2001 Ad Fontes Certamen
Level IV - Round One


1. We love participles. And when we ask a participle question, we like to hear things like itıs tense (present, perfect, future) and its voice (active or passive). Keeping that in mind, what is the tense and voice of morituri? Future, active.

Bonus: What is the verb and meaning from which morituri derives? Morior (mori, mortuus sum) / to die.

2. What warlord of the late Republic, famous for being "Fortunate," had Marius as his greatest enemy. Sulla.

Bonus: Sulla fought a great war against the King of Pontus, defeating him but not removing him as a future threat to Rome. Who was this King? Mithridates.

3. What number is missing from the following seqence: duo, quattuor, octo, decem? Sex.

Bonus: What number is missing from this sequence? viginti triginta quinquaginta sexaginta? quadraginta.

4. What brother of Tiberius died while campaigning against the Germans on the Rhine frontier? Drusus.

Bonus: Drususı son also became a famous general on the German front, quite obviously from the agnomen by which he is known today. Who is he? Germanicus.

5. Hecate, the three-formed goddess, was the patron of witches. Which niece of Circe and daughter of Aeetes called on her powers to aid a handsome Greek? Medea.

Bonus: What Argonaut, a nephew of Medea, led Jason there? Argus.

6. What did the Romans call desert? Secunda mensa.

Bonus: Now tell me the Latin words for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ientaculum, prandium, cena.

7. What use of the ablative is seen in the following sentence: Urbe capta Aeneas fugit. Ablative absolute.

Bonus: How 'bout: Romam veniemus tribus diebus. Time within which.

8. Jealous gods were always dangerous. What goddess sought to punish Psyche to whose beauty the entire world was offering divine honors? Venus.

Bonus: How did Venus plan to punish Psyche? Cupid was sent to make her fall in love with the most wretched man possible (anything close is fine).

9. What is the literal meaning of the English word agenda? Things having to be done (anything close, but the concept has to be plural).

Bonus: What is the grammatical term for this word in Latin? Gerundive.

10. By 146 B.C. the Roman Senate was becoming disturbed by the difficulty of controlling their allied and subject states. In that year, turning to terror as a technique of empire, they utterly destroyed two great cities of the ancient world. What were they? Carthage and Corinth.

Bonus: Both of these cities were later rebuilt and refounded as Roman colonies. Which did Caesar refound? Corinth.

11. What goddess has as her symbol the cornucopia? Ceres / Demeter.

Bonus: Venus also had a symbol, a bird. What was the name of bird, Latin and English? Columba / dove.

12. In the following sentence, identify the tense and voice of the participle: Femina discessura virum vidit. Future / active.

Bonus: Please translate that sentence. The woman, about to leave, saw the man.

13. Where am I? Iım looking south towards the Palatine; to my right, high above, is the Temple of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus; to my left is the arch of Titus. Forum.

Bonus: If I walked straight ahead, and climbed the Palatine, and looked directly south, what hill would I see across the valley containing the Circus Maximus? Aventine.

14. With what type of verb is the supine always used to express purpose? A verb of motion.

Bonus: Translate this sentence: Pacem petitum ad imperatorem ivit. He went to the command to seek peace.

15. To what god were the oak trees of Dodona sacred? Zeus.

Bonus: In what region was the oracle of Dodona located? Epirus.

16. A great historian of Rome chronicled the family history of the Julio-Claudians year by year. Who was he? Tacitus.

Bonus: Tacitus also wrote on oratory, on the civils wars following the death of Nero, and a biography of his father-in-law. What was the name of his father-in-law? Agricola.

17. Gotta love those participles! Translate the participle form in the following sentence: "I am about to eat dinner". Esurus / -a

Bonus: Keeping everything else the same, make that sentence plural and translate into Latin. Esuri / -ae sumus cenam.

18. The name of the months are nouns in English. What part of speech are they in Latin? Adjectives.

Bonus: The words "yesterday," "today," and "tomorrow" are adverbs in English. What part of speech are they in Latin? Adverbs.

19. Who were the pious couple from Phrygia who unwittingly entertained Hermes and Zeus in their humble cottage? Baucis and Philemon.

Bonus: Into what type of trees were Baucis and Philemon transformed? Oak and linden.

20. The 4th declension has only a few neuter nouns, and only two of them are at all common. Name them. Genu, cornu.

Bonus: But the 4th declension has a fair number of feminine nouns. Name just one. Manus, domus, porticus, acus, anus, etc.