Arcadia: A region of ancient Greece in the central Peloponnesus. Its inhabitants, somewhat isolated from the rest of the world, proverbially lived a simple, pastoral life. Any region offering rural simplicity and contentment. The term Arcadia is used to refer to an imaginary and paradisal place…

Parallel to the literary vogue of pastoral there existed in this period a rich pictorial tradition, paintings and prints representing shepherds and shepherdesses in a bucolic or idyllic setting of forests and hills. In the seventeenth century, the French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) used this pictorial tradition to paint one of his most famous canvasses, known as "The Arcadian shepherds" or as "ET IN ARCADIA EGO" (1647). This painting represents four Arcadians, in a meditative and melancholy mood, symmetrically arranged on either side of a tomb. One of the shepherds kneels on the ground and reads the inscription on the tomb: ET IN ARCADIA EGO, which can be translated either as "And I [= death] too (am) in Arcadia" or as "I [= the person in the tomb] also used to live in Arcadia." The second shepherd seems to discuss the inscription with a lovely girl standing near him. The third shepherd stands pensively aside.

From Poussin's painting, Arcadia now takes on the tinges of a melancholic contemplation about death itself, about the fact that our happiness in this world is very transitory and evanescent. Even when we feel that we have discovered a place where peace and gentle joy reign, we must remember that it will end, and that all will vanish.

Study the new word to see if perhaps there is an English word it seems to suggest (a derivative coming from it). Try THAT word in the story.

Study the ENDING of the word, what case or person and number it is in? What part of the sentence (remember how we divided up the clauses and phrases once?) does it go with? Do NOT hop around like a butterfly but plow straight through the sentence, notice the endings, plow ahead forthrightly. That's the way the language is written, and it's meant to be read aloud in a periodic style. I realize that Ullman Henry are not ancients but they try to approach it with their style, so don't fail to use these tricks to help yourself.

Make up a meaning and keep reading in context. Sometimes the meaning of the word will suggest itself TO you, sort of a whisper from 2000 years ago, a magic thing when it happens.

The best suggestion to master, divide and conquer any vocabulary word, and one centuries old, however, is first to have picked ONE example of each conjugation or declension prior to the new work, a word you particularly like, and memorized it: there's no getting around the M word for those examples.

So far you've had all 4 conjugations so in your own memory bank you want 4 examples of those words. You've had three declensions so you want one example of those too.

The verb endings are the same for all conjugations (person, number and tense) so you're really only talking about STEMS and BASES, reduce it, divide it and conquer it!

However you memorize best, by writing it out, by recording it and listening to it over and over (and if you need help in making a recording, let us know) or...well how DO you memorize best? Studies have shown that chanting at our age develops all KINDS of new synapses (at any age, actually) and what better chance TO chant than Latin? It's win/ win situation!

Look around your house and the neighborhood. Do you see that by now most of your neighbors have taken down their holiday decorations? Are the bright lights and merry ornaments stored away until next year? With the holidays behind, have you noticed that there is a bit less of a spring in your step as you go about your daily routines? Does it seem that even the youngsters are dragging their heels after the hustle and bustle of November and December festivities? Well, if you and the folks around you at home and at work are feeling a little low this time of year, you're experiencing a common but benign setback. According to a leading medical center, you've caught the seasonal epidemic known as the Post Holiday Blahs. Too bad. Because it may last well through February.

But there's good news.

You can cure the ailment by taking some simple steps. And when you do so, you'll not only feel better, but you will put smiles on the faces of people you care about.

First of all, don't anguish over those New Year Resolutions that you may have already broken. Perhaps you've set the bar too high. Remember that moderation is a good guideline, so be realistic and be good to yourself if you can't keep up with all of them.

Recommit to that exercise regime. A brisk walk every day may be all that it takes to work off those few unwanted pounds you added over the holidays. If you team up with a friend on a scenic trail, you'll feel invigorated in no time at all. Your weight will be going down and your spirits will climb.

Start thinking about seasonal sports. Whether you're a skier, an ice skater, a hockey, volleyball or basketball player, try to plan for a weekend on the slopes or the ice or join a local sports team. If you're an enthusiastic spectator, make the time to go root for the home team at that grade school, high school or college that is nearby.

But, most of all, remember that get-togethers with good company do not have to come to an end because the holidays are over. (this is a company which sells yeast, they want you to bake, I wondered where this was going to appear) Think about all the effort that was involved in planning your baking for the holidays. It took a lot of energy, but it was fun, too, as you considered the breads, pizza, rolls, cakes and 1-Dish Meals that were likely to please. You really did enjoy trying out those new recipes, and it was a pleasure to see how much they were appreciated by the people who shared them. Well, that kind of pleasure doesn't have to end in December.

Now it's time to rally the troops. Get them involved. Coax your significant other and the little ones away from the TV screen for awhile. Encourage them to plan with you an upbeat (and modest) Family Winter Carnival of Baking, a weekly event that you can hold right in your own home, where everyone can participate.

On 31 May 1961, the "Vesuvius Railway and Funicular Company" changed its company title in "Vesuvius chair lift and bus-line" and was controlled by Circumvesuviana. The plant could transport until 1000 persons daily.

As the years went by, it became not much suitable to transport tourists, because unable to transport at the same time the numerous groups. From 1953 to 1984 the plant has almost transported 100.000 persons, half of which were foreigners. In 1984, for the reasons previously cited, the chair lift was stopped for ever.

At present, Mt.Vesuvius can be visited by car. The road leaves near Ercolano's toll-booth of Napoli-Salerno motorway

Join us aboard the exquisite 34-guest private yacht Callisto during the perfect weather of the Mediterranean springtime, as we discover the ancient northern coast of Africa. Colonized by Phoenicians and Greeks around the 7th century B.C., the region was eventually conquered by Rome, which turned the entire coast into its breadbasket. A million tons of grain each year, cultivated in Africa, were shipped to Romeís hungry armies; exotic African animals found their way to Romeís Coliseum; and, at the behest of the Severan emperors, powerful cities rose to rival Rome itself in scope, scale, and lavishness.

Ginny, I’m a bit confused: in my post #588 “Many (people) will have been sent away - multi dīmissi erint,” this is your correction erunt, it's only erint when jammed on the back of the word

Then in farmer’s post #593 “Much (water) will have been lost - multum amissum erat” your correction is erit

It is the same tense, am I missing something?

The worshippers gathered at the Lupercal, a cave on the Palatine Hill, where Romulus and Remus were supposed to have been raised. Here the Luperci a priestly collegium (college) drawn from particular patrician families sacrificed goats and a dog and two youths of noble family were then smeared with the blood of the sacrifice, a ceremony which was probably a symbol of purification of the shepherds.

The Luperci then clad their naked bodies in part of the skins of the sacrificed goats and with the rest cut into thongs, they and some of the magistrates ran through the streets of the old Roma Quadrata striking with the thongs all whom they met, especially women, who put themselves in the way of blows in order to be rendered fertile. The act of running was a symbolic purification of the land, the thongs were called februa , "means of purification" and the month in which the ceremony took place februarius the time of purification.

And so that's where we get the name of the month of February.

Dangling Adjective Clauses

A dangling adjective clause is one which is unattached or is attached to the wrong grammatical unit. Adjective clauses should modify nouns or pronouns and these should be expressed or clearly implied in the principal clause. If we say I arrived late, which made everyone angry the relative pronoun which has no noun antecedent. Such a sentence can be improved by converting it into a simple sentence containing a gerund subject: as My arriving late made every one angry. If we say He failed three subjects, which caused his father to take him out of school, we attempt to make the verb failed the antecedent. Here again, the sentence would be improved if we turn the adjective clause into a gerund phrase: as, His failing three subjects caused his father to take him out of school.

Sometimes a clause is misplaced, and the meaning of the sentence is obscure or illogical. If we say I delayed writing the letter which made him angry or Father told me to put my money in the bank, which I didn't like, .... [long explanations of these three here and how they can be fixed so that the pronoun has a noun antecedent, ending with:] The rule should be: avoid ambiguity.