Salvete omnes!

[Mattheus]

Hello all! I'm wondering if my friend Maximilianus hasn't already joined. If you're out there, respond please so we can start a discussion.

Mattheus

[Maximilianus]

Researching on movies is the type of research I much enjoy, amongst others, so anytime amice.

As to my humble knowledge, I understand Doc Holliday (the character portrayed by Val Kilmer) had been a dentist in a time prior to becoming a gambler and one of the most dexterous pistoleers of the far west. I’m not aware of his full story, but maybe the fact that he was a medicine man gave him some cultural background including some Latin understanding. I cannot be quite sure yet, for I still haven’t done much research on far west famous people. As for Johnny Ringo, I know nothing about him, but I’ll see what I can find. It may become an interesting topic for investigation: Latin in the far west.

You can find many subtitles at OpenSubtitles.org. Here you can find those available for Tombstone, including Polish subs: http://www.opensubtitles.org/en/imdbid-0108358

You see my friend; we are all ignorant to some extent. It’s normal since we have not been meant to be fully illuminated. The only problem with ignorance is that most people nowadays make a sport of it. For example I didn’t know psalm CXXX, at least not in Latin, what serves as proof that Latin is more than nonexistent in our official prayers. And I wasn’t aware of the poem by Catullus. But I speak Spanish and English, so when I can’t find a Spanish speaker with a torch to illuminate me in my darkness is when I run into an Anglophone with a flashlight (quite metaphoric, maybe). So here is the beauty of being a multilingual fellow: by one tongue or another you can flee a bit of darkness, for you have found a light, unless we are one of those who practice darkness as a sport, which of course, is not our case (not in this life, at least).

Speaking about weapons, today I’ve been working on an old knife I inherited from my dad. Since he’s not using it anymore, I took it and decided to refurbish the thing a little. It may come in handy as for knife throwing practice, another of my pending activities.

You see, ancient weapon craftsmanship is a blend of art and science. It can give you a lot of entertainment as well as lots of knowledge, even when you just devise a miniature, you are learning something. For example the first siege machines, like trebuchets and catapults, established the basis of what we now know as mechanics and engineering, two sciences we nowadays take for granted. At those times, the craftsmen dedicated to devising these weapons unwittingly became the fathers of our modern engineers. Sadly the need for weapons was in many occasions the origin of new forms of science, and unfortunately many people had to die to prove the mathematical and physical principles behind such machines, principles that in time have become useful for many purposes different from war. How sadly our species has evolved mainly by exterminating its own sons and daughters, don’t you agree?

Oh yes, I must have resembled a savage at times, especially when my temporarily-wrathful alter ego takes temporary command of my ship, though most of the times not for long enough. I must admit that sometimes I have felt a vengeful urge, but so far I’ve been able to contain it within reasonable boundaries; something that people with a permanently-wrathful alter ego cannot, apparently, do. Sir William Wallace was a person unknown to me until the movie. Today he’s one of my examples of endurance and devotion to a cause, much of what a temporarily-wrathful person should be, in my humble opinion. I very much recall what Mel Gibson said on an interview; he said that he hoped that after seeing the movie people could find something within themselves. Well, if that was one of his main motivations to tell the story, I think he pulled it off, at least with a handful of persons, which is better than nothing. Most people see a movie or watch a TV show just for amusement, but when you do it for amusement AND at the same time you read between the lines, then and only then can you get the true message and find something within yourself and the story will have served a higher purpose than mere amusement: illumination, not complete for sure, but a little instant of light is way better than a lifetime in the dark, don’t you think so?

Thanks iterum for translations, good conversation, illumination, torches, flashlights and all the rest related to flee darkness.

Di te optime custodiant, quoque!
Maximilianus

PS: since your connection to classical music is stronger than mine, can you tell me of the works by W.A. Mozart, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, G.F.Handel, Mendelssohn, Josquin des Prez, and Johann Sebastian Bach that have to do with psalm CXXX? I am interested in this.

[Mattheus]

Well, all that information I actually got from wikipedia. But that doesn't mean I don't have any knowledge about the composers. All I know is that many of them set the psalm to music, but I never really researched that because I wasn't interested. I humbly confess I never heard any of their works including those words. So much for my ignorance. Ignosce mihi, amice.

I did the same thing with the Catullus, although I knew ave atque vale was written by an ancient Roman poet, just didn't recall which.

I can respect your fascination for ancient weaponry and I see that it has drastically changed over the centuries, has evolved into something monstrous. So you say these were the first experiments at mechanics and engineering. Thanks for enlightening me. Those men of science for us, so we could have the present technology, am I correct?

And yes, the more languages you speak, the more enlightened you become. I have enough experience in that area to be able to confirm that. Having lived in a few countries, I know what it is like to compare languages and cultures. But would you come to full wisdom even if you fluently spoke all the current languages on Earth? Unfortunately, gods we are not. So I am your metaphorical flashlight? Funny, seriously!

I agree: a little light for a brief moment is better than a lifetime of darkness.

[Maximilianus]

Just fine, amice, we can't know it all. As you said we are not gods. Fortunately we now have the Wikipedia, amongst many other invaluable web resources, to become aware of what we know not, or to remind us of what we have forgotten.

Exactly. In spite of what weapons represent, we owe them much of what we now enjoy as useful for applications that nothing have to do with war. For example, the enormous cranes of today used in lifting heavy weights in building high-scale constructions like bridges and skyscrapers are an evolution of the ancient trebuchet, because both machines are the mathematical and physical application of the first order lever. Pity so many died for the sake of progress; it would have been better another way, but for some reason our species is always in pursue of its own annihilation.

Well, you enlighten me, I enlighten you, so we have communication, and communication is a flashlight, agree? Thus, if you may turn a light on, I may turn on another, and in some way we are even, right? Though full wisdom remains a mystery, perhaps too close that it seems too far.

Omnia bona!!

[Mattheus]

Yes, I think we can enlighten each other this way. I agree that Wikipedia is of great help, provided the articles are accurate. That is a positive use of the internet, but I think unfortunately the internet is misused, as many other things by humans.

So how were the medieval cathedrals built? And the Colosseum? What technology did they use back then?

If you're interested in harpsichord and are using a program to download music, I suggest the 7 toccatas for keyboard (BWV 910-916), masterpieces in this genre. These aren't the famous organ ones. Now this really is something I can give you true knowledge about, for I have worked on most of them, and am now working on two. They are really fun to play, all of them opening with a free, quasi-improvisatory passage, then leading on to a slow, meditative section, and finally a profound fugue, where Bach ingeniously intertwines several voices together. You would have to be a musician to fully appreciate Bach's genius.

Omnia bona!
Mattheus

[Maximilianus]

Ignosce mihi amice, for not replying earlier.

I suffered an outage of my Internet service that lasted for almost a whole day. To tell the truth I should refer to it as my mom’s Internet service, since she’s paying the bill until I get a new job. Does this happen in the US? I figure at times it does. Technology cannot be perfect, I guess.

And speaking about the devil...

People have been misusing whatever they devise since mankind was conceived. In such case, why wouldn't they misuse Internet? It's a type of karma, I guess.

Remember the slaves that ancient empires took from defeated enemies? If you ever saw The Ten Commandments (1956) where Charlton Heston played Moses, you'll get a good idea of how ancient constructions were built. Remember how slaves endured the whips of their oppressors while they had to pull heavy blocks of marble for long distances with little food and littler rest. That was the technology in use back then, from the construction of the Pyramids to the time of the cathedrals the thing didn't change that much for at those times technology evolved at a slow pace and justice evolved even more slowly. Only that in mediaeval time you were more likely to be referred to as a commoner, or a vassal, both terms sounding more elegant, but meaning the same as slave. Remember the taxes that commoners had to pay to afford the well-being of nobles; if that's not slavery, at least it's a mutation.

I’m about to listen to a couple copies of Bach’s toccatas I’ve just come across with. Later on I’ll tell you what I think. For sure my opinion will be more than humble, since I understand little about classical, so you are very likely to receive some questions from me regarding the matter, okay? I hope I don’t suffer another outage.

Omnia bona quoque!!
Maximilianus

[Mattheus]

Salve iterum!

Sorry for not writing back to that, but I just received your e-mail. I'll reply here this time, seeing that maybe someone else may be interested in our discussions.
Actually I haven't picked up Seneca in a long time, for I'm still focussing mostly on Adler, and I have one epistle left to read in that book; I'll save it for when I shall have been more fluent in Latin, which I am becoming more and more everyday by degrees.
It's by no means a punishment to translate Seneca for you, on the other hand, it's a pleasure, for I have read that letter before.

Seneca, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium II 15, 1:

Mos antiquis fuit, usque ad meam servatus aetatem, primis epistulae verbis adicere "si vales bene est, ego valeo". Recte nos dicimus "si philosopharis, bene est". Valere enim hoc demum est. Sine hoc aeger est animus.

My translation would be: There was an ancient custom, kept up until my times, to add 'if you're well (lit.strong), that's good, for then I am also well' to the first words of a letter. We, however [Seneca and Lucilius being philosophers], rightly say "if you philosophise, it is well." In the end, this is what being well means. Without this, the mind is ill.

Seneca simply wanted to change the salutation for his fellow Stoic philosopher friend. He has a point in 'philosophising, we are doing well', i.e. keeping the mind alert and healthy, instead of simply saying 'if you're well, I'm well'; he goes deeper than that. Anyhow, that's how I perceive this.

Speaking of Old and Middle English, do you know any websites that feature recordings of their sound? You know, sort of like Latinum does? Enlighten me on what 'phonemic' means. Ignosce ignorantiam meam iterum.

Actually I never got a taste for poetry, maybe because it contains too much allegory and references to other things. Hopefully in the future, as I'll be more fluent in reading, I shall be able to appreciate the magic in Ovid and Vergil. But for now I prefer prose, esp. Seneca, because he gets right to the point using few words; this terse style came to be known as 'Senecan curt' in some Shakespearean tragedies. This is info from my friend here, so that's all I know.

I am always ready for any clips you may send my way; I'd gladly be of help. I don't recall any dialogues in Attila and Spartacus, due to my having seen them only once a long time ago. I have Gladiator on DVD but I'm too lazy to watch it again just for the sake of finding a few dialogues, that is, if there are any whatsoever. I haven't seen the German film you mentioned, but Held der Gladiatoren in German means 'hero of the gladiators'.

The following is what Wikipedia gives:
'Si vis pacem, para bellum' is a Latin adage translated as, "If you wish for peace, prepare for war". The source of this adage remains unknown; however, it is universally believed, rightly or wrongly, to be based on a quotation from Roman military writer Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus: Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. The saying is one of many from or based on his work, Epitoma rei militaris, possibly written around the year 390 AD. It is embedded in a passage that stresses the importance of skillful preparation of military actions (an 'Art of War', so to say) as opposed to mere reliance on coincidence or superiority of numbers:

"Therefore, he who wishes peace, should prepare war; he who desires victory, should carefully train his soldiers; he who wants favorable results, should fight relying on skill, not on chance."

I'm glad to see you have contact with someone new here. Maybe we can discuss together. Vale.

Omnia bona tibi exopto!
Mattheus Ludoviciensis

[Maximilianus]

Te saluto iterum, amice Matthee (I hope this greeting is correct).

As always, I strongly appreciate your translations and priceless information you give. Curiously a 5th-Century Chinese General named Sun Tzu wrote a book called The Art of War (probably you heard of it) on which he states, amongst other ideas, that war is the art of deceit. He also had the idea that if wars are carefully prepared they can be won with minimum loss of human lives. He is considered one of the best strategists of all time, and even now the strategies he developed are studied at military academies around the world. Amazingly there were Romans with similar ideas, belonging to a totally different civilization, so we can say that different peoples can be different and similar at the same time, can’t we?

I’ll give you something to think about. These words belong to Samuel Taylor Coleridge and he said: I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is, prose,—words in their best order; poetry,—the best words in their best order.

Of course, after the invention of prose and poetry there came another evolution that today is more common than at Mr. Coleridge’s times: poetical prose, particularly accepted amongst 19th-Century American writers (they didn’t want to spend much time on metrics and rhyme patterns anymore, to concentrate more deeply on the message they aimed at, or at least that seems to be the idea they were after).

Now I’ll give you a general definition of phonemic language, not to dive into complex linguistic theory. A language can be highly phonemic or weakly phonemic. Highly phonemic languages are those like Spanish, in which every letter is pronounced the same way regardless of its position within a word (at least most of the times). Let’s consider a mild example with the English words “though” and “cough”. In both words we have the diphthong “ou”, with a different pronunciation in each one. This doesn’t happen in highly phonemic languages like Spanish, in which this particular diphthong is pronounced the same way always.

We can consider a second detail: highly phonemic languages reduce the existence of silent letters to a minimum. For example in Spanish the only silent letters are the “u” between “q” and the vocals “e” and “i”, and the “h”, though there are parts of Spain where the “h” has kept a sound similar to that of English in words like “have” (especially regions of the country that have some Celtic ancestry). Anyways the Spanish “h” is kept in writing because in Old Spanish it was pronounced (similar to what happens with the final “e” in English in words like “Stowe”; a final “e” that was pronounced in Old and Middle English and whose writing has been kept though it is not pronounced anymore).

To summarize, we can say that highly phonemic languages have a more systematic way of being pronounced, while weakly phonemic languages rely on rules of collocation, id est., letters or groups of letters are pronounced differently according to their context within a word, which gives you an extra work in learning pronunciation.
Now the simplicity of one aspect is the difficulty of another. Spanish has a quite simple pronunciation system, but if English has many irregular verbs, then Spanish has an unnumbered plethora. Thus, every language gives you different types of challenges to be faced.

And going back to pronunciation, highly phonemic languages are more scientific and weakly phonemic languages are more artistic. And as I love science the same as I love art, I think they can both coexist in the same space; this is why I love both Spanish and English. So what can you say about Latin? What’s your view about its pronunciation?

And don’t worry about ignorance for it is somewhat healthy when it makes you feel the urge for learning. Could you believe that until some years ago I didn’t even know that my mother tongue was highly phonemic? Spanish teachers of the sort I had never told me this; I found out during a random linguistic quest. Would it be that they forgot to mention or maybe they didn’t know themselves? Or maybe they knew and didn’t say it because they thought no one would care.

By the way, I keep looking for sounds of Old and Middle English. They seem rather hard to find, but I’m sure I can come up with something anytime. I’ll tell you as soon as I find something.

Omnia bona tibi exopto quoque!!
Maximilianus Indomitus Argentinensis.