2008 Latin Oratio Passages
Here are the 4 POTENTIAL passages for each level
for the Latin Oratio competition.
Students may study any or all of the passages prior to or during
convention. Level appropriate copies of the passages should be made
available to all students who are interested in competing in this
competition at convention.
Those who wish to compete need only show up at the
beginning of the event and register.
This is a sequestered event. Upon entering the judging room, an
unmarked copy of the chosen passage for his or her level will be handed
to the student for performance. All students will read the same passage
and will not know until they enter the judging room which of the four
potential passages was chose.
Additional information is contained in the Convention Information Booklet, which should
also be read carefully by all convention attendees.
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Latin ½ and 1
Passage A
Daphnē erat prīmus amor Phoebī. Īra Cupīdinis Phoebō amōrem dedit. Phoebus
superbus vīderat Cupīdinem cum sagittīs et dīxerat: "Quid sunt tibi, puer, arma et
sagittae? Sagittae sunt mihi. Ego possum dare vulnera hostibus. Tū dēbēs contentus
esse cum amōribus."
Fīlius Veneris respondit: "Tuus arcus omnia, Phoebe, fīgit, sed meus arcus tē
fīgit." Et in arcū Cupīdō duo tēla tenuit: hoc tēlum amōrem fugat; illud tēlum amōrem
facit. Ūnum quod facit est acūtum, alterum quod fugat est obtūsum. Deus Cupīdō hoc
tēlum in Daphnem fīgit, illud in Phoebum. Phoebus amat; Daphnē nōmen amōris fugitat.
“Apollo and Cupid,” Latin Via Ovid (1977), p. 115
Translation:
Daphne was Apollo's first love. Cupid's anger gave Apollo this love. The proud
Apollo had seen Cupid with arrows and had said: "Yo, little kid, what good are weapons
and arrows for you? Arrows are for me. I can wound enemies. YOU ought to be content
with love affairs."
Venus' son replied: "Your bow shoots everything, Apollo, but my bow shoots
you." And on his bow Cupid held two weapons: this weapon puts love to flight; that
weapon causes love. The one which causes love is sharp, the other with puts to flight is
dull. The god Cupid shoots this arrow into Daphne, that one into Apollo. Apollo loves;
Daphne flees the name of love.
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Latin ½ and 1
Passage B
Ubi nympha Ēchō Narcissum in silvā vīdit, statim iuvenem amāvit. Ēchō adhūc
et corpus et vōcem habēbat, sed vōx erat nova. Quod Ēchō Iūnōnī, rēgīnae deōrum, dolō
nocuerat, Iūnō dīxit, "Nōn sine poenā mihi nocueris." Ēchō vōcem habet sed sōlum
respondēre potest. Verba sōla aliōrum reportāre potest.
Ōlim Narcissus cum cēterīs iuvenibus animālia fera in silvīs et montibus petit.
Ēchō iuvenem sēcrētō petit. Nox appropinquat.
"Quis adest?" rogat Narcissus. "Quis adest?"
"Adest," respondet Ēchō.
"Venī," clāmat Narcissus magnā vōce. "Venī!"
"Vēnī," respondet Ēchō, et nympha misera iuvenem superbum bracchiīs suīs
tenēre temptat.
“Echo and Narcissus,” Latin Via Ovid (1977), p. 105 (adapted)
Translation:
When the nymph Echo saw Narcissus in the forest, she immediately loved the
young man. Echo still had both her body and voice, but her voice was strange. Because
Echo had treacherously harmed Juno, the queen of the gods, Juno said, "Not without
punishment will you have harmed me." Echo has a voice, but she can only respond. She
can repeat only the words of others.
Once Narcissus was in the forests and mountains, tracking wild animals with
other young men. Echo secretly tracked him. Night fell.
"Who is here?" asked Narcissus. "Who is here?"
"He is here," answered Echo.
"Come!" shouted Narcissus in a loud voice. "Come!"
"I have come!" replied Echo, and the unhappy nymph tried to hold the proud
young man in her arms.
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Latin ½ and 1
Passage C
Quam diū mihi cōnsulī dēsignātō, Catilīna, īnsidiātus es, nōn pūblicō mē praesidiō,
sed prīvātā dīligentiā dēfendī. Cum proximīs comitiīs cōnsulāribus mē cōnsulem in
campō et competītōrēs tuōs interficere voluistī, compressī cōnātūs tuōs nefāriōs
amīcōrum praesidiō et cōpiīs, nūllō tumultū pūblicē concitātō; dēnique, quotiēscumque
mē petīstī, per mē tibi obstitī, quamquam vidēbam perniciem meam cum magnā
calamitāte reī pūblicae esse coniūnctam. Nunc iam apertē rem pūblicam ūniversam petis,
templa deōrum immortālium, tēcta urbis, vītam omnium cīvium, Italiam tōtam ad exitium
ac vāstitātem vocās!
Cicero, In Catilinam I, 5.11-12
Translation:
As long as you plotted against me, the consul-elect, Catiline, I defended myself not
with public guards, but with my own private diligence. When you wanted to kill me, the
consul, and your competitors on the Campus Martius at the next consular elections, I
suppressed your wicked attempts with the protection and forces of my friends, with no
public upheaval ensuing. Finally, as often as you attacked me, I blocked you myself,
although I saw that my downfall was linked with great ruin for the state. Even now you
openly attack the whole state, you call to destruction and devastation the temples of the
immortal gods, the buildings of this city, the lives of all citizens, and all Italy!
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Latin ½ and 1
Passage D
Translation:
Porsena, king of the Etruscans, was waging war with the Romans. He had
pitched camp across the Tiber River, and he was besieging the city of Rome with many
soldiers.
There was among the Romans a brave man names Horatius [but] called Cocles
because he had lost an eye. On the river was a bridge that reached to the Etruscans.
Horatius advanced to the farthest part of the bridge and stood there. Alone he waited
for the numerous enemies.
The Etruscans fought in vain with great violence against Horatius. But they
frightened the man neither with threats nor with weapons. They were forced to
withdraw from the battle. Meanwhile the bridge had been cut down from the rear. Then
Horatius, armed as he was, swam safely across to the Romans.
Through the bravery and outstanding nature of the man, the reputation of the
Roman people had been saved, and the Romans were not driven into slavery.
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Latin II
Passage A
Phaëthon superbus dē patre clārō Phoebō magnopere dīcere solēbat; ōlim amīcus
autem ait, "Stultus es, sī crēdis omnia quae māter tibi nārrat." Phaëthon īram vix retinuit
et ad Clymenēn mātrem it. "Māter, sī vērē ā caelestī patre creātus sum, dā mihi signum
tantī parentis."
Clymenē, mōta precibus Phaëthontis īrāque suā, ad caelum bracchia tendit et dīcit,
"Tibi iūrō, puer, Sōlem quem spectās, quī orbem temperat, esse patrem tibi. Sī vēra
verba nōn dīcō, numquam iterum lūcem sōlis oculīs meīs videam. Sed nōn longē
labōrātis, sī rēgiam patris quaerere dēsīderābis. Sī animus est tibi, ī et rogā, tū ipse, dē
parente patrem Sōlem."
Phaëthon tālibus verbīs mātris maximē gaudet; deinde terrās suās trānsīvit et
rēgnō patris appropinquāvit.
“Clymene and Phaëthon,” Latin Via Ovid (1977), p. 203
Translation:
Phaëthon proudly used to talk a lot about his famous father Phoebus. Once,
however, a friend said, "You're stupid if you believe everything that your mother tells
you." Phaëthon scarcely held in his anger and went straight to his mother Clymene.
"Mother, if I was really born from a divine father, give me a sign of such a great parent."
Clymene, moved by Phaëthon's prayers and her own anger, stretched her arms to
the heavens and said, "I swear to you, boy, that the sun which you see, who controls the
earth, is your father. If I am not speaking the truth, may I never again see the light of the
sun with my eyes. But you don't have far to labor if you desire to seek the palace of your
father. If you have the spirit, go and ask your father the sun yourself about your
parentage."
Phaëthon rejoiced very greatly at such words from his mother; then he crossed his
own lands and approached the kingdom of his father.
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Latin II
Passage B
Vīdit Sōl iuvenem oculīs illīs quibus omnia spectāvit et dīxit: "Quae causa
itineris est tibi, fīlī Phaëthon?" Hic respondit, "Ō Lūx tōtīus caelī, Phoebe pater, sī das
mihi ūsum nōminis huius, dā mihi quoque dōna quibus mē fīlium tibi esse mōnstrābō."
Pater Sōl corōnam deposuit et iussit puerum appropinquāre. "Es dignus mē nōn negāre tē
esse fīlium meum. Nōlī dubitāre. Rogā dōnum. Quicquid rogās, illud dabō."
Phaëthon, verbīs patris audītīs, rogāvit currūs patris et iūs agendī equōs sōlis in
diem ūnum. Pater erat īnfēlīx quod puer tāle dōnum rogāverat. "Temerāria," dīxit, "est
vōx mea quae tibi dōnum īnfēlīx dedit. Prōmīsī, sed nōn est grātum mihi dare quid
quaeris. Magna petis, Phaëthon."
“Phaëthon and Phoebus,” Latin Via Ovid (1977), p. 204
Translation:
The sun-god saw the young man with those eyes with which he viewed
everything and said, "What reason do you have for this journey, Phaëthon, my son?" He
replied, "O light of the whole sky, father Phoebus, if you grant me the use of this name,
give me also gifts by which I will show that I am your son."
His father the Sun removed his crown and ordered the boy to approach. "You are worthy
and I cannot deny that you are my son. Don't doubt. Ask for a gift. Whatever you ask, I
will give you that."
Phaëthon, having heard his father's words, asked for the right to drive his father’s
chariot and the horses of the Sun for one day. His father was unhappy because the boy
had asked for such a gift. "Reckless," said he, "is my voice which has given you this illfated
gift. I promised, but it is not pleasing to me to grant you what you seek. You seek
overwhelming things, Phaëthon."
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Latin II
Passage C
Ego enim sīc exīstimō in summō imperātōre quattuor hās rēs inesse oportēre:
scientiam reī mīlitāris, virtūtem, auctōritātem, fēlīcitātem. Quis igitur hōc homine
scientior umquam aut fuit aut esse dēbuit? Quī ē lūdō atque pueritiae disciplīnīs bellō
maximō atque ācerrimīs hostibus ad patris exercitum atque in mīlitiae disciplīnam
profectus est; quī extrēmā pueritiā mīles in exercitū fuit summī imperātōris, ineunte
adulēscentiā maximī ipse exercitūs imperātor; quī saepius cum hoste cōnflīxit quam
quisquam cum inimīcō concertāvit, plūra bella gessit quam cēterī lēgērunt, plūrēs
prōvinciās cōnfēcit quam aliī concupīvērunt. Cuius adulēscentia ad scientiam reī
mīlitāris nōn aliēnīs praeceptīs, sed suīs imperiīs, nōn offēnsiōnibus bellī, sed victōriīs,
nōn stīpendiīs, sed triumphīs est ērudīta.
Cicero, Prō Lēge Mānīliā 10.28
Translation:
For I believe this to be true, that in the greatest commander it is necessary to find these
four qualities: knowledge of warfare, manliness, authority, and good luck. So who has
ever been (or ought to have been) more knowledgeable than this man? He started out
from elementary school and the training of his youth via that very great war against our
fiercest opponents to end up in his father's army, training his ranks. From late childhood
he was a soldier in the army of a supreme commander, and as he entered his young
manhood, he himself became the commander of a very great army. He fought with the
foe more often than anyone has ever vied with a competitor, he waged more wars than all
others have read about, and he formed more provinces than others have desired. His
youth was educated for the knowledge of military matters, not by someone else's
teachings, but by his own command; not by the defeats of war, but by victories; not by
military service, but by triumphs.
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Latin II
Passage D
Translation:
Although the two sons of Ancus had been angry because a foreigner was ruling
in Rome, then there was a greater sense of injury, since the royal power seemed to be
open to a slave. Therefore they decided to kill the king and to seize power. The two
fiercest of the shepherds, who had been chosen for the deed, turned all the royal
attendants toward themselves on the pretext of a quarrel in the anteroom of the palace.
Having been called from there to the king, they were ordered to speak in turn. One
explained the situation. While the king, intent on him, turned himself completely away,
the other brought a raised ax down onto the king’s head; with the weapon left in the
wound, they both fled outside. The attendants picked up the dying Tarquinius; the
lictors arrested those men as they fled.
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Advanced Latin
Passage A
Fuisse crēdō tum quoque aliquōs quī discerptum rēgem patrum manibus tacitī
arguerent; mānāvit enim haec quoque sed perobscūra fāma; ... Proculus Iūlius sollicitā
cīvitāte dēsīdēriō rēgis et īnfēnsā patribus, gravis, ut trāditur, quamvīs magnae reī
auctor in contiōnem prōdit, "Rōmulus," inquit, "Quirītēs, parēns urbis huius, prīmā
hodiernā lūce caelō repente dēlāpsus sē mihi obvium dedit. Cum perfūsus horrōre
venerābundusque adstitissem, petēns precibus ut contrā intuērī fās esset, 'Abī,
nūntiā,' inquit, 'Rōmānīs caelestēs ita velle ut mea Rōma caput orbis terrārum sit; proinde
rem mīlitārem colant sciantque et ita posterīs trādant nūllās opēs hūmānās armīs
Rōmānīs resistere posse.' Haec," inquit, "locūtus sublīmis abiit."
“What Happened to Romulus?” Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, I.16 (abridged)
Translation:
There were a few dissidents who quietly argued that the king had been torn to pieces at
the hands of the senators, for this story also leaked out, but in veiled terms. Because the
state was upset by its longing for its king and hostile to the senators, Proculus Julius, a
serious man, as it is said, although the author of a shrewd idea, went forth into the public
assembly. He said, "Fellow Citizens, Romulus, the father of this city, suddenly appearing
from the heavens today at dawn, came to meet me. When I had stood there, filled with
dread and awe and beseeching him with my prayers that it might be right to look upon
him, he said, 'Go forth, announce to the Romans that the gods so will it that my Rome
should be the capital of the whole world; therefore let them cultivate the arts of warfare.
Let them know and let them so teach their descendants that no forces on earth can resist
Roman weapons.' Having spoken these words, he vanished back into heaven.”
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Advanced Latin
Passage B
audiit Omnipotēns, oculōsque ad moenia torsit
rēgia et oblītōs fāmae meliōris amantīs.
tum sīc Mercurium adloquitur ac tālia mandat:
'vāde age, nāte, vocā Zephyrōs et lābere pennīs
Dardaniumque ducem, Tyriā Karthāgine quī nunc
exspectat fātīsque datās nōn respicit urbēs,
adloquere et celerīs dēfer mea dicta per aurās.
nōn illum nōbīs genetrix pulcherrima tālem
prōmīsit Grāiumque ideō bis vindicat armīs;
sed fore quī gravidam imperiīs bellōque frementem
Ītaliam regeret, genus altō ā sanguine Teucrī
prōderet, ac tōtum sub lēgēs mitteret orbem.
Sī nūlla accendit tantārum glōria rērum
nec super ipse suā mōlītur laude labōrem,
Ascaniōne pater Rōmānās invidet arcēs?
Quid struit? Aut quā spē inimīcā in gente morātur
nec prōlem Ausoniam et Lavīnia respicit arva?
Nāviget! Haec summa est, hic nostrī nūntius estō.'
“Jupiter Sends Mercury to Aeneas” Vergil, Aeneid IV.220-237
Translation:
Almighty Jupiter listened and turned his eyes to the regal walls and the lovers who had
forgotten their better reputation. Then he addresses Mercury thus and entrusts such
words to him: "Move it, son, come on, call the west winds and glide on your winged
feet and address the Trojan leader, who now is waiting in Tyrian Carthage and pays no
attention the cities which the fates have given him; carry my words through the swift
breezes. His very beautiful mother Venus did not promise us one such as him, nor did
she rescue him twice from the weapons of the Greeks for this reason; but she promised
that he would be one who would rule an Italy distinguished in power and eager for war,
that he would produce a race from the lofty blood of Teucer, and would send the whole
world under their laws. If no glory of such a great destiny inspires him, and furthermore
if he is not building up all the labor for his own praise, does he as a father begrudge the
Roman citadels to Ascanius? What is he planning? Or with what hope does he stay in an
unfriendly nation and not give thought to his Italian offspring and the fields of
Lavinium? Let him sail!! This is my will, be this messenger for me."
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Advanced Latin
Passage C
Tarquinium moribundum cum quī circā erant excēpissent, illōs fugientēs līctōrēs
comprehendunt. Clāmor inde concursusque populī, mīrantium quid reī esset. Tanaquil
inter tumultum claudī rēgiam iubet, arbitrōs ēiēcit. ... Serviō properē accītō cum
paene exsanguem virum ostendisset, dextram tenēns ōrat nē inultam mortem socerī, nē
socrum inimīcīs lūdibriō esse sinat. "Tuum est," inquit, "Servī, sī vir es, rēgnum, nōn
eōrum quī aliēnīs manibus pessimum facinus fēcēre. Ērige tē deōsque ducēs sequere
quī clārum hoc fore caput dīvīnō quondam circumfūsō ignī portendērunt. Nunc tē illa
caelestis excitet flamma; nunc expērgīscere vērē. Et nōs peregrīnī rēgnāvimus; quī sīs,
nōn unde nātus sīs reputā. Sī tua rē subitā cōnsilia torpent, at tū mea cōnsilia sequere."
“Tanaquil after the Death of Tarquin” Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, I.41 (abridged)
Translation:
When those who were nearby had taken away the dying Tarquin, his lictors caught the
fugitives. Then there was a clamor and crowd of people, wondering what was going
on. Amidst this uproar Tanaquil ordered the palace to be closed and got rid of any
witnesses. ... Hastily summoning Servius, when she had shown him her nearly
bloodless husband, holding his right hand, she begged him not to allow the murder of his
father-in-law to be unavenged, nor her, his mother-in-law, to be the butt of her enemies'
jokes. She said, "Servius, if you are a man, the kingdom is yours, not theirs, who
have committed this horrible crime through the hands of hired thugs. Stand up straight,
follow the gods as your leaders, who have foretold that your head would be illustrious
with the divine fire which once encircled it. Now let that heavenly flame arouse
you: now arouse yourself truly. We too have ruled as foreigners; think of who you
are, not whence you were born. If your wits grow dull because of this sudden
occurrence, at least follow my advice."
TJCL 2008 Latin Oratio
Advanced Latin
Passage D
"... dī morientis Elissae,
accipite haec, meritumque malīs advertite nūmen,
et nostrās audīte precēs. Sī tangere portūs
īnfandum caput ac terrīs adnāre necesse est,
et sīc fāta Iovis poscunt, hic terminus haeret,
at bellō audācis populī vexātus et armīs,
fīnibus extorris, complexū āvulsus Iūlī,
auxilium implōret, videatque indigna suōrum
fūnera, nec, cum sē sub lēgēs pācis inīquae
trādiderit, rēgnō aut optātā lūce fruātur,
sed cadat ante diem mediāque inhumātus harēnā.
Haec precor, hanc vōcem extrēmam cum sanguine fundō.
Tum vōs, ō Tyriī, stirpem et genus omne futūrum
exercēte odiīs, cinerīque haec mittite nostrō
mūnera. Nūllus amor populīs nec foedera suntō;
exoriāre aliquis nostrīs ex ossibus ultor,
quī face Dardaniōs ferrōque sequāre colōnōs,
nunc ōlim, quōcumque dabunt sē tempore vīrēs;
lītora lītoribus contrāria, flūctibus undās
imprecor, arma armīs; pugnent ipsīque nepōtēsque."
“Dido's Curse on Aeneas' Descendants” Vergil, Aeneid IV.610-629
Translation:
"O gods of dying Dido, receive these words, turn your well-deserved divine spirit to
my woes, and hear my prayers. If that unspeakable head has to reach ports and make
landfall, and if this is what the fates of Jupiter demand, this end holds firm, but vexed by
the war and weapons of a bold nation, kept from his territory, torn from the embrace of
Iulus, let him beg for help, and let him see the unworthy deaths of his men, and once he
has submitted himself beneath the terms of an unjust peace, let him not enjoy his
kingdom or the life he has longed for, but let him fall before his time and lie unburied
in the middle of the sand. These things I pray, this final voice I pour out with my
blood. Then you, O Tyrians, train your children and all your future descendants in hatred
and send these offerings to my ashes. Let our peoples have no love, no treaties; rise up,
some avenger from our bones, to pursue the Trojan settlers with torch and sword, now,
some day, at whatever time the chance will arise; I pray for shores against shores, waves
against waves, arms against arms; let them themselves fight and their descendants too."