A Great Description....

[Milito]

I think that the thread on favorite hellenic saying may have me looking for similar things in Latin. Anyway, I'm reading some Horace at the moment - which makes for an interesting change from Cicero! - and came across a great description of the school he didn't go to.... He called it:<br /><br />"... magni<br />quo pueri magnis e centurionibus orti,<br />laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto,<br />ibant octonos referentes Idibus aeris"<br /><br />"Where big boys born of big centurions, who suspended their satchels and a writing tablet from their awkward arms, used to go, paying eight small coins at the Ides for the priviledge."<br /><br />It was a school full of Harry Potter Crabbe' and Goyles!<br /><br />Kilmeny

[mariek]

[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=406;start=0#3138 date=1060370425]<br />"Where big boys born of big centurions, who suspended their satchels and a writing tablet from their awkward arms, used to go, paying eight small coins at the Ides for the priviledge. [/quote]<br /><br />What does "at the Ides for the privelege" mean? You mean the privelege of going to the school?<br /><br />

[Keesa]

It would seem to me that that's what he's talking about-he seems to be speaking sarcastically when he speaks of the "priviledge". <br /><br />Keesa

[Milito]

Actually, the "for the priviledge" isn't there in the Latin words.... It just came across to me that way - "for the privilege of going to school". And the Ides was a point in a month - the 15th, I think, in 4 of the months, and the 13th in the rest of them.... and I can't be more specific than that, because I can't remember which months are the odd ones..... <br /><br />But yes, he is speaking very sarcastically and is essentially saying that the school his father (who was extremely poor) wouldn't send him to tended to be filled with "all brawn and no brain" types who paid all of around 8 cents a month to the teacher for the priviledge of being taught, and would have preferred not to be.........<br /><br />Sorry for causing the confusion with that.....<br /><br />Kilmeny

[Keesa]

Hey, everybody gets confused-it's not your fault! And it's a great quote. Very powerful! I like it. <br /><br />As far as my favorite Latin quotes, I have three taped to my wall; "Soli Deo Gloria", "To God Alone be the glory", "Mens sana in corpore sano", "A sound mind in a sound body" and a take on the famous quote (Caeser, wasn't it?) "Veni, Vedi, Vecci", "I came, I saw, I conquered." My spinoff actually reads "Veni, Vedi, Velcro"-"I came, I saw, I stuck to it!" (My sentiments exactly! ;D<br /><br />Keesa