/lit/ - Literature

>>23269825
>———, ‘Two Stoic approaches to justice’, in Justice and Generosity, ed. A. Laks and M. Schofield (1995)
>* ———, ‘Cicero’s definition of res publica’ in J.G.F. Powell, ed., Cicero the Philosopher (1995)
>———, Saving the City: Philosopher-Kings and Other Classical Paradigms (1999), ch. 10
>R. Seager, ‘Cicero and the word popularis’, Classical Quarterly, 22 (1972), 328-38
>C.Wirszubski, Libertas as a political idea at Rome during the late republic and early principate (1950)
>———, ‘Cicero’s cum dignitate otium: a reconsideration’, Journal of Roman Studies, 51 (1961), 1-13
>N. Wood, Cicero’s Social and Political Thought (1988)

what did you do today frens? reply in the language you're learning. I'll start:
(correct me on any mistakes)
>Anteā scrībō hoc, ambulavi per sēmita. Sēmita prope lacus qui circum arboribus et naturis. Tunc abii ā sēmitā ad viam. Dum ambulavi ad domum, vidi canem coloris candidi, ut nix nova! Quippe, ego salutavi canem, qui ante portā erat. Cane lambuisse mē manum fuit. Posteā redii domum.

>>19559386
Learn a language. I'd recommend Latin. It will make you smarter. Here's what Poopenhauer had to say about it.

>In learning a language, the chief difficulty consists in making acquaintance with every idea which it expresses, even though it should use words for which there in no exact equivalent in the mother tongue; and this often happens. In learning a new language a man has, as it were, to mark out in his mind the boundaries of quite new spheres of ideas, with the result that spheres of ideas arise where none were before. Thus he not only learns words, he gains ideas too.
>This is nowhere so much the case as in learning ancient languages, for the differences they present in their mode of expression as compared with modern languages is greater than can be found amongst modern languages as compared with one another. This is shown by the fact that in translating into Latin, recourse must be had to quite other turns of phrase than are used in the original. The thought that is to be translated has to be melted down and recast; in other words, it must be analyzed and then recomposed. It is just this process which makes the study of the ancient languages contribute so much to the education of the mind.
>It follows from this that a man's thought varies according to the language in which he speaks. His ideas undergo a fresh modification, a different shading, as it were, in the study of every new language. Hence an acquaintance with many languages is not only of much indirect advantage, but it is also a direct means of mental culture, in that it corrects and matures ideas by giving prominence to their many-sided nature and their different varieties of meaning, as also that it increases dexterity of thought; for in the process of learning many languages, ideas become more and more independent of words. The ancient languages effect this to a greater degree than the modern, in virtue of the difference to which I have alluded.

>>19535051
>The abolition of Latin as the universal language of learned men, together with the rise of that provincialism which attaches to national literatures, has been a real misfortune for the cause of knowledge in Europe ... The neglect of them is rapidly gaining ground in France and Germany.
>If it should really come to this, then farewell, humanity! Farewell, noble taste and high thinking! The age of barbarism will return, in spite of railways, telegraphs and balloons.

>It follows from this that a man's thought varies according to the language in which he speaks. His ideas undergo a fresh modification, a different shading, as it were, in the study of every new language. Hence an acquaintance with many languages is not only of much indirect advantage, but it is also a direct means of mental culture, in that it corrects and matures ideas by giving prominence to their many-sided nature and their different varieties of meaning, as also that it increases dexterity of thought; for in the process of learning many languages, ideas become more and more independent of words. The ancient languages effect this to a greater degree than the modern, in virtue of the difference to which I have alluded.
>From what I have said, it is obvious that to imitate the style of the ancients in their own language, which is so very much superior to ours in point of grammatical perfection, is the best way of preparing for a skillful and finished expression of thought in the mother-tongue. Nay, if a man wants to be a great writer, he must not omit to do this; just as, in the case of sculpture or painting, the student must educate himself by copying the great masterpieces of the past, before proceeding to original work. It is only by learning to write Latin that a man comes to treat diction as an art.
>The result of such study is that a writer will pay keen attention to the meaning and value of words, their order and connection, their grammatical forms. He will learn how to weigh them with precision, and so become an expert in the use of that precious instrument which is meant not only to express valuable thought, but to preserve it as well.

>To be entirely ignorant of the Latin language is like being in a fine country on a misty day. The horizon is extremely limited. Nothing can be seen clearly except that which is quite close; a few steps beyond, everything is buried in obscurity. But the Latinist has a wide view, embracing modern times, the Middle Age and Antiquity; and his mental horizon is still further enlarged if he studies Greek or even Sanscrit.

Anyone learning Latin or ancient languages?
Learning Latin is slowly realizing how beautifully every single piece logically fits together. Many epiphanies yesterday lets chat.

>What book are you using?
>How is it going?
>Any new favorite passages?

Here's mine:
>Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem;
>matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia menses.
>incipe, parve puer. qui non risere parenti,
>nec deus hunc mensa dea nec dignata cubili est.
Also, don't move this thread to /int/. The fact that discussions of Latin and the related could belong anywhere else besides in literature and philosophy is absurd.
get wid et
pic related

>>6304949

seneca for moral philosophy

cicero for moral, political and rhetorical theory

quintilian for rhetorical theory/the education of oration

of the roman playwrights not already mentioned, plautus and terence are worthwhile, as is geta and accius

then my favorites: horace and juvenal as satirists

catalus, petronius, lucan, lucretius, ammonius and theodorus rank among their poets

longinus and albinus round out some of their philosophy, while their historians include pictor, polybus, caesar, tacitus, livius, sallust, plutarch, appian, arrian, dio cassius, suetonius, priscis and eusebius

not to mention the impact of augustine, the new testament, marcus aurelius, etc.

when i think of more i'll post them. but yes, in general the romans are very much worth reading--this obviously doesn't obfuscate the necessity of reading the greeks, and it's probably a sound idea to read them first.

>>3692166

i respect that, to each his own. it was a great speech, too.

this, too, is one of my all time favorites: to see catiline there, rigid and alone...there is something i love about catiline, and identify more with him than cicero. kinda wish he was successful.

tis tis

>2012
>Still reading the news in peasant-tier languages

I seriously hope you guys etc. etc.

http://yle.fi/radio1/tiede/nuntii_latini/

When are we going to start language threads? We had talked a couple times about having threads dedicated to learning Latin just as /a/ has them for Japanese. I would like to get back into Latin, but ti would be more fun with some fellow gentlemen from /lit/ to accompany me.

So i've always loved SF and F, and my other love is ancient history, particularly classical Greece and Rome.

What would you guys think of a low fantasy setting, mainly taking place in a state similar to late republican Rome/Delian League Athens. It would be an oligarchy with democratic elements (assemblies) and would practically be falling apart due to internal struggles between various factions (somewhat like the optimates and the populares in Rome, or the democratic and oligarchic factions in classical Greece).

There would also be some magical and fantastic elements, based on classical religion, philosophy and myth.

It's kinda crazy how most fantasy is just kings and medieval/late antiquity European settings when ancient republics and democracies are so much more relevant.

I thinking of basing some of my characters on historical figures - a big tyrant like Sulla and demagogues like Cleon and the Gracchi.

Does of any of this sound like something you might be interested in reading?