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Born in either 61 or 62 CE in Comum (modern-day Como), a town in northern Italy, Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, later known as Pliny the Younger, was exposed early to both privilege and tragedy. While he was still a young child, Pliny's father died, and he was adopted by his maternal uncle (prompting his change of name). His uncle, Pliny the Elder, was known throughout Rome as an esteemed philosopher; Pliny's adoption into his household not only provided Pliny the Younger

A brief introduction to the life and work of Roman speaker Cicero (106 - 43 BCE).

What is Case Usage in Latin? Before we explain what case usage is, first, we need to explain what a case actually is. A case, in its simplest form, refers to a formal marker (in Latin represented by endings added to the ends of nouns or adjectives) that tells you how a noun or adjective relates to other words in a sentence. In Latin, there are 7 distinctive cases: the nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, vocative, and locative (although this one is slightly ves

We are back yet again with the fourth entry in our first Tale of Two Translations. Today, we will continue exploring the various ways in which Ovid's magnum opus,  Metamorphoses , has been translated. Old faces (translators) will be making reappearances, and you can expect to see diversity in terms of interpretation of the text. As always, the goal of this series is threefold: expose readers to different possible translation styles and ideologies, encourage readers to craft t

Two weeks ago, we read the first letter of Pliny the Younger's two-part series detailing his first-hand (and, at times, second-hand) account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This first letter functioned one part as history, attempting to crystallize the image of Pompeii's eruption to an audience who had not been present, and another part as a memorialization of the heroism of Pliny the Younger's uncle, Pliny the Elder. Having literally ran into the fire to save and comfort

Happy Valentine's to all who celebrate (yes, I'm including Galentines and all the other iterations), and happy day-of-scorning to those who despise the holiday. While this post will find you one day after the official day of festivities, it coincides perfectly with the Roman equivalent of Valentine's Day (the association of love with February appears to be a millennia-long trend). But how long has this holiday been "swinging"? Although considered a modern, consumerist invent

Today, I am going to tell you another story. If you recall, the last story I relayed to you from the long-deceased Ancient Roman legend Pliny the Younger was Halloween-themed, riddled with ghosts and inexplicable hauntings. Therefore, it is highly debatable whether any of these events occurred (the broad consensus on the existence of ghosts, both then and now, is that there is none). However, the story I am going to tell you now is far more rooted in history. Although Pliny's

Hello everyone! Below, I have attached some of the most common words in Latin.  Taken together, they account for almost half the words in a typical prose text. One of the most tiresome parts of translating is constantly looking up the meanings of certain words, so hopefully, having a large amount attached below will make your translation experience far more enjoyable. The definitions given are illustrative, not exhaustive.  Many of the following words have a large semantic ra

By this point, I trust you all know the drill for these Tales of Two Translations. I provide the original Latin for a section of an esteemed ancient text first, then translations by two translators with distinct translation styles. As you read through the post, give a translation of the original Latin a shot on your own. Confused? Take a peek at one of the translations below, and try to parse out how the translators concocted the English from the Latin. Then, after you've com

We are back yet again for another "Tale of Two Translations," where, in order to form our own distinct translation styles we turn to esteemed translations throughout history. As we continue to venture through Ovid's Metamorphosis , be sure to take note of how different translations address confusing pieces of Latin grammar. Latin is not a language easily transformed into English, and often translations will disagree over how best to interpret a piece of the original text. The

Despite the joy I take in our traditional poetic and prosaic analyses, I felt something was missing in Aeterna Poesis ; something that the blog has touched upon but never fully explored. That is, the art of translation. Although the minute grammatical details and the complexities of the Latin language cannot be adequately conveyed in short blog posts, another aspect of translation can be: personal style. As a function of how old the Latin language is and, by extension, how ol

Within artistic circles, there is a constant tension between “valuable” and, for lack of a better word, “trashy” art. This bifurcation is pervasive, seeping into cultural discourse whenever an artist’s work finds virality amid the brain-rot-infused algorithms that seemingly only push pretty dancing and “hot takes.” Therefore, when an artist does break through, one would assume that fellow artists would band together on social media to celebrate their success. Unfortunately, t

Today, I am going to tell you a story. Although Halloween was a few months ago, for many, the countdown to spooky season has begun again. And even for the rest of us not as invested in the October 31st festivities, we are entering the season of ghosts as well. As we venture into 2026, we will make many resolutions: eat better, save more money, give more compliments, and other variations on the theme of self-improvement. Will we succeed in those resolutions? Maybe for a month

Online spaces and the cultural conscience are bereft of adequate information as to how sex and sexuality functioned in pre-enlightenment eras. Now, queerness and homosexuality are thought of as intrinsic parts of one's identity, which have been, for a large part of Western history, dating from the Middle Ages, scorned and demonized. Harmful stereotypes have proliferated and continue to proliferate as a means to isolate, trivialize, and, in the most dangerous cases, eradicate

We are back yet again with another analysis of Pro Archia, although this one will likely be our last. I can envision many reacting to this statement in fury, pondering why on earth I did not progress linearly through the text (although that anger would have originated in our latest Pro Archia post), and why I appear to harbor such great disrespect for Cicero that I continue to handpick sections of his magnum opus for translation and analysis. To those who feel this strongly,

As we officially enter December, we are firmly in winter. Despite what the official tribunal on seasons has decreed —namely, that winter begins on December 21st —the post-Thanksgiving season invites festive holiday celebrations and all that goes with them. Nobody in their right mind who lives in the Northern Hemisphere could associate the proliferation of snowmen, insolent 12-year-olds throwing slush masquerading as snowballs, and hot-chocolate season as firmly planted in fal

'Tis the season for gratitude and gifts! Thanksgiving just passed a few short days ago, and since then, anyone not already engrossed in the Christmas spirit has thrown up their trees and started blasting Mariah Carey. Everywhere you turn, the colors red, green, white, and gold will soon cover any available surface, and the pressure to "Buy! Buy! Buy!" will only intensify with each passing moment. After all, what is Thanksgiving without an elaborate dinner party complete with

We are back with an analysis of the following few sections of Pro Archia, but this post will be formatted slightly differently. Insofar as the history of Cicero, Archias, and this case has not changed over the course of one chapter (it has not), instead of being redundant and repeating aforementioned biographies (see the previous two Prosaic Analyses for a history recap if needed), I believe we’d be better served taking Pro Archia in larger chunks. Sections 13-15 inclusive ar

We are back, for the second week, with another prosaic analysis! But despite Pro Archia continuing to differ stylistically from the majority of Ancient Roman poems, it still carries with it a certain poetic quality. Indeed, if you groaned after realizing that this would be a post about prose rather than poetry, you might find some solace in knowing that the prose we'll be discussing is practically a love letter to poetry itself. Cicero, always the fan of tangents, departed f

Losing love is the second worst feeling one can experience. Giving up love, and the regret that follows, is the first. Some of us are unlucky enough to turn away from a potential blossoming relationship, or even worse, one that was fully formed and thriving. Why we do so is a topic to be explored in a different post, by a different blog run by someone with at least a morsel of psychology knowledge. All I can offer here is one comfort: you are not the first to toss aside someo