2000 Ad Fontes Certamen
Level II - Round Three

1. Every certamen has to have a tricky round which is always a little harder. Watch out and stay on your toes. If the first sentence I just read were in Latin, what would be the word for "a little"? Paulo.

Bonus: What is the name of that construction? Ablative of degree of difference

2. When the Romans wanted to humiliate a defeated enemy, what custom did they have for those who had surrendered? Subjugation/placing under the yolk.

Bonus: What Numidian king made the Roman army of Albinus walk under the yoke and lived to regret it when he was captured by Marius in 106 B.C.? Jugurtha.

3. What was the food and drink of the gods is a commonly asked question, and as we all know it was nectar and ambrosia. However, do you know what Greek god introduced a new drink to the his fellow deities? The Latin name for this new concoction is vinum. Dionysus.

Bonus: What was unusual about Bacchus' birth? His mother was killed before he was born, and so he grew in Zeus' thigh.

4. White is the traditional color for brides in America. In ancient Rome, however, it was something like saffron. American brides wear their rings on the third (some say fourth) finger of their left hands. Where did Roman brides wear them? on the same finger

Bonus: What words did a Roman bride recite at her wedding? Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia.

5. The Latin verb partire is to share, and it provides the basis for what part of speech that shares the functions of a verb and an adjective? Participle.

Bonus: Name the Latin participles. present active, perfect passive, future active, future passive/gerundive.

6. Deponent verbs are a bit unusual, doing the most unexpected things at times. What is a little odd about the future passive participle of a deponent verb? It has a passive meaning.

Bonus: Give the participles and meanings from hortor. hortans - encouraging, urging; hortatus-having encouraged; hortaturus- about to/intending to encourage; hortandus-to be encouraged.

7. A major road was built between Capua and Rome in 312 B.C. It was later expanded to Brundisium. It was constructed during the censorship of Appius Claudius. It was partially lined with what type of structure, one of the most famous of which belongs to Caecilia Metella? Tombs.

Bonus: Why were people buried along the Appian Way rather than near their homes in the city? It was illegal to bury people in Rome.

8. Medusa was once a beautiful woman, but she turned so ugly that anyone who looked at her became stone. Perseus was able to kill her while she was asleep, however, but he couldn't kill her sisters. Why not? They were immortal.

Bonus: How many sisters did Medusa have, and what were their names? Two: Stheno and Euryale

9. How many years was Julius Caesar Pontifex Maximus? 20 (from 63-44 B.C.)

Bonus: Augustus allowed his former triumvir Lepidus to remain pontifex maximus until his death in 12 B.C. Augustus then assumed the office and held it until the end of his reign. How long was Augustus pontifex maximus? 26 yrs. (12 B.C.-A.D. 14).

10. Once you've figured it out, translate the prepositional phrase "in the following sentence". In sequenti (-e) sententia.

Bonus: Translate this sentence into Latin. Redde Latine hanc sententiam (transfer, verte, etc. in linguam Latinam).

11. Give the translation of and the type of clause used in "Iaceant canes dormientes." Let sleeping dogs lie, hortatory/jussive.

Bonus: The hortatory/jussive subjunctive is different from other subjunctives in that it is used in independent clauses. Give another independent use. Optative, potential, deliberative.

12. Since we were speaking of sleeping dogs, you all probably started to think of the time that Cerberus was lulled to sleep by what Greek minstrel? Orpheus.

Bonus: Cerberus also fell asleep when Aeneas and the Sybil went to the underworld. Why was that? Because the Sybil tossed him honey and drugged meat.

13. A censor was a Roman official who took the census and had control over public morals. They served for a term of 18 months but often were elections held for the office? Every 5 years.

Bonus: How many censors were there at one time? Two.

14. In July of 44 B.C. Octavian staged the Ludi Victoriae Caesaris to fulfill a vow to his adopted father. It is said that during this time the sidus Iulium appeared. What was the sidus Iulium? The Julian Star.

Bonus: What did this star or comet supposedly signify? That Julius Caesar had become a god.

15. What word would introduce the subordinate clause in the following sentence? He sent men to explore the territory. Qui.

Bonus: What type of subordinate clause is this? Relative clause of purpose.

16. Keeping with the relative pronoun theme for the moment, I would like for the person whom I recognize to tell me what relative pronoun would be used if this whole sentence were translated into Latin. Quem.

Bonus: In that same long sentence, what case, number, and gender would "keeping" be? Nominative, singular, masculine or feminine (depending on the gender of the moderator).

17. The last Roman emperor in the West was deposed in 476 A.D. Give his name as well as the name of his deposer. Romulus Augustulus, Odoacer.

Bonus: In religious matters, Odoacer was of the Arian persuasion. This heresy which taught that Christ was a creature rather than God from eternity had been condemned at the Council of Nicaea which was convened by what Emperor? Constantine.

18. What Athenian prince contributed to his father's death by his own carelessness in forgetting to hoist the proper sails on his return from Crete where he had killed the minotaur? Theseus.

Bonus: Who was his father, how did he die, and what geographical name do we have from that? Aegeus, he leapt into the sea, the Aegean Sea.

19. Divide the number of Vestal Virgins into the minimum number of years a Vestal had to serve, et responde Latine. Quinque.

Bonus: What was the punishment for impurity in a Vestal? She was buried alive.

20. The verbs volo, nolo, and malo follow a similar pattern. This should be no surprise, since nolo and malo both use volo as a root. Of what two phrases, with their literal meanings, are these verbs contractions? Non volo - not to want/I do not want; magis volo - to want more/I want more.

Bonus: Conjugate volo completely in the present indicative. Volo, vis, vult, volumus, vultus, volunt.