2015 Yale Certamen Invitational Advanced Division Round X
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2015 Yale Certamen Invitational Advanced Division Round X 1. Say in Latin: Certamen is difficult to play. CERTĀMEN DIFFICILE LUSŪ EST B1 Now say in Latin: This question is more difficult to answer. HAEC QUAESTIO DIFFICILIOR RESPŌNSŪ EST B2 Finally say in Latin: Latin words can be so difficult to remember. VERBA LATĪNA TAM / ADEŌ DIFFICILIA MEMORĀTŪ ESSE POSSUNT 2. Against historical generalizations, the senate mourned what man’s death and even held an assize that led to the execution of almost 300 members of a mob and the exile of Scipio Nasica? TIBERIUS GRACCHUS B1 One of Nasica’s justifications for his actions was that Gracchus had sought the tribunate two years in a row, an action banned by what law of 180 BC? LEX VILLIA ANNALIS B2 Despite his status as Pontifex Maximus, the court refused to grant Scipio Nasica amnesty, and instead of being executed, Nasica agreed to go enter honorable exile to what province? ASIA 3. Who shifted from being a radical political revolutionary in the army of Brutus and Cassius, to a member of the establishment when he joined Maecenas’ literary circle? (QUINTUS) HORACE (FLACCUS) B1 What first work did Horace begin writing following his loss at the battle of Philippi? EPODES B2 What nickname did Horace given those 17 poems as reference to their rhythm and meter? IAMBI 4. To what category do the following figures belong: Theia, Phoebe, Coeus, Iapetus, Oceanus? TITANS B1 Name the three children of Hyperion, who personified celestial aspects? HELIOS, SELENE, EOS B2 We know that Prometheus and Epimetheus are the sons of Iapetus. Who were Iapetus’s other two sons? MENOETIUS, ATLAS 5. Harry Potter (no, don’t worry, it’s not one of those) has narrowed down his choice of dates for the Hogwarts’ Yule Ball to Lavender Brown and Hermione Granger. Ron Weasley wants to say, “Whom will you choose?” in Latin. What will be the form of the interrogative pronoun in that sentence? QUEM 2015 Yale Certamen Invitational Advanced Division Round X B1 Similarly, what is the ablative singular form of the interrogative pronoun for masculine and feminine? QUŌ B2 What Latin interrogative would start the sentence “Who are your best friends?” QUĪ 6. Who panicked when she saw her son Demophoon being placed in the hearth by his nurse? METANEIRA B1 Demophoon’s nurse was actually Demeter disguised as an old woman. What false name was Demeter using? DOSO B2 In some versions of the story, Demeter suckles Demophoon’s brother, causing him to instantly become an adult. In other versions of the story she chooses to teach him the art of agriculture. In yet others, he takes the place of Demophoon. What is the name of this elusive Eleusinian man? TRIPTOLEMUS 7. What author’s involvement in the failed Pisonian conspiracy prevented him from completing his ten book magnum opus, Bellum Civile? (MARCUS ANNAEUS) LUCAN(US) B1 What battle acts as the fulcrum of the Bellum Civile, giving the work its famous nickname? PHARSALUS B2 Although Lucan is most famous for his ten book epic, he also wrote a series of lost works, including a tragedy on what woman, whom Accius, Seneca the Younger, and Ovid all wrote about? MEDEA 8. From what Latin noun with what meaning do we derive “boil”, “bullet”, and “bowling”? BULLA – LOCKET, AMULET, BUBBLE B1 What table sport also derives its name from bulla? BILLIARDS B2 Which of the following, if any, IS also derived from bulla: “ball”, “budget”, “budge”, “bulge”? BUDGE (“budget” and “bulge” both from bulga –bag) 9. In a cruel twist of fate, what emperor’s decision to kill himself actually saved Rome because it prevented the city from being destroyed while he fought against the forces of Vitellius? OTHO 2015 Yale Certamen Invitational Advanced Division Round X B1 The victory of Valens and Caecina at what site had convinced Otho that his continued resistance to their forces was a futile endeavour? CREMONA/BEDRIACUM B2 Prior to the debacle of 69 AD, Otho been governor of what province, a position that had been remuneration for Nero stealing Poppaea Sabina? LUSITANIA 10. Listen to the following passage from Book 1 of Livy’s Ab Urbe Conditā, which I will read twice, and answer in English the questions that follow. Ex pastōribus duo ferōcissimī dēlectī ad facinus, et in vestibulō rēgiae quam potuēre tumultuōsissimē speciē rixae in sē omnēs rēgiōs convertunt; inde, cum ambō regem appellārent clāmorque eōrum penitus in rēgiam pervēnisset, vocātī ad regem pergunt. iussī ab lictōre in vicem dīcere, ūnus rem ex compositō ōrdītur. Cum intentus in eum sē rēx tōtus ēverteret, alter ēlātam secūrim in caput dēiēcit, relictōque in volnere tēlō ambō sē forās ēiciunt. Question: How did the shepherds attract everyone’s attention? PRETENDING TO BRAWL AS TUMULTUOUSLY AS POSSIBLE B1 What did the lictor order the men to do? SPEAK IN TURN B2 What did the shepherds do with the axe when they fled? THEY LEFT IN IT IN THE KING’S WOUND/HEAD 11. For the Latin verb tangō, give the 1st person singular imperfect passive subjunctive. TANGERER B1 Make tangerer perfect tense, keeping all else the same. TACTUS / TACTA SIM B2 Make tactus sim active. TETIGERIM 12. What epic historical work placed Ennius as the preeminent writer of early Latin literature in the eyes of many later authors? ANNALES B1 At the beginning of the Annales, Ennius claims that what earlier writer came to him in a dream, and told Ennius that he was the man’s reincarnation? HOMER B2 Although the Annales are famous for being the first epic written in dactylic hexameter, what other work of Ennius is the first work to be written in the meter? HEDYPHAGETICA 13. Differentiate in meaning between luceō and lugeō. LUCEŌ – SHINE; LUGEŌ – MOURN / GRIEVE 2015 Yale Certamen Invitational Advanced Division Round X B1 Differentiate in meaning between lucrum and lutum. LUCRUM – PROFIT / GAIN; LUTUM – CLAY / MUD B2 Differentiate in meaning between the verbs libō and labō. LIBŌ – NIBBLE / GRAZE / POUR LIBATION; LABŌ - TOTTER 14. What founder of Ephyra betrayed Zeus by ratting him out to his lover Aegina’s father? SISYPHUS B1 What was the name of Aegina’s river-god father? ASOPUS B2 What punishment did Zeus set on Sisyphus for his betrayal – which he notoriously thwarted a number of times? CHAINED IN THE UNDERWORLD (BY THANATOS) (DO NOT ACCEPT ANYTHING ABOUT ROLLING A ROCK UPHILL) 15. What case is used in Latin to express place where when the place described is the name of a city or town? LOCATIVE B1 What case would be used for the word “city” if the sentence “I am in Rome, a most beautiful city” were put into Latin? ABLATIVE B2 What locative form is translated “on the ground”? HUMĪ 16. What fair weather ally of the Romans defected to the enemy both after Lautulae and Cannae? CAPUA B1 Although the Romans did nothing about the defection during the Second Samnite War, they were far more aggressive in the Second Punic War, sending what man to capture the city in 211 BC? FULVIUS FLACCUS B2 Although the city was barely a Roman ally, Capua served as the terminus of the Via Appia until Brundisium was colonized in what year? 244 BC 17. Translate into English: Quid hodiē agamus? WHAT SHOULD WE DO TODAY? B1 What type of independent subjunctive clause is found in that sentence? DELIBERATIVE B3 Now translate the following sentence and identify the independent use of the subjunctive: Semper meminerimus huius diēī. LET US / MAY WE ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS DAY; HORTATORY / JUSSIVE 2015 Yale Certamen Invitational Advanced Division Round X 18. What Trojan man was struck by Zeus’s thunderbolt for boasting of his love affair with Aphrodite? ANCHISES B1 Why did Zeus punish Aphrodite by causing her to fall in love with Anchises? BECAUSE SHE CAUSED GODS TO FALL IN LOVE WITH MORTALS B2 Name the parents of Anchises. CAPYS AND THEMISTE 19. What author wrote four books of Elegies, the first three of which are dominated by his love for Cynthia? (SEXTUS) PROPERTIUS B1 Despite differing in patrons, Propertius is said to have been close friends with what other author, and perhaps even proposed to him the idea of writing elegiac letters to lovers in mythology? (PUBLIUS) OVID(IUS) (NASO) B2 Initially thought to have been published together around 25 BC, the second and third books of Propertius’ elegies are now considered to have been published separately because the third contains an epicedium to what man’s death in 23 BC? MARCELLUS 20. What was the term for the official in charge of Rome’s water supply? CURATOR AQUARUM B1 What was the term for the official in charge of Rome’s grain supply? PRAEFECTUS ANNONAE B2 What was the term for a replacement Consul--usually one appointed during the Empire? CONSUL SUFFECTUS 2015 Yale Certamen Invitational Advanced Division Round X 1. From what Latin noun with what meaning do we ultimately derive “larceny”? LATRŌ – THIEF B1 From what Latin noun with what meaning do we derive “lard”? LĀR(I)DUM – BACON, FAT B2 From what Latin noun with what meaning do we derive “larch”? LARIX – LARCH (TREE) 2. Because of the writer’s obsession with creating articulate characters, both Laelius and Scipio Aemilianus have been postulated to be the author of six comedies usually attributed to what man? (PUBLIUS) TERENTIUS/TERENCE (AFER) B1 What later author called Terence “Puri Amator Sermonis” or “Lover of Pure diction”? CAESAR B2 Even Terence’s birth date of 184 BC has been speculated be a fabrication created by later authors, because of it being in the same year as what other playwright’s death? (TITUS MACCIUS) PLAUTUS 3.