If you go to Finland, chances are you’ll hear a familiar tune, in an unfamiliar tongue … that’s right, the King of Rock being belted out in … Latin!

Finland has an unusual passion with the Latin language. It is the only country in the world which broadcasts the news in Latin and even include descriptions of meetings in Latin on its European Union website. The Finnish news in Latin (Conspectus rerum Latinus, or “Latin News in Brief”) has about 75,000 listeners, which is impressive on a per capita basis.

But their love of Latin goes deeper. A Finnish academic, Dr. Jukka Ammondt (who calls himself the Roman Rocker), also sings Elvis Presley classics in Latin. In 1994 Dr. Ammondt, with T.T. Oksala, translated several of Elvis’ hits into Latin and in 1995 (to coincide with Elvis’ 60th birthday) released an album called “The Legend Lives Forever in Latin: Elvis Songs Sung in Latin”. His rational for this can be found on his own website, but as he says:

“The legend of Elvis Presley lives for ever, and it’s of course very important to sing Elvis Presley’s songs in the Latin language, because Latin is the eternal language.”

The CD contains seven Elvis tracks in Latin:

1. Surrender (Nunc Aeternitatis)
2. It’s Now or Never (Nunc Hic Aut Numquam)
3. Can’t Help Falling in Love (Non Adamare Non Possum)
4. It’s Impossible (Impossibile)
5. Wooden Heart (Cor Ligneum)
6. Love Me Tender (Tenere Me Ama)
7. Wings of a Dream (Alae Somnii)

Dr. Ammondt says “.. I have won over a lot of fans, especially in America. My Elvis was a real hit there. In 1997 I performed at an Elvis memorial concert in Memphis.” In 2005 he also appeared as a guest singer at an Elvis tribute concert in Oxford, Mississippi, dressed in a kilt and blue suede sandals!

He goes on: “I might have an unusual hobby, but what I do gives me and a lot of other people great pleasure. Elvis liberated people and was a rebel in his time. I, too, want to free people.”

Dr. Ammondt also does an interesting rendition of Glaudi Calcei (Blue Suede Shoes) with the following lyrics:

Me humi proruas (Well you can knock me down)
Mi calces os (Step on my face)
Aut infames nomen animos (Slander my name all over the place)
Fac quidquid habes in animo (Do anything that you wanna do)
Sed, age, mel, nunc parce calceis (But uh-uh honey, lay off of my shoes)
Ne calces mi glaucos calceos (Don’t you step on my blue suede shoes)

Here are some popular Latin phrases frequently used in the Asterix comic books (written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo):

A

• Acta est fabula: It’s all over (lit. the drama has been acted out)
• Alea jacta est: The die is cast
• Audaces fortuna juvat: Fortune favors the bold
• Auri sacra fames: The cursed hunger for gold
• Aut Caesar, aut nihil: Either Caesar or nothing
• Ave atque vale: Hail and farewell
• Ave Caesar morituri te salutant!: Hail, Caesar! Those who are about to die salute you!

B

• Beati pauperes spiritu: Blessed are the poor in spirit
• Bis repetita placent: The things that please are repeated again and again

C

• Caveat emptor: Let the buyer beware
• Cogito ergo sum: I think therefore I am
• Contraria contraiis curantur: Opposites are cured by opposites

D

• De facto: In reality
• De mortuis nil nisi bonum: Speak nothing but good of the dead
• Delenda Carthago: Carthage must be destroyed!
• Desinit in piscem mulier formosa superne: A woman who is beautiful above ends in a fishtail
• Diem perdidi: I have lost the day
• Dignus est intrare: He is worthy to enter
• Donec eris felix, multos numerabis amicos: As long as you are fortunate, you will have many friends
• Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori: It is sweet and fitting to die for the Fatherland

E

• Errare humanum est: To err is human
• Et nunc, reges, intelligite, er udimini, qui judicati terram: And now, kings, understand; you who decide the fate of the Earth, educate yourselves
• Et tu, Brute: You too, Brutus
• Exegi monumentum aere perennius: I have raised a monument more durable than bronze

F

• Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas: Fortunate is he who has been able to learn the causes of things
• Fluctuat nec mergitur: It is tossed by the waves but it does not sink

G

• Gloria victis: Glory to the defeated
• Gnothe seauton (Greek): Know thyself

I

• Ipso facto: By that very fact
• Ira furor brevis est: Anger is a brief madness
• Ita est: Thus it is (yes)
• Ita diis placuit: Thus it pleased the gods

M

• Maior e longinquo reverentia: Greater reverence from afar
• Mens sana in corpore sano: A sound mind in a sound body
• Morituri te salutant: Those who are about to die salute you

N

• Non omnia possumus omnes: We cannot all do everything
• Non licet omnibus adire Corinthum: Not everyone is permitted to go to Corinth
• Nunc est bibendum: Now it is time to drink

O

• O tempora, o mores: Oh! the times! Oh! the habits!
• O fortunates nimium, sua si bona norint agricolas: Oh! blessed beyond all bliss are the farmers, if they but knew their happiness

P

• Panem et circenses: Bread and circuses
• Pax Romana: Roman Peace
• Plaudite cives!: Applaud, citizens!

Q

• Qui habet aures audiendi audiat: He who has ears, let him understand how to listen
• Quid novi?: What’s new?
• Quis, quod, ui, quibus auxiliis, cur, quomodo, quando?: Who, what, where, in what ways, why how and when?
• Quo vadis: Whither goest thou?
• Quod erat demomstrandum: We have proved the proposition we set out to prove (lit. Which was to be demonstrated)
• Quomodo vales: How are you?
• Quot capita, to sensus: There are as many opinions as there are heads
• Quousque tandem?: How long?

R

• Redde Caesari quae sunt Caesaris: Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s
• Ruber et Niger: Red and Black

S

• Si vis pacem: If you want peace… (ends: ‘para bellum’ = prepare for war)
• Sic ad nauseam: And so on to the point of causing nausea
• Sic transit gloria (mundi): Thus passes away the glory of the world
• Singularis Porcus: Wild boar
• Sol lucet omnibus: The sun shines for everyone
• Sursum corda: Lift up your hearts

T

• Timeo Danaos et Dona ferentes: I fear the Greeks even when bearing gifts

U

• Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant: Where they create desolation, they call it peace
• Uti, non abuti: To use, not abuse

V

• Vade retro: Get thee behind me
• Vae victo, vae vicits: Woe to the vanquished men, woe to the vanquished people
• Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity
• Veni vidi vici: I came, I saw, I conquered
• Veritas odium parit: Truth breeds hatred
• Victrix causa diis placuit, sed victa Catoni: The victorious cause pleased the gods, the defeated one pleased Cato
• Victurus te saluto: He who is about to win salutes you
• Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor: I see the better way and approve it, but I follow the worse way
• Vinum et musica laetificant cor: Wine and music gladden the heart
• Vis comica: Sense of humor

Here’s a list of some “forbidden Latin”, as discovered in the graphiti.

• ancillariolus, i
  m man
  who is inclined to love affairs with the maid-servants.
• caco, cacâvi, cacâtum, cacâre 1
  vi

  to shit (upon).

• cinaedus, -i m  one
  who submits to oral sex, pervert, (as adj.) shameless.
• culeus (culleus), -i m (Gk)  leather
  sack; vulg. testicles, balls.
• culus, -i m  ass,
  buttocks or anus in a coarse sense.
• culpa, -ae f  fault,
  crime (esp. against chastity); colloq. female genitalia, cunt.
• cunnus, -i m  female
  pudenda, cunt; vulg. female; vulg. unchaste woman.
• irrumo, irrumâvi, irrumâtum, irrumâre
  1 vt
  to force someone to perform receptive
  male oral sex, (considered especially degrading by the Romans).
• irrumâtor, -oris m  bastard,
  lit.
  face fucker.
• follis, -is m  purse,
  bag; handball;  a pair of bellows; scrotum.
• futuo, futui, fututum, futuere 3 vt to
  perform vaginal sex, to fuck.
• lupa, -ae f  she-wolf;
  colloq.
  whore.
• lupânar, -aris f whorehouse.
• lupâtria, -ae f  term
  of abuse for a woman.

• lustror, lustrâri
  1  vi  to haunt brothels.

• lustrum n 
  den; colloq. place of debauchery, brothel.
• lutum, -i n  yellow
  dye; mud, clay, dirt; term of abuse for men and women.
• mentula, -ae f  lit.
  prick; often used in the sense of the modern English insult dickhead.
• merda, -ae f  shit,
  dung.
• meretrix, -tricis f  courtesan,
  kept woman.
• mingo, minxi, mictum, mingere 3 vi to
  piss
• moecha, -ae f (Gk) adulteress,
  tart, slut.
• mulierculum, -i n  derrog.
  woman; vulg. whore.
• pallaca, -ae f (Gk)  mistress.
• pathicus, -i m (Gk)  sodomite,
  one who submits to anal sex.
• pedicator, -oris m  butt
  fucker.
• pedico, pedicavi, pedicatum, pedicare 1 to
  butt fuck, to perform anal intercourse.
• pedo, pedi, pedere 3 to
  fart.
• peniculus, -i m  dim.
  of penis, lit. brush, as in a painter’s brush.
• penis, -is m  tail,

  fig.
  male sexual organ.

• *pissio, -avi, 1 vi  to
  piss, urinate.
• scortum, -i n  whore.

  Catullus
  uses the diminutive of this, scortillum, to mean wench.

• scrortum, -i  [akin to scrautum
  quiver]
  n

  the external pouch that contains the testes.

• sopio, -onis m  penis.
• testiculum, -i m  testicle.
• vagina, -ae f  sheath,
  scabbard; fig. female genitalia, vagina.
• veretrum n 
  male sexual organ.
• verpa, -ae f  penis
  as protruded from foreskin; vulg. hard on; circumcised (person);
  derrog.
  Jew.
• vomerm, -eris m  plowshare;

  vulg.
  penis.

American readers of the popular Asterix comic book series knows the intro too well:

The year is 50 B.C. All of Gaul is occupied by the Romans. All? Not quite! A village inhabitated by indomitable Gauls is holding out, strong as ever, against the invader. Life is not easy for the Roman legionaries stationed in the fortified camps of Aquarium, Delirium, Nohappimedium and Opprobrium…

But do you know the Latin version? More on Asterix’ Latin Intro

Below is a table of recurring Latin terminology, or Latin inspired terms, in Asterix (The Adventures of Asterix), a very popular series of French comic books by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.

The 33 main Asterix books or albums (one of which is a compendium of short stories) have been translated into more than 100 languages and dialects, including Latin.

(Read more about Asterix)

Term	Meaning
Amphora	Jug
Bucinas	Round horns (like “french horns”)
Calends	The first day of every month. The Roman calendar divides the year into 365 days and includes an additional day for each leap year. Julius Caesar created this calendar based on the Egyptian calendar.
Caligae	Sandals (or feet). May be hints of the wretched ‘Caligula’ (meaning “little boots”)
Cauldron	A large vessel, such as a kettle or vat, used for boiling. [Middle English, alteration of cauderon, from Norman French diminutive of caudiere, cooking pot, from Late Latin caldria, from feminine of Latin caldrius, suitable for warming, from calidus, warm.]
Cena	The Romans’ main daily meal
Centurion	Leader of 100 men (a century) in the Roman army. In actuality, this varies greatly. The commander of each of the camps surrounding the village of indomitable Gauls is a centurion.
Circus, The	The Circus Maximus, site of gladiatorial combat in Rome. Derives from the Latin word for cicle. Also involves people being eaten by wild beasts and Gladiators fighting for their lives.
Cohort	1/10th of a legion.
Dolmen	A primitive structure created by placing one large rock across two side rocks and covered with soil to make a small mount. The stones are all that is left today.
Decurion	Leader of 10 men in the Roman army. Patrols are usually led by decurions. Compare this to Centurion (q.v.).
Gladiator	From the Latin word gladius meaning sword. Name used to refer to the fighters in The Circus (q.v.). They were mostly prisoners of war, condemned criminals or slaves.
Lanista	Latin word for gladiator trainers.
Legion	3000 to 6000 soldiers with additional cavalry.
Maniple (Manipule)	Unit of Roman legion. Two centuries make a Manipule. 30 Maniules make a legion.
Menhir	Those big pointed rocks that Obelix is always carrying around. Menhirs are standing prehistoric megalithic monuments that are known now to have been erected (probably) between 3500 BCE and 1800 BCE before the arrival of the Celts in Europe. Great concentrations of menhir and dolmen are found in Ireland, Brittany (largest is in Carnac city), Spain and Corsica. Menhir and Dolmen are celtic names given to this pre-celtic “magic rocks”. Menhir means “standing stone” in Celtic. Some menhirs are engraved to look like warriors (especially in Corsica).
Optio(ne)	A staff officer who assists the commanding officer.
Orgy	Any kind of party. No sex need be involved.
Pax Romana	Roman Peace, enforced by the army.
Pilum	Roman spear.
Potion	A liquid dose, especially one of medicinal, magic, or poisonous content. Middle English ‘pocion’, from Old French, from Latin ‘potio’, ‘potion-’.
Prefect	A high ranking official. Usually a governor. In modern France a prefect (préfet) is the administrator of a Department (analogous to an American County).
Quaestor	Treasury functionary whose position gave him access to the Senate.
Sestertii	Roman money. Probably worth about $2 US today. 100 sestertii = one gold coin. The Oxford Classical Dictionary implies that a sesterce was about five ounces of silver. Other books roughly equate it to a British sexpense (1957) or tuppence (1933). The orichalcum sestertius (plural: sestertii) was the largest bronze denomination in the early Roman Empire, and it continued, growing only gradually smaller until the reign of Postumus (usurper in the breakaway Gallic Empire, 259-258 AD) who minted the last sestertius. Because of their larger flan, the sestertii, particularly of the earlier empire, had the potential for exquisite reverses which many moneyers, particularly under the Adoptive and Antonine dynasties, used to portray their finest works.
SPQR	Senatus Populus Que Romanus = The Senate and People of Rome. The mark of the separation of the supreme power between the aristocratic senate and the people.
Talent	Variable unit of weight used in ancient Greece. Because of the close relationship of weight and monetary worth, it was also used a currency.

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