Latin Via Proverbs: Home - Previous - Next

 

Group 30: Latin

 

402. Iuniores ad labores.

403. Hannibal ad portas.

404. Christianos ad leones.

405. Sera nunquam est ad bonos mores via.

406. Lupi apud oves custodes.

407. Leonis exuvium super asinum.

408. Nemo est supra leges.

409. Caesar non supra grammaticos.

410. Testudo intra tegumentum tuta.

411. Ut piscis extra aquam.

412. Nemo ante mortem beatus.

413. Post tempestatem tranquillum.

414. Post tenebras lux.

415. Post triduum hospitis satietas est.

416. Inter os et offam.

417. Inter canem et lupum.

418. Inter incudem et malleum.

419. Sumus inter parietes sex: supra, subtus, ante, retro, dextra laevaque.

 

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Study Guide

 

402. The younger ones to the tasks. (This one loses all its charm in English, without the lovely rhyme of the Latin. There is no verb, so you can supply the verb of your choice: the younger ones need to get to work, should go to work, etc. A fuller form of the saying is Juniores ad labores, seniores ad honores, "The younger ones have jobs to do, the older ones have honors.")

 

403. Hannibal is at the gates. (Hannibal, of course, was the great Carthaginian general who fought against Rome in the second Punic War. This was a proverbial threat among the ancient Romans, something like us saying "it's the end of the world!")

 

404. Christians to the lions. (In other words: send the Christians to the lions! This is a phrase from the time of Christian persecutions before Christianity became the ruling religion of the Roman Empire in the year 313.)

 

405. The road to good character is never late. (In other words: it's never too late to change your ways and improve your character. This is another one of the many sayings you can find in the Roman writer Seneca. This time, however, it comes from one of his plays - the Agamemnon - rather than from his philosophical writings: nam sera numquam est ad bonos mores via: quem paenitet peccasse paene est innocens, " for the road to good character is never late; the person who is sorry for his mistake is practically innocent.")

 

406. The wolves as guardians among the sheep. (You can read a brief essay about this proverb at the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)

 

407. The lion skin upon the donkey. (You can read a detailed discussion of this saying, with examples from Aesop's fable, at the Latin Audio Proverbs blog.)

 

408. No one is above the laws. (You can read a brief essay about this saying at the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)

 

409. Caesar is not above the grammarians. (You can read a brief essay about this saying at the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)

 

410. The turtle is safe in her shell. (There is a great Aesop's fable about how the poor eagle really was not able to get the turtle out of her shell, but with the help of the conniving crow, the poor turtle did not stand a chance! You can read the Aesop's fable online.)

 

411. Like a fish out of water. (You can read a brief essay about this saying at the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)

 

412. No one happy before his death. (You can read a brief essay about this saying at the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)

 

413. Calm after the storm. (You can find this idea used in praise of God here in the Book of Tobit: post tempestatem tranquillum facis et post lacrimationem et fletum exultationem infundis, "after the storm, you make a clam and after tears and weeping you pour forth joy.")

 

414. After darkness, light. (This saying became a motto of the Protestant Reformation, which regarding the history of the church as a kind of darkness which the light of the Gospel would be able to dispel. It is especially associated with the Reformation movement in Geneva, and you can see it on this lovely Swiss commemorative medallion from 1896, from the Virtual Museum for the Swiss National Exhibition.)

 

415. After three days of a guest, that's enough. (A fuller form of the saying is Post triduum mulieris, hospitis et pluviarum satietas est, "After three days of a woman, of a guest, and of rain, that's enough.")

 

416. Between the mouth and the morsel. (A fuller form of this saying is Inter os et offam multa intervenire possunt, "Between the mouth and the morsel, many things can intervene." The English equivalent is "There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip." In other words, until you've actually sunk your teeth into something, don't count on it! This shows up in Erasmus's Adagia, 1.5.2, and can be found in an interesting discussion in Aulus Gellius.)

 

417. Between the dog and the wolf. (This saying can have quite different meanings based on context. Sometimes the saying depends on the notion that there is not that much difference between a dog and a wolf, so this saying refers to something indeterminate, such as twilight. In other contexts, it can be something like "between Scylla and Charybdis," with danger lurking on both sides, as in this fuller form of the phrase: Inter lupos et canes nullam salutem esse, "They say that there is no safety between the wolves and the dogs.")

 

418. Between the anvil and the hammer. (Being between the anvil and the hammer is not a good place to be! As Erasmus explains in the Adagia, 1.1.16, de his, qui anxietatibus, et ingentibus malis premuntur, this is a saying "about those who are afflicted by enormous anxieties and problems.")

 

419. We are within six walls: up, down, behind, in front, right and left. (You can find this saying in the great medieval dialogue of Pippin and Albin.)

 

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