Lesson 7.5 Mouse

MOUSE

CARA MEIS VIXI VIRGO VITAM REDDIDI
MORTUA HIC EGO SUM ET SUM CINIS IS CINIS TERRA EST
SEIN EST TERRA DEA EGO SUM DEA MORTUA NON SUM
ROGO TE HOSPES NOLI OSSA MEA VIOLARE
MUS VIXIT XIII ANNOS

Spend a little time with this. I’ve made it harder than usual by reproducing the words as you would see them on the original inscription, before the Romans used punctuation marks. Think of the first line as two sentences: Cara meis vixi and Virgo vitam reddidi. The second line is the hardest. Does it make it easier if you imagine a fullstop after the first cinis?

The third line is less complex than it looks. The earth, like many phenomena in the Roman world, could be thought of as a deity.  The whole line reads as follows: Sein terra est dea then it follows that ego (being terra) sum dea. And since I am a dea, then mortua non sum.

Violare in the next line means to violate, or disturb. From now on I will leave some items out of the vocabulary if I’m certain you can guess them right.