2002 Ad Fontes Certamen
Level I - Final Round

Welcome to the Level I Final Round of the Ad Fontes Certamen. How would you translate the phrase "Ad Fontes"? To the sources / springs / fountains.
Bonus 1: Please give me the declension and gender of fons. 3rd / masc.
Bonus 2: Ad, of course, takes the accusative case. But some prepositions can take the accusative or ablative. Give me two such prepositions. In, sub, super, subter.

Which of the Roman magistrates was in charge of the streets, markets, and games? Aedile.
Bonus 1: What Roman magistrate had the power to eject a person from membership in the Senate? Censor.
Bonus 2: Which Roman magistrate had the shortest term of office? Dictator.

The only safe way to kill Medusa was to cut off her head. But this had an unexpected side-effect. What animal sprang from her blood? Pegasus.
Bonus 1: What hero succeeded in cutting off Medusus' head? Perseus.
Bonus 2: What hero succeeded in taming and riding Pegasus? Bellerophone.

What was the name of the chief priest at Rome? Pontifex maximus.
Bonus 1: What group had charge of safekeeping the sacred flame of Rome? Vestal Virgins.
Bonus 2: What group of priests had special skill in foretelling the will of the gods? Augurs / haruspices.

Caesar crossed the Rubicon and began a civil war in Rome. What famous Roman was his chief opponent? Pompey.
Bonus 1: In what year did Caesar cross the Rubicon? 49 B.C.
Bonus 2: This round of the civil wars that brought the Republic to an end lasted until 45 B.C. In what province was the final battle in 45 fought? Spain.

Many states have Latin motto, but so does the United States. What is it and its meaning? E pluribus unum / One out of many.
Bonus 1: Another motto appears on our dollar bill: annuit coeptis. What does this mean? He has approved our undertakings.
Bonus 2: And there's another on the dollar bill: novo ordo seclorum. What does this mean. A new order of the ages.

What three tenses are derived from the third principal part of the verb? Perfect, Pluperfect, Future Perfect.
Bonus 1: What is the indicator for the future tense of a third conjugation verb? e-.
Bonus 2: What is the tense indicator for the imperfect tense of all conjugations? -ba-.

Translate "you" in the following sentence: "I saw you all in the temple". Vos.
Bonus 1: Translate "temple" in that sentence. Templo.
Bonus 2: Translate "I saw" in that sentence. Vidi / videbam / spectavi / spectabam.

I was the daughter of Priam, fated always to speak true prophecies but never to be believed. Cassandra.
Bonus 1: What god had bestowed the gift of prophecy on Cassandra? Apollo.
Bonus 2: Who was the wife of Agamemnon who killed Cassandra? Clytemnestra.

Using the nominative, say "great poets" in Latin? Magni poetae.
Bonus 1: Make magni poetae dative singular. Magno poetae.
Bonus 2: Now make magno poetae genitive plural. Magnorum poetarum.

What is the month, day, and year, that the Romans said their city was founded? April 21, 753 B.C.
Bonus 1: What was the year that the Roman Empire finally came to an end, with the capture of Constantinople? 1453.
Bonus 2: The Western Empire had ended some time before. What is the traditional date for the fall of the Empire in the West? 476.

What did the Romans call Ireland? Hibernia.
Bonus 1: What did the Romans call Scotland? Caledonia.
Bonus 2: What did the Romans call Egypt? Aegyptus.

What ablative construction is illustrated in this sentence (read slowly!) Caesar Romam magna cum celeritate it. Ablative of manner.
Bonus 1: What kind of ablative construction is illustrated in this sentence: Caesar cives suos timore liberavit. Ablative of separation.
Bonus 2: What kind of ablative construction is illustrated in this sentence: Senatores Caesarem gladiis necant. Ablative of means (instrument).

The head of a Roman household had enormous power and a special name. What was that name? Pater familias.
Bonus 1: Name one special power the pater familias had over persons in his control. Life and death / control of property / power to sell into slavery (3 times) / power over marriage and divorce. (Don't read the answer yet!)
Bonus 2: Name another.

Who am I? My father was Iapetus, my son Deucalion. I clashed with Zeus a number of times, once by arranging that men should receive the best part of their animal sacrifices, the gods the worst. For this, and because I cared for mankind so much, Zeus punished mankind by creating Pandora. He punished me for giving fire to mankind. Prometheus.
Bonus 1: Who was the brother of Prometheus was married Pandora? Epimethus.
Bonus 2: We all know Prometheus was bound to a mountain and had his liver eaten by an eagle every night. What hero freed him from this torment? Hercules.

Which member of the Second Triumvirate died first, Octavian, Antony, or Lepidus? Antony.
Bonus 1: Where did Antony die? Egypt.
Bonus 2: He died after losing what battle to Octavian? Actium.

Translate this sentence into English: Volo Romam volare. I want to fly to Rome.
Bonus 1: Translate into Latin: I saw Caesar in the forum. Vidi (videbam) Caesarem in foro.
Bonus 2: Translate this into English: Senatores Caesarem in curia necaverunt. The senators killed Caesar in the senate house.

What great historian of Rome wrote 142 books, only about 1/4 of which survived. Livy.
Bonus 1: What Greek historian told the story of Rome's rise to world domination in the 2nd century B.C. Polybius.
Bonus 2: What Roman historian told the story of the early Empire, especially the Julio-Claudian dynasty? Tacitus.


Who am I? I was at my plow when I was called to save a Roman army surrounded by enemies. I saved the army and then returned to my farm. I would have been pleased to know that a city was named after me in Ohio. Cincinnatus.
Bonus 1: To what office was Cincinnatus elected to save the army? Dictator.
Bonus 2: It was normal for dictators to serve only until the emergency was over, and Cincinnatus served only a few weeks. But that office also had a maximum term-limit. What was it? 6 months.

In the sentence Poetae nautis dona dare poterant what is the case and construction of nautis. Dative of indirect object.
Bonus 1: Now, what is unusual about the nouns poeta and nauta? Masculines of the first declension.
Bonus 2: In that sentence (repeat if asked) was is the tense of poterant? Imperfect.