Don't Tread on Me!
Noli me calcare!

If what one's hearing in the news is true, the old slogan "Don't tread on me!" is gaining popularity once more. It should be noted that this motto has a somewhat lesser known Latin counterpart "Noli me calcare!" Although I cannot immediately locate an adequate proof, it appears as if the origin of the phrase, as accompanied with a picture of a snake may be somewhere in those numerous volumes of pictorial devices and symbols, so popular in the 16-18 centuries. There are similar devices "Noli me tangere", "Do not touch me" accompanied with depictions of a rather fierce looking dog or bush of nettles (a common Europian weed that causes severe burns). There is also an emblem of an elephant stepping on a snake. The motto that goes with this device is "Non impune feres" - "You won't go unpunished." Everything points to the fact that when the phrase "Don't tread on me!" was first used as a symbol of the Colonies' independent spirit it most likely came from some collection of pictorial mottos.

But here is somethine else that I find quite interesting. "Noli me calcare" can also be found in Augustine. He uses it in a very witty way, suggesting that sometimes those who intend to honor us by embraces and osculations are at the same time stepping on our feet. It seems that the exact phrase Augustine uses "Nolo honorem tuum, noli me calcare" (basically, "I do not wish to be honored by you if you step on me") is a much more suitable expression of one's dissatisfaction with a duly elected government, as opposed to warding off a foreign power (wich is the case with the snake symbol).

Of course, Augustine's own point has more to do with theology. Here is the entire passage in a rather loose 19th century translation:

Carry your charity through the whole earth if you wish to love Christ, because the members of Christ are spread abroad on the face of the earth. If you care for a party you are divided, and if you are divided you do not belong to the Body; if you belong not to the Body neither are you under the one Head. What does it profit you to believe and blaspheme? You adore Him in His Head and blaspheme Him in His Body. He loves His Body. If you have cut yourself off from His Body the Head remains united to its Body. That Head cries to you from above, In vain you honour Me, in vain you honour Me. It is as if somebody were to kiss you on your cheek and to stamp upon your feet, and perhaps to make you feel his heavy boot whilst he was holding you in his embrace. Would you not cry out at his words of flattery, and say, " What are you doing, man? you are treading on me." You would not say, " You are treading on my head," for he was embracing your cheek. The head would cry out for its wounded members more than for itself, because it was being honoured whilst they were being ill treated. . . .

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The ancients valued friendship above romantic love and very often above family connections. It had a lot to do with how Greek and Roman society operated, as well as a whole lot of other factors. I have collected a number of Latin quotes about friendship, mostly from Classical times. Enjoy, friends!

Friendship quotes in Latin

Nam et ex fuso exercitu cum decimus quisque fusti feritur, etiam strenui sortiuntur. Habet aliquid ex iniquo omne magnum exemplum, quod contra singulos utilitate publica rependitur.

When in a defeated army every tenth man is felled by the club, the lot falls also on the brave. There is some injustice in every great precedent, which, though injurious to individuals, has its compensation in the public good.

Annals 14.44

No, Cicero did not kill his brother, which, of course, is implied by the meaning of the word fratricide (Latin fratricida actually means the person who committed the crime rather than the crime itself). However, we may owe it largely to Cicero that words such as 'fratricide', 'matricide' and 'sororicide' (ever heard of this one?) actually exist. The word 'paricida' was often used in Classical Latin indiscriminately to denote someone who murdered a close relative - it must have been a rare crime. Cicero in "De Domo Sua" uses all three words 'matricida,' 'fratricida,' 'sororicida' in once sentence, thus ensuring that countless generations of future Latinists are aware of this fine distinction:

quid? de me quod tulisse te dicis, patricida, fratricida, sororicida, nonne extra ordinem tulisti?

What! what sort of law is it that you say that you passed about me, you parricide, you fratricide, you murderer of your sister; did you not pass that out of the regular course?

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QuickMem is one of the oldest pieces of software for learning New Testament Greek. It has always been free, and now it is available on iPhone. Don't miss it! I have seen at least one other program that claims to do the same, but it's not free and it looks like it covers a smaller subset of Greek words. Of course, you can download a plain Windows, Mac or Linux version of QuickMem from the same page!

QuickMem

The truth is Garth’s cock is in a class of its own and it moves me as none other. Mark’s balls have no separation between them and are positioned in a taut horizontal line. Even when I am away from... J. Colman http://wordslut.typepad.com/blog/2010/05/ive-grown-accustomed-to-your-cock-erotic-memoir-edit-1.html

Tempus fugit
Translation: Time flies



I already knew that Latin mottos were very common on sundials. As it turns out, clocks at one time also featured Latin phrases. Obviously, you can still custom engrave a quality mantle clock. But this particular masterpiece replicates Wedgwood's original designs from the 1880s and is already ornamented with a Tempus Fugit inscription. As for the price, it is unapproachable, alas!

By the way, the origin of the phrase probably can be found in a line from Viril's Georgics:

Set fugit interea, fugit inreparabile tempus,
singula dum capti circumvectamur amore.

(G. 3.284-5)

Fairclough translates beautifully: "But time meanwhile is flying, flying beyond recall, while we, charmed with love of our theme, linger around each detail!"

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