Questions tagged [history]
For questions related to history. Bear in mind that questions about only history are off-topic; there should be a connection to Latin.
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About the ancient words for China: Sinae/Σῖναι
The word Sinae (or alternatively Chinae) is not rare in post-Classical Latin texts, and it is the standard word for modern China in New Latin, along with the derivative adjective form Sinicus (e.g. ...
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"Lex lata" in coin inscription
I saw a coin from Italy with Latin inscriptions in an Italy-themed museum exhibition. The inscription is as below:
Servatore ac vindice Victorio Emanuele II lex lata III Non Febr a rep sal ...
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"senior" as honorific?
The Latin word senior gave rise, for example, to the Spanish “señor” and the French words “sire” and “seigneur.” The French word “sire” suggests that Latin ‘senior’ became “seyyor” when followed by a ...
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Is there an example from Classical antiquity of mixing up cities based on their names?
Is there an example from Classical antiquity of mixing up cities based on their names? Say, an army landed at the wrong town or a traveler gave wrong directions because they were confused which city ...
cmw♦
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What is the source of Plutarch's "Drunkards beget Drunkards?"
I working through an addiction counseling textbook (Addiction counseling, a practical approach). And in it there is a sentence in the text where is says, "The well-known Greek philosopher ...
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Why does "regina" primarily mean "filia regis" and only secondarily mean a queen?
Du Cange gives this for the primary definition of regina:
Regis filia : nam is olim titulus attributus Regum filiabus. Scribit enim Suidas ex Aristotele, apud Cyprios, Regum filios ἄναϰτας appellatos,...
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How does "regina" derive from "rex"?
How does regina derive from rex?
Related question: "Are there feminine and neuter versions of 'professor'"?
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Why isn't "principix" the feminine of "princeps"?
What's the feminine version of princeps? Why isn't it "principix" (along the lines of auctor → auctrix, bellator → bellatrix, etc.)?
Related question: "Are there feminine and neuter ...
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Unde urbem licet aestimare totam?
Martial (4.64, 11–12) famously wrote:
Hinc septem dominos videre montis
Et totam licet aestimare Romam
This refers to a view from the Ianiculum on the west bank of Tiber.
How precisely do we know ...
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Check my Latin: Note on Ovid’s use of the name Appias. (A fountain, a nymph, and a bunch of lawyers.)
Ovid uses the words Appias or Appiades on three occasions (Ars Amatoria 1.79-88 and 3.447-452; Remedia Amoris 659-660) to refer jokingly to the legal business conducted in the Forum of Julius Caesar. ...
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Novo v. Novus v. Novum for demonym
What would be the correct or most appropriate demonym for someone who was from New Spain? I have seen “Nova Hispania” used for New Spain in some 17century maps but wikipedia also uses “Viceregnum ...
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Both 'masculus' and 'vir' mean man/male: what's the difference?
In Latin, masculus means male.
Noun masculus m (genitive masculī); second declension
a male (of humans or other animals)
In Latin, vir also means male.
Noun vir m (genitive virī); second declension
...
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Autistic/schizoid in latin?
What did the Romans—ordinary people or historians like Herodianus and Plinius—call the people who today are considered, in the modern sense, "autistic", or "schizoid". In fact, how ...
- 615
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What other numeral systems were used in Classical Rome?
In a recent question, I asked what the symbol was used for a thousand in Classical Latin, because I had heard somewhere that it was not 'M' which is what we are currently taught is the symbol (Short ...
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What was the symbol used for 'one thousand' in Ancient Rome?
I saw an episode of QI (Quite Interesting, a British 'quiz' show that just sort of presents trivia). I don't know the episode or when it was produced (I've searched for it on youtube but haven't found ...
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