Listen to the audio feed from TSTT Mission Control as you read, operatives.
epistula dē Salviō
"Salvius Marcō Maecēnātī suō:
salvē, mī amīcī, ego tibi nūntium optimum habeō. ut scīs, Tiberius Caecilius ad Britanniam ab Aegyptō iam advēnerat et in vīllā meā adest. aliquid autem beātum accidit. Recentiī, quōs nōs ōdimus, quoque in vīllā meā adsunt. herī advēnērunt postquam custōdēs meī in agrō invēnerant. custōdēs meī, quōs ego ipse ēlēgeram, quoque vīllam Septimī Aemiliānī, quī est inimīcus, prope Recentiōs invēnērunt. Salvius tuus potest labōrēs difficilēs facere! ego semper Societātem Potentium adiuvō.
quid dēbeō dē Recentiīs facere? et quid dē Tiberiō? puer erat familiāris uxōris meae sed chartam mīrābilem sēcum habuit. estne charta Aegyptia? vīsne chartam habēre? possum chartam ā Tiberiō rapere. nōnne egō Societātem Potentium Marcumque dēlectō?
valē."
Operatives, you've had a lot of experience with asking questions already. This section serves as a review of some of the ways you can do so.
The enclitic -ne can be used when the expected answer is either yes or no.
puerne urnam portat?
Is the boy carrying a jug?
The question-word num indicates that you anticipate a negative answer.
num Sextus tē audīvit?
Surely Sextus didn't hear you?
The question-word nōnne is used when the expected answer is yes.
nōnne tū lapidem invenīs?
Surely you found the lapis?
Surely there's a video briefing from latintutorial.com about questions, right? The answer is "of course!"
You may also wish to view this specific video about nōnne and num:
| callidus, -a, -um | clever, shrewd | adjective |
| celeriter | quickly | adverb |
| culpa, culpae; f | fault, blame | noun |
| diū | for a long time | adverb |
| iūssum, iūssī; n | order, command | noun |
| lūdus, lūdī; m | game, school, play | noun |
| mendāx, mendācis | liar, false | adjective |
| negōtium, negōtiī; n | business | noun |
| prōcēdō, prōcēdere, prōcessī | to go forward, proceed, advance | verb |
| rapiō, rapere, rapuī | to snatch away | verb |
Prior to Roman conquest in the wake of the civil war between Octavian (later known as Augustus) and Marc Antony, Egypt had been ruled since the time of Alexander the Great by a Greek family dynasty known as the Ptolemies. The last of the Ptolemaic rulers was the infamous Cleopatra, who came to power as a result of her relationship with Julius Caesar.
As a result of the loss to Octavian at the Battle of Actium and the subsequent suicide of Cleopatra, Egypt fell under Roman rule in 30 BCE and officially became a Roman province, with Alexandria as the capital.
CULTURALIA Comprehension Questions
Directions: Using the CULTURALIA for 10.2, answer the following questions.
dē Cleopātrā
1. To which family did Cleopatra belong? What were the origins of her family's rule over Egypt?
2. How did Cleopatra assume full control of Egypt?
3. With which two prominent Roman leaders did Cleopatra have relationships? Did she produce any children with either of these two men?
4. How does the relationship with the later Roman man change over time?
5. What are the effects of their relationship back in Rome? How does Octavian react?
6. What is the culminating battle which ends in the defeat of Cleopatra's forces?
7. Following this battle, what happens to Cleopatra?
10.2.a
Directions: Refer back to the key-text in 10.2 to complete the following:
Find and copy:
a. 3 pluperfect tense verbs
b. 3 perfect tense verbs
c. 2 relative pronouns. (what cases are they?)
d. 4 infinitives
e. 8 prepositional phrases
f. 5 noun/adjective pairs NOT in prepositional phrases
10.2.b
Write your own Latin sentence!
Directions: Choose words from different columns to create a sentence in Latin. Write at least five (5) Latin sentences. Then translate your sentences.
| I | II | III | IV |
| Salvius | iussōs | custodibus | dēderam |
| nōs | ossa | servīs | dēderās |
| vōs | epistulās | canī | dēderat |
| ego | iuvenēs | Quintō | dēderāmus |
| Septimus | chartam | ancillae | dēderātis |
| custodēs | cōnsilium | mihi | dēderant |
| tū | pecuniam | tibi | |
| domina | gladium | nōbīs | |
| vōbīs |
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