2000 Ad Fontes Certamen
Level Two - Final Round

1. Congratulations on making it into the Final Round of the 2000 Ad Fontes Certamen. Give me the Latin noun and its English meaning from which our word "final" derives. Finis, finis / end, boundary, limit.

Bonus 1:Give the word in its nominative and genitive plural along with its plural meaning. Fines, finium / country, territory, land.

Bonus 2:Give another Latin word with the meaning "territory." Ager, agri; regio, regionis.

2. I was a legate during the year 109 during the Jurgurthine War. Two years later I became consul. I abolished the property qualification for the army, thus recruiting volunteers. I captured Jurgurtha, but am perhaps even better know for my conflict with the man who was then my senior legate, Sulla. Marius

Bonus 1:Marius was helped in achieving the consulship in that he had married advantageously a patrician named Julia. What relation was this woman to Julius Caesar? His aunt.

Bonus 2:What famous comment did Sulla once make about Caesar that pertained to his uncle by marriage? "I see many a Marius in him".

3. What Roman magistrate was assigned the task of keeping the streets clean. Additionally he had to entertain the public and host annual games? Aedile.

Bonus 1:If a politician skipped the aedileship, what next office in the cursus honorum did he seek? Praetorship.

Bonus 2:What are the three traditional offices of the cursus honorum? Quaestor, praetor, consul.

4. What beast of mythology is, according to Homer, "lion in front, snake behind, and she-goat in the middle"? Chimaera.

Bonus 1:What creature often associated with Egypt had the body of a lion and the head of a human and sometimes wings? The Sphinx.

Bonus 2:After answering her question correctly, who killed the sphinx that was tormenting Thebes? Oedipus.

5. In America, it's usually only little children who say the word "beautifuler," but that was not the case in Rome. What perfectly correct Latin word conveys the same idea? Pulchrior/pulchrius.

Bonus 1:Make pulchrior superlative. Pulcherriumus/a.
Bonus 2:I don't know whether little kids might say "suitable-er". I doubt it. I doubt Roman kids tried it either, though they might have. How did Roman adults say "more suitable"? Magis idoneus.

6. Responde Latine. Quis dixit "Speculum, speculum in muro. Quis pulcherrima omnium est?" Regina (mala in "Nivea").

Bonus 1:Yes, it was the queen in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." Of those septem homunculi, who were Medicus, Laetus, et Somniculosus? Doc, Happy, and Sleepy.

Bonus 2:What about "Querens?" Grumpy.

7. Well, we'll move away from our modern mythology back to some ancient. If Clytemnestra had had a magic mirror and had asked it who was the fairest of them all in her day, what would the mirror have told her? Helen.

Bonus 1:In what two ways were Helen and Clytemnestra related? They were sisters and sisters-in-law.

Bonus 2:We don't know whether Clytemnestra was jealous of her sister, but she didn't take kindly to her husband's being gone at Troy for ten years and coming home with a Trojan princess. Who was the princess who was killed by this jealous wife? Cassandra.

8. The suicide of what wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus led to the expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome by Lucius Junius Brutus? Lucretia.

Bonus 1:What was the full name of the king that Brutus drove from Rome? Lucius Tarquinius Superbus.

Bonus 2:What Etruscan ruler did Tarquin the Proud enlist to help him retake Rome? Lars Porsenna.

9. What art-form, composed of tesserae and glue or cement, did the Romans perfect? Mosaics.

Bonus 1:In reference to the question above, what is a tessera? A small piece of stone, wood, glass; tile.

Bonus 2:What architectural feature did the Romans perfect which allowed them to complete such magnificent buildings as the Pantheon? The dome.

10. This verb does NOT mean "I do not know." What is the correct meaning of the ignosco? To forgive/pardon/overlook.

Bonus 1:What case does ignosco govern? Dative.

Bonus 2:What Latin word does mean "I do not know"? Nescio, ignoro.

11. The fifth declension has only a few words in common use. Which fifth declension word is used in countless idioms such as "grain," "deeds" and "republic"? Res, rei.

Bonus 1:How do you say "deeds" using res? Res gestae.

Bonus 2:How do you say "revolution" using res? Res novae.

12. Emperors in the mid-third century were often depicted on coins wearing coronae radiatae. These spiky crown were meant to evoke what celestial object? The sun.

Bonus 1:Constantine was one of the first Roman emperors to depict himself on coins wearing a diadem. He was associating himself with kings of what Greek realm who had worn the diadem? Macedon or Hellenistic kingdoms.

Bonus 2:What sort of crown did Augustus wear on his coinage? None or laurel wreath.

13. Each cyclops had only one eye, but what three aged sisters possessed only one eye among the three of them? The Graiae.

Bonus 1:What hero stole their eye in order to learn how to find the Garden of the Hesperides? Perseus.

Bonus 2:The Graiae not only had just one eye, but also only one of what other body part which the rest of us have many of? Tooth.

14. The biggest encyclopedia of the ancient world was compiled by what author and politician who perished during the rescue operations at Vesuvius? C. Plinius Secundus/Pliny the Elder.

Bonus 1:Pliny's last days are known to us from a letter written by whom? C. Plinius Jocundus/Pliny the Younger.

Bonus 2:Pliny the Younger is famous for his correspondence, and one of his letters is an early account of Christian worship as well as Roman persecution. To what emperor was this letter addressed? Trajan.

15. Change factus sum to the future tense. Fiam.

Bonus 1:Make that imperfect subjunctive. Fierem.

Bonus 2:Say in Latin, " I know that Caesar became dictator" Scio Caesarem dictatorem factum.

16. Name two subordinate clauses that regularly use the subjunctive in the perfect and pluperfect tenses. Indirect question, fearing, cum.

Bonus 1:What type of subordinate clause normally uses only present and imperfect subjunctive? Result.

Bonus 2:Say in Latin, "Our teacher encouraged us to come today!" Noster magister nos hortatus est ut hodie veniremus.

17. Which king is credited with reorganizing the Roman army and building a wall around the city? Servius Tullius.

Bonus 1:Roman historians believed that Servius Tullius had what origin? He was a slave in Tarquin's household.

Bonus 2:How did Servius Tullius die? He was murdered by Tarquinius Superbus.

18. Before drinking their wine, with what did the Greeks and Romans usually mix it? Water.

Bonus 1:What is the Latin for "grapes"? Uvae.

Bonus 2:Passus is an adjective meaning "dried"? As a noun, it refers to wine made from what? Raisins.

19. Before Paris, Troy had a reputation for treachery. What king of Troy accepted Heracles' offer to kill a sea monster but then reneged on giving Heracles the divine horses Zeus had given him? Laomedon.

Bonus 1:Heracles sacked Troy in his anger over this treachery. He kidnapped the princess whom he had saved from the sea monster and gave her to Telamon as a bride. Who was this princess? Hesione.

Bonus 2:Heracles also killed the traitor Laomedon as well as all of his sons except one. What is Podarces' more familiar name? Priam.

20. When recognized, please perform the following command. Te in pavimento sedente, pone manus in capite. The student should sit on the floor and put his hands on his head.

Bonus 1:Give all the words that were in the ablative in the command and explain their function. Te, sedente - part of an ablative absolute; pavimento, capite - place where.

Bonus 2:Translate the command I gave earlier (Te in pavimento sedente, pone manus in capite), but the trick is that you have to keep a similar meaning and grammar while using at least four derivatives from the Latin words in the command. You may, of course, be verbose. While you are in a sedentary position on the pavement, position your manicured parts on the capital portion of your body.