CODEX 5.1
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KEY-TEXT A
equēs ad Pompēiōs contendit
antequam Recentiī in Ītaliam advēnērunt, imperātor Titus equitī epistulam dedit. imperātor novus voluit dē imperiō cum virō potente in Pompēiīs commūnicāre. sed equēs vir mīrus erat. hominēs equitem nōn intellegēbant, et multī equitem timēbant.
māne equēs Rōmā discessit et in viā Appiā ad Pompēiōs contendit. longa erat via, et multī hominēs in viā fessī erant. sed equēs numquam fessus erat. tōtum diem equitāvit, et postrēmō, ubi nox veniēbat, ad Mīsēnum advēnit. ibi prope mare multae nāvēs Rōmānae erant. equēs tabernam in Mīsēnō invēnit et ibi dormīvit.
postrīdiē caupō equitem iterum vīdit et subitō timēbat. equēs nihil dīxit, sed aliquid malum in equite erat. umbrae in tabernā aliter cadēbant, et longiōrēs erant quam vērae umbrae. caupō omnia vīdit et magnum timōrem sēnsit.
caupō voluit virum mīrum statim expellere. sed equēs caupōnem sōlum spectābat. equēs caupōnī pecūniam nōn dedit. tum caupō equitem vehementer vituperābat. equēs autem sine timōre erat. equēs caupōnem spectāvit et dīxit, "mī amīce, in mundō sunt maiōra quam pecūnia tua." tum equēs ē tabernā discessit, sed caupō adhūc timēbat.
equēs iterum equitāvit et prope mare ad Pompēiōs contendit. mōns Vesuvius magnus et altus prope oppidum stābat. equēs tandem ad portam Vesuviī pervēnit et per portam in Pompēiōs ambulāvit. per viās oppidī hominēs equitem spectābant et eī viam dabant, quod equitem timēbant.
equēs vīllam magnam invēnit et iānuam valenter pulsābat. vir potēns iānuam aperuit. sed vir potēns equitem nōn timēbat, quod equitem exspectābat. vir potēns equitem in vīllam invitāvit. equēs virō potentī epistulam dedit, et vir potēns epistulam lēgit. tum vir potēns dīxit, "salvē, mī amīce. nōs dēbēmus in tablīnō dīcere." ambō virī ad tablīnum ambulāvērunt. in tablīnō sōlī erant, et nēmō alius aderat.
Visual Walkthrough
KEY-TEXT B
Aenēās Errat
Aenēās et Trōiānī nāvēs intrāvērunt. ab urbe Trōiā in terrās novās nāvigābant. diū novam terram quaerēbant. ibi novam Trōiam facere volēbant. multōs labōrēs, multa perīcula habuērunt. saepe Aenēās timēbat. tandem cōnstituērunt ad Italiam nāvigāre.
sed ubi ad fretum Siciliae vēnērunt, magnum perīculum vix ēvāsērunt. saxa vidērunt ubi Scylla, mōnstrum malum, vīvēbat. magnam vōcem audīvērunt ubi Charybdis aquās in caelum mittēbat. pater Anchīsēs magnā vōce dīxit: "fugite! nāvigāte nāvēs ē perīculō! nam in illīs saxīs habitat Scylla." Aenēās verba patris audīvit et circum saxa nāvēs mōvit. sīc sociī Aenēae vix ē perīculō fūgērunt.
deinde ad lītus Siciliae nāvigāvērunt et montem Aetnam vidērunt. nāvēs ad terram nāvigāvērunt et nocte ad lītus īnsulae advēnērunt. sub monte in lītore dormiēbant. mōns Aetna per noctem magnās vōcēs faciēbat. flammās et saxa in caelum mittēbat! Trōiānī territī erant et ānxiī diem exspectābant.
celeriter ad nāvēs cucurrērunt quod hominem vidērunt. homō erat territus et ad lītus currēbat. Trōiānōs vocābat. cucurrit ad eōs et dīxit: "servāte mē. vōs ōrō! ego Graecus sum, amīcus Ulixis. aliī fūgērunt. ego sōlus maneō. fugite! Cyclōpēs hīc habitant. sunt gigantēs ingentēs et hominēs edunt. nōlīte mē Cyclōpibus dare. servāte mē! accipite mē in nāvem vestram."
subitō Trōiānī Polyphēmum vidērunt, gigantem ingentem. ille ovēs dē monte dūcēbat. caecus erat, quod Ulixēs oculum eius cēperat. nōn celeriter dē monte dēscendēbat. Aenēās territus erat. dīxit: "currite ad nāvēs! currite!" Trōiānī amīcum Ulixis in nāvem accēpērunt et ad nāvēs fūgērunt.
Polyphēmus iam ad lītus advēnit et in mare ambulāvit. Trōiānōs vidēre nōn poterat sed audīvit nāvēs. magnā vōce vocāvit. aliī Cyclōpēs audīvērunt et cucurrērunt dē montibus ad lītus. saxa ingentia in nāvēs mittēbant; sed Trōiānī iam ē lītore nāvigāvērunt. Cyclōpēs eōs capere nōn poterant.
dum Trōiānī ā Siciliā ad Italiam nāvigāvērunt, vēnit magna tempestās. Aeolus, rēx ventōrum, omnēs ventōs mīsit. Trōiānī in magnō perīculō erant. cursum suum tenēre nōn poterant. tandem ventī eōs ad terram novam mīsērunt. Trōiānī ē nāvibus exiērunt et in lītore dormiēbant.
postrīdiē Aenēās cōnstituit terram vidēre. sociīs dīxit: "vōs prope nāvēs manēte; ego volō terram vidēre." cum amīcō ūnō montem ascendēbat et omnia spectābat. multōs hominēs vīdit quī urbem prope lītus faciēbant. Aenēās eōs diū spectābat. dīxit: "bene! vōs urbem iam facitis; nōs semper in mare errāmus." tandem dē monte dēscendit. urbem intrāvit et ad magnum templum cucurrit.
Visual Walkthrough
Informational Text A
Vespasiānus
Titus Flāvius Vespasiānus annō 762 AUC (9 CE) in oppidō parvō prope Rōmam nātus est. familia eius nōn nōbilis erat. pater eius pecūniam colligēbat et tribūta petēbat. Vespasiānus tamen, quamquam ex familiā humilī vēnit, ad magnam potestātem pervēnit.
Vespasiānus prīmum mīles erat. imperātor Claudius eum lēgātum legiōnis in Britanniā fēcit, ubi Vespasiānus fortiter pugnāvit et multōs hostēs vīcit. post haec bella, Rōmam rediit et cōnsul factus est.
multīs annīs posteā, imperātor Nerō Vespasiānum in Jūdaeam mīsit. Jūdaeī enim contrā Rōmānōs bellum gerēbant. Vespasiānus cum exercitū suō multās urbēs cēpit. sed ubi Nerō mortuus est, rēs pūblica in magnum perīculum vēnit. annō 822 AUC (69 CE), quattuor virī imperium petīvērunt. hic annus plēnus bellōrum erat. hominēs eum "annum quattuor imperātōrum" nōminant. mīlitēs Vespasiānī eum imperātōrem appellāvērunt, et tandem Vespasiānus omnēs adversāriōs vīcit.
Vespasiānus, ubi imperātor factus est, rem pūblicam bene administrāvit. pecūnia pūblica paene periit. sed Vespasiānus eam servāvit. nova tribūta imposuit et pecūniam prūdenter colligēbat. hāc pecūniā multa magna opera fēcit. opus maximum erat "amphitheātrum Flāvium," quod hodiē "Colossēum" nōminātur. hoc amphitheātrum maximum in tōtō orbe terrārum erat. ibi populus Rōmānus spectācula pūblica spectābat.
Vespasiānus quoque pācem populō Rōmānō reddidit. post multa bella, cīvēs tandem in pāce vīvēbant. Vespasiānus decem annōs imperāvit et annō 832 AUC (79 CE) mortuus est. fīlius eius Titus eī successit. Vespasiānus igitur nōn sōlum prīmus imperātor ex familiā humilī erat, sed etiam ūnus ex optimīs imperātōribus Rōmānīs fuit.
Informational Text B
Titus
Titus Flāvius Vespasiānus, fīlius imperātōris Vespasiānī, annō 792 AUC (39 CE) Rōmae nātus est. puer Titus in aulā imperātōris habitābat, quod pater eius amīcus imperātōris Claudiī erat. ibi bonī magistrī Titum docuērunt, et Titus linguam Graecam et Latīnam bene didicit.
iuvenis Titus, sīcut pater, mīles erat et in Britanniā et in Germāniā mīlitāvit. deinde imperātor Nerō Vespasiānum in Jūdaeam mīsit, quod Jūdaeī contrā Rōmānōs bellum gerēbant. Titus cum patre ibi pugnāvit et sē fortem ducem praebuit. ubi Vespasiānus Rōmam rediit et imperium cēpit, Titus in Jūdaeā remānsit. annō 823 AUC (70 CE), Titus Hierosōlyma, urbem maximam Jūdaeōrum, post longam obsidiōnem cēpit. Rōmānī quoque templum Hierosōlymōrum dēlēvērunt. haec victōria Titō magnam glōriam dedit. ubi Rōmam revēnit, populus eum magnō triumphō accēpit. arcus quī "Arcus Titī" nōminātur hodiē Rōmae stat et hanc victōriam commemorat.
annō 832 AUC (79 CE), ubi Vespasiānus mortuus est, Titus imperātor factus est. multī cīvēs eum prīmō timēbant, quod Titus prius saepe crūdēlis erat. sed Titus, postquam imperium accēpit, vir omnīnō novus factus est. benignus et līberālis erat, et populum Rōmānum bene cūrāvit.
brevī tempore post, rēs terribilēs accidērunt. mōns Vesuvius magnam vim ignis et cineris effūdit. ignis oppida Pompēiōs et Herculāneum paene dēlēvit. multa mīlia hominum periērunt. Titus ipse pecūniam suam ad auxilium mīsit et bis ad regiōnem vēnit. annō posterō, magnum incendium partem urbis Rōmae dēlēvit. iterum Titus cīvibus auxilium dedit.
amphitheātrum quoque Flāvium pater eius incēpit. Titus id perfēcit et aperuit. per centum diēs Titus mūnera et spectācula pūblica in amphitheātrō dedit.
Titus tamen breviter imperāvit. annō 834 AUC (81 CE), quod subitō aeger erat, mortuus est. duo tantum annōs imperāvit. frāter eius Domitiānus eī successit. quamquam Titus brevī tempore imperāvit, Rōmānī eum semper amāvērunt. Suetonius eum "amōrem et dēliciās generis hūmānī" nōmināvit.
GRAMMATICA
-ae, -ō, -ī
A new case: the dative.
Operative, until now you have handled two jobs a noun can do in a sentence: the nominative (the subject, who acts) and the accusative (the direct object, what the action lands on). This episode's key-text puts a third case in front of you again and again, and the Demiurge judges you ready to name it. It is the dative, and most of the time it answers to whom or for whom an action is done: the indirect object.
Watch it work in the sentences you just read:
imperātor Titus equitī epistulam dedit.
the emperor Titus gave a letter to the horseman.
equēs virō potentī epistulam dedit.
the horseman gave a letter to the powerful man.
equēs caupōnī pecūniam nōn dedit.
the horseman did not give money to the innkeeper.
In each, one thing is given (the letter, the money: accusative, the direct object) and one person receives it (the horseman, the powerful man, the innkeeper: dative, the indirect object). English usually marks this with the little word to; Latin marks it with an ending.
The endings, by declension:
| declension | dative singular ending | example |
| first | -ae | fēminae (to/for the woman) |
| second | -ō | virō (to/for the man) |
| third | -ī | equitī (to/for the horseman) |
A warning worth carrying: the first-declension -ae looks exactly like other endings you already know. Do not assume every -ae is a dative; let the sense of the sentence, and the presence of something given or said or done to someone, tell you when you have a dative in hand.
Pronouns take the dative too. You have already met this without naming it. When Caecilius tibi dīcit ("says to you"), tibi is the dative of tū. When the townspeople eī viam dabant ("kept giving the road to him"), eī is the dative of is. For now, recognize mihi (to me), tibi (to you), and eī (to him/her) on sight; you will drill them formally as this mission continues.
(Note on comparatives: the key-text also carries a few adjectives in an unfamiliar shape, longiōrēs ("longer") and maiōra ("greater things"), each followed by quam ("than"). For now, recognize the -iōr- shape as a "more ___ / ___-er" form and read on; comparatives are taught formally later in the mission.)
VERBA
| Latin | English | Part of Speech |
| bonus | good | adjective |
| it | she/he goes | verb |
| meus | my | pronoun |
| potest | she/he is able, can | verb |
| vōx | voice | noun |
CULTURALIA
Operatives, we have just run some diagnostics and everything appears to be completely fine. You should ignore any artifacts appearing in your TSTT visuals: the walls meeting at angles that are not quite right, the shadows falling a little too long. We do not think they are any kind of issue for concern. Situation normal. Everything is fine. How are you?
It is very interesting, though, that the man in the key-text has brought up a name strikingly similar to your own. You have handled Roman names before, all the way back on the road outside Pompeii, when a malus demanded yours and you learned to weigh what a name gives away. Circle back to that now, because Operation LAPIS will keep asking you to revisit what you already know and see further into it. You met the tria nōmina then: the praenōmen (the personal name), the nōmen of the gēns (the clan), and the cognōmen. This time the pressure is different. The stranger is not asking your name; he is claiming to share it.
What a shared nōmen does and does not mean. A gēns was a large family tracing itself to a common ancestor, and the cognōmen is how Romans told its branches apart. The Cornēliī, an enormous gēns, held the Cornēliī Scīpiōnēs and the Cornēliī Sullae: one clan, distinct lines, told apart by that third name. And a single gēns could carry both patrician branches (the old hereditary aristocracy) and plebeian ones, so two people sharing a nōmen were not therefore social equals, nor even necessarily close kin. When the stranger asks whether you know a Gaius Recentius in Rome, he is really asking whether his line and your (fictional) gēns Recentia are one people. That is a heavier question than the one the malus asked you on the road, and you should think about what answering it, either way, would hand him.
When a family claims a god. A gēns could reach higher than a human ancestor. The gēns Iūlia claimed descent from the goddess Venus, through her son Aeneas and his son Iūlus. You have just been reading Aeneas's wanderings in the key-text; this is where that story stops being only a story. Julius Caesar, and Augustus after him, pointed to that divine ancestry to argue their family was meant to lead Rome. A name, told the right way, becomes a claim to power.
Augustus and the uses of myth. You have glimpsed this already at Troy: a myth is never a neutral record; it is a story a people tells to say who they are. Augustus understood this better than anyone. Before him, power at Rome was shared among many, above all the Senate; he gathered it into one man's hands while insisting he had restored the Republic, leaning on old stories and old virtues to make a new arrangement feel ancient and legitimate. He encouraged poets like Vergil, whose dutiful Aeneas gave Rome a national myth with Augustus's own line at its center. The long peace his reign opened was named the Pāx Rōmāna. So as you decide what to tell this stranger, hold the Demiurge's question: why would a ruler labor to build a myth, and what can literature do for power that an army cannot?
ATTUNEMENT
Attunement, Episode 5.1
Preview each exercise, then copy it into your own Google Drive to complete it.
5.1.a - What the Innkeeper Saw
interpretive reading · 4 questions5.1.b - Who Receives It?
dative, meaning · 5 items5.1.c - Aeneas Wanders
reading comprehension · 7 questions5.1.d - Names and Power
culturalia · 6 questions5.1.e - Flavian Dossier
text-vs-text synthesis · dossier + synthesisMemorātiō
reflect · recall your pathWhom did you meet in Caecilius's house, and what felt wrong about him? What did he claim about a man who shares your name, and where does that man live? What did he seem to know about your work, and about the Lapis?
Hold on to what you write here. It will help you recall your path to the Lapis as the operation continues over the weeks and months ahead.
