So, in my Latin class, I have two projects I need to do: One is for Texas and Pompeiian politics, and the other is a story about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. We are supposed to do the first paragraph in Latin, then the rest in English (if we want). My story is about a Greek child who sees the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
I wanted to use a English-Latin translator to make sure that some of my Latin is right. This is what I got:
Meus abbas est a Cupiditas merchant. EGO sum suus novem annus vetus filia. EGO have usquequaque volo praecessi ut Inflatus utpote meus abbas pluo mihi a picture of Conscendo Vesuvius ut EGO eram quattuor annus vetus. Is pollicitus is would take mihi nonnullus dies. Iam ut EGO sum senior , sit captus mihi in suus iter itineris. Nos es super impetro ut medius subsisto - Inflatus. Nos es captus a navis ex Herulanium.
Now, so far, I see LOTS of epic fails. Here. For one thing, it should say:
"Pater meus Graeci mercator" at the beginning.
This is what the paragraph is in English:
My father is a Greek merchant. I am his nine year old daughter. I have always wanted to go to Pompeii since my father showed me a picture of Mount Vesuvius when I was four years old. He promised he would take me some day. Now that I am older, he is taking me on his routes. We are about to get to the middle stop-Pompeii. We are taking a boat from Herulanium.
My biggest WTF is "Nos es super impetro ut medius subsisto - Inflatus"
Should't the "Inflatus" be "Pompeii" (or something along those lines)
If someone could please check my grammar (preferably someone who knows Latin), I would be very happy.
As for the second part, I am comparing and contrasting the politics of Texas and Pompeii. This is what I have so far for the Pompeiians:
At about March, Texas and Pompeii would begin a flurry to elect new leaders. However, because of the vast difference in time, politics, and ideals, there are differences between the system of voting between Texas and Pompeii.
Yearly, the people of Pompeii would elect four leaders (like magistrates): The duoviri, a senior pair of officials who gathered evidence in court, then gave sentence. The second pair was the aedilies, the junior pair, who supervised public markets, the baths, places of entertainment (such as the amphitheatre), water supply, police force, and the sewers. In a sense, the duoviri were like judges and the aedilies were like supervisors and keepers of the peace. These four were chosen by the people. There was a group of one hundred council members, all of which had been former duoviri or aedilies. New members are selected by the council, not the people. To be identified, a candidate wore a white toga that had been whitened with chalk; so that it would be sparkling white (this color was called candidus, which meant dazzling white). Each candidate had a client who would bribe the citizens to vote for the candidate they served. A very popular (and illegal) form of bribery was financial bribery. When a client would make a promise on behalf of the candidate, he would distribute money to anyone who listened to him. Legal forms of bribery were promises of putting on splendid shows in the amphitheatre those who voted for him if he won the election. Advertisements would be in the form of graffiti written on the walls of the city. A man would be paid by a client to have it done. Or, a citizen could pay a scribe to display his favorite candidate. An example of this graffiti would be:
Quartus et frater Holconio favent.
Quartus et frater Holconio credunt
(Quartus and his brother favor Holconius.
Quartus and his brother have faith in Holconius)
The winning candidate would be expected to contribute his wealth to construction and repair of public buildings. If he gave a very gracious amount, he would have his name inscribed on the building that he contributed to.
