna see someone added i can remake it with them 🩷

[sherdnerd]

RIP Emperor Tiberius you would've loved the X-files

[lucythornwalter]

if you’re going to be a proper witch I support you but must you cite Pliny the Elder for your botany tips and tricks

[literaryvein-reblogs]

5 Latin Phrases

to try to include in your poem/story

Over the centuries, certain Latin phrases have been used widely enough in English to get included in the dictionary.

Amor Vincit Omnia

"Love conquers all things"

The phrase and the concept (in Latin and in English) caught on: a character in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, written in the late 1300s, wore a brooch engraved "Amor Vincit Omnia."

A number of poets have shown themselves to be fond of working this Latin phrase into their works; amor vincit omnia may be found in the writing of W. H. Auden, John Gower, Diane Wakoski, and many others.

Carpe Diem

"Enjoy the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future"

Literally, "pluck the day"

During the 1st century BC, the Roman poet Horace wrote, "Seize the day; put no trust in the morrow."

The notion of living for the moment crops up over centuries of poetry, including in the writings of Shakespeare, Milton, and Byron.

Carpe diem, in Latin form, may be found inserted into English prose as far back as the early 18th century.

In Vino Veritas

"There is truth in wine"

The classy thing to say when you've had too much to drink and have just said something that is decidedly not classy, in vino veritas has been employed as a mea culpa of sorts for thousands of years.

In the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder referred to the "common proverb that in wine, there is truth in vino veritas."

Semper Fidelis

"Always faithful"

These two words have long served as motto for families, schools, and organizations.

Utile Dulci

"The useful with the agreeable"

One of our lesser-known Latin expressions, utile dulci shares etymological space with a number of pleasing English words, including addulce ("to mollify"), dulcet ("luscious, melodious"), and dulcitude ("sweetness").

Utile dulci comes from the poet Horace, who in Ars Poetica, offered the following advice: "He who joins the useful with the agreeable, wins every vote, by delighting and at the same time instructing the reader."

If any of these phrases make their way into your next poem/story, please tag me, or leave a link in the replies. I would love to read them!

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Wimchlat

Very similar art this week, which kind of can't be helped because the entry does specifically say that it looks like a wolf with spots. There's some range here, though.

If you're not sure what this is about, you can find an explanation and previous posts here: https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry artists are working from this week can be found here:

And if you want to participate in the next round, here's that entry:

...huh. I didn't realize which one was up next until I went looking for the link just now. That'll be an interesting artistic experience, I'm sure.

(Pursuant to some previous speculation on the "-bael" morpheme in the Dikebael and Dirubael, now I'm wondering if the "-at" morpheme in our randomly-generated words might have something to do with bodily waste.)

Anyway, this week's art is below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) notes that their version ended up quite fluffy, which I have also noted and enjoyed. For some additional detail, which includes some interesting animal facts, click on the linked post.

@doodlebethel (link to post here) is joining us for the first time, and has drawn an excellent not-quite-a-wolf. I feel the depiction of it aggressively guarding that sparkly sand is very well-executed.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has made the decision that the urine in question solidifies into a jewel basically immediately, which I think raises a lot of interesting questions (complimentary). Also, thank you for providing alt text.

@citrvsdrake (link to post here) observes that the creature hiding its urine sounds like cat behavior, so they leaned a little harder towards the leopard side than the wolf one. I think it came out well; an animal that is both relatively wolf-shaped and clearly feline has an interesting look to it.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) decided to base theirs on the maned wolf, which I think came out really well in this art style. I also like the decision to make the spots look like eyes -- together with the color scheme and the long limbs, it really has a fascinating (and slightly sinister?) effect. I kind of love this design, really. I want to know more about this creature. (Also, thank you for including alt text.)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) also decided to mix it up a bit animal-wise, and also landed on the maned wolf as an interesting non-wolf wolf option. It's also got ocelot features rather than leopard. I just really like the vibes here -- something about this art style is very charming to me. I'm not an art critic, so I can't elaborate on that. I would recommend clicking on the linked post, which has more information and also some tags I find quite funny.

On to the Aberdeen Bestiary!

... or not, actually. This is one of the folios missing from that manuscript, so the text actually came from Bodley MS 764, and we'll be taking the illustration from the Ashmole Bestiary.

That illustration doesn't help a whole lot, though it does also lean more feline, so we can get something there -- but I saw a number of comments saying that people had recognized it in the process of drawing, so it's probably no surprise that this is the lynx.

No, I don't know why people thought its urine turned into gemstones. Ask Pliny the Elder. (The supposed gemstone in question is called ligurius, by the way.)

I also don't know why the lynx in the Ashmole illustration appears to be having a staring contest with a ram... hold on, let me see something...

... okay, bestiary.ca doesn't have anything that explains that. It might just be an artistic decision. Things I did learn from bestiary.ca just now, though:

Ovid (yes, that Ovid) specified that the lynx's urine solidifies on contact with air, which means that those interesting questions (mostly along the lines of what is in that stuff) raised by CheapSweets's drawing are definitely still on the table.

Thomas of Cantimpre also says that the lynx has the hilarious combination of comic-book-style x-ray vision and a total inability to remember anything it's not currently looking at. So it can see through walls but just immediately forgets what it saw. I love that.

[girlcaelius]

[didstwt]

[ 2x🍉:3 ]

[elucubrare]

The first part of a Latin tag popped into my head, as often happens - nulla dies sine…, no day without something, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember what that something was, so I googled it & found that it was nulla dies sine linea, no day without a line (without writing), and Pliny the Elder had somehow found a way to guilt-trip me from beyond the grave.

[prongsfootproject]

Title: Per Aspera Ad Astra

Author: Eastwindmlk

Artist: Polychromegrey

Wordcount: 16.852

Rating: M

Warnings: Implied Sexual Content, period-typical violence, Additional tags when choosing your ending

Tags: Alternate Universe - Gladiators, Royal Prince Sirius Black, Gladiator James Potter, Light Angst, Fluff, Strangers to Lovers, Pining, Secret Relationship, Forbidden Love, Fade to Black, LGBTQ Themes, Historical References, Historical Inaccuracy, But more accurate than Gladiator, Author has taken liberties for plot, Pliny the elder is full of shit sometimes, James goes by a different name for about 1/3rd of this fic, Choose Your Own Ending, This fic comes with a glossary and the author feels like a pretentious fuck because of it

Summary: When Sirius, the eldest son of the emperor, hears of 'Aurelius', a gladiator who has made a name for himself, he follows his friend to a fight. The moment they lock eyes, he falls hard. Can they defy the odds and be together? Or will he be doomed to watch him from afar?

Link to fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59137426

Link to art: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59170768

[emperornero]

Okay whats all the manga nero shows up in?? I know cestvs and my name is nero

yeah these two and i was also thinking about. [coughs]. hetalia. but that one spin-off series not about countries. hes there

and theres one manga about pliny the elder i remember seeing a few pages of. nero shows up in it too but i havent read it im just vaguely aware of it

i read all of my name is nero like 2 years ago and around that time i started reading cestvs but left it maybe 20 chapters in? but i dont remember why. i might revisit it to see if i had a problem with something in it that made me drop it or if i just didnt feel like reading it

links + content info for those interested under cut

as always use adblock. if any of these links break let me know or just check yourself on the internet archive

[hetalia link]

[plinivs link] [idk what happens here so unsure about tagging] EDIT i started reading it. full frontal nudity + misogyny. so far.

[my name is nero link] [nsfw + heavy content warning. read tags and summary]

[cestvs link] [focus on roman slavery + graphic fighting scenes]