They don’t get much in the way of posthumous glory, but Roman surveyors have left us a wealth of technical treatises, collectively known as the Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum, which is of unique historical importance for its detailed descriptions of the nature of land settlement, and the role of emperors, especially Augustus, in regulating urban centers in a rural environment.[1] Archaeologist David Gilman Romano, longtime director of the Corinth Computer Project, has been using the Agrimensores to understand the rural geography of Corinth and the nature of Roman re-settlement of the city.[2] One of the highlights of his recent Dickinson Latin Workshop was the handy glossary of Roman surveying terms, given below.

First, though, where can you read these texts online? Several are available on PHI:

Balbus,Exposito et Ratio Omnium Formarum 

Sextus Iulius Frontinus, De Arte Mensoria, De limitibus, De controversiis, and De agrorum qualitate,

Hyginus Gromaticus, De limitibus

Siculus Flaccus, De condicioninus agrorum

F. Blume, K. Lachmann and A. Rudorff, Die Schriften der romischen Feldmesser (Berlin: Reimer, vol. 1, 1848, vol. 2, 1852) includes a larger index auctorum. There is also the more recent Teubner edition of C. Thulin, Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum, vol. 1, fasc. 1 Opuscula Agrimensorum Veterum (Leipzig: Teubner, 1913) which includes Frontinus, Hyginus, and Flaccus, and is the source of the PHI texts. The two earliest manuscripts, dating to the 6th-7th and 9th centuries, have a wealth of color illustrations. Here is a b/w reproduction of a few, from Thulin:

Illustrations from the earliest manuscripts of the Agrimensores, the sixth century codex Arcerianus (A) and the ninth century codex Palatinus Vaticanus latinus 1564 (P), from Thulin’s edition (Leipzig: Teubner, 1913), plates 24 and 25.

A good translation is available in print: J. B. Campbell, Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum, The Writings of the Roman Surveyors, Journal of Roman Studies, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, Monograph Vol. 9, London, 2000; and Prof. Romano also recommends M.J.T. Lewis, Surveying Instruments of Greece and Rome (Cambridge, 2001).

Ok, here is Prof. Romano’s lexicon. May it help to foster the study of these texts! If you are looking for examples of the actual uses of these words, Volume 2 of the Blume-Lachmann-Rudorff edition has a full index verborum.

Abluvio – the erosion of soil by a river

Actus (plural actūs) – linear measure 120 feet

Actus quadratus – an area 120 feet square or ½ iugerum

Ager – field

Ager publicus – land owned by the Roman state

Agrimensor – a land surveyor

Alluvio – the deposit of soil by a river

Ambitus – a space of 2 ½ feet between neighboring buildings for a right of way

Arca – a square or rectilinear boundary marker often hollowed out

Arcifinius – land on the periphery of Roman territory

Cardo – a limes dividing individual centuriae often running north-south and forming a set of parallel limites.  Cardo means ‘hinge’

Cardo maximus – the main and widest limes usually north-south

Centuria – a unit of land division created by the intersection of four limites often measuring 20 actus square and containing 200 iugera, each traditionally contianed 100 allotments of 2 iugera

Chorobates – an instrument used for levelling

Cippus – a boundary stone

Colonia – a self-administering community of settlers; Citizen colonies, Latin colonies, veteran colonies

Colonus – a farmer, tenant farmer, farmer in a colony (from colere)

Decempeda – a surveyor’s 10 foot measuring rod

Decumanus – the name given to limes dividing individual centuriae often running east-west and forming a part of a set of parallel limites

Decumanus maximus – the main and widest limes often east-west that intersected the cardo at right angles

Decus – derived from decem (X) in surveying the intersection of two lines in the form of an X

Dioptra – an instrument for surveying or for making astronomical observations

Ferramentum – the iron base of a surveying instrument

Finis – a boundary between territories or landholders

Forma –  map

Forum – a commercial or market center

Fundus – one square actus also’ acnua’ also actus quadratus

Geometres – a land measurer

Groma – an instrument for surveying straight lines and right angles.  Derived from Greek gnomon

Heredium – a heritable plot of land traditionally two iugera

Indiviso – land not allocated to individuals but left for common pasture land

Iter – pathway, road, journey, right of way

Iter populo non debetur – The roadways in the urban center could be planned and built so as to fully respect the entire calculated area of the insula according to a legal formula iter populo non debetur meaning that the widths of the roads were added outside of the regular iugera measure of the insulae.

Iter populo debetur – In the rural landscape there was a different solution, iter populo debetur, which meant that roadways could be added over land that was divided into iugera for farming purposes.  This would mean that portions of the assigned rural land would in fact be utilized as paths or cart roads through the agricultural fields.

Iugerum – two square actus, land able to be plowed by a yoke of oxen in one day.

Latifundium – large estate

Libri aeris – mapping registers associated with a bronze forma containing details of land allocations

Limes (limites) – a man made boundary or balk

Limitatio – the process of establishing intersecting limites to divide land (centuriatio)

Mensor – a measurer

Meta – cone shaped turning post in circus, a surveyors moveable mark

Metator – a surveyor, military surveyor

Norma – a carpenters square

Ager occupatorius – land that the Romans occupied for their own use after defeating an enemy

Pagus – a country district

Passus – a pace or stride  mille passus = one Roman mile 1000 paces

Pertica – a surveyor’s 10 foot long measuring rod. Total area measured

Pes – a foot 0.2957 m.

Plethron – a Greek area of land 100 feet square = 10,000 square feet

Possessio – possession of land or object as opposed to ownership

Praefectura – a community of Roman citizens to which Rome had sent out legal officials

Principia – headquarter buildings in a military camp

Proprietas – ownership of an object or land as opposed to possession

Quadrifinium – a place where the boundaries of four properties or territories met

Quintarius – every fifth limes after the KM and DM.  It was wider than the other secondary limites

Rigor – a manmade straight line forming a boundary with no width

Saltus – according to Siculus Flaccus 25 centuriae; According to Varo 4 centuriae.  An estate

Scamnum – a rectangle of land broader than it was long from the sighting

Servitus – in law an easement or servitude on a property

Striga – a rectangle of land longer than it was broad from the sighting

Subruncivus – limites intervening between KM, DM and quintarii.  Means ‘weeded’

Subsecivum  – land unsuitable for settlers

Tabulae aeris – bronze records associated with the bronze map

Tabularium – public records office

Terminus – a boundary marker.  In Roman religion Terminus was worshipped as the spirit of all boundary markers

Territorium – all land within the boundaries of a community

Tetrans – a quadrant. In surveying the point of intersection of two lines

Usucapio – in law a process by which ownership could be attained by continuous possession

Varatio – the process of diagonal sighting

Vectigalis – land yielding revenue for the Roman state, colony, municipium

Via publica – a publicly maintained road

Vicus – a district, village

Villa – a dwelling associated with at rural estate or farm

1. John Brian Campbell, Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed., s.v. gromatici
2. David Gilman Romano, “Roman Surveyors in Corinth,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 150.1 (2006), pp. 62-85. Idem, “City Planning, Centuriation, and Land Division in Roman Corinth: Colonia Laus Iulia
Corinthiensis & Colonia Iulia Flavia Augusta Corinthiensis,” Corinth, Vol. 20, Corinth, The Centenary: 1896-1996 (2003), pp. 279-301.

The New York Times has a front page story today under the title, “As Interest Fades in the Humanities, Colleges Worry.” I hated most everything about this story: the assumption that students choose either science or the humanities, the over-hyped crisis rhetoric, the manufactured horse race . . . BUT buried in there is a note about classics students at Stanford using a text annotation program called RapGenius, which is interesting.

Susan Stephens at Stanford has a class called “Teaching Classics in the Digital Age” that deals with many aspects of pedagogy and research in classics. Jeremy Dean of RapGenius was visiting the class one day this month, and the NYT reporter attended as well, hence the inclusion of this in the story.

The attractive thing about RapGenius is its large community of users, and also its flexibility for annotation. You can annotate by sentence, phrase, word, whatever, and easily add images, audio, and other media to the pop up annotations. Though originally designed for obsessive rap fans to analyze lyrics, the potential of the tool for other branches of the humanities is obvious, and recognized clearly by the company. They hired Dean to be their humanities specialist, and they are developing an alternate brand for the same tool, Poetry Genius.

Oh, and it collects statistics on lyrics and creates effortless visualizations, a la Google Ngrams. Here is the graph for the occurrence of the words “love,” “hate,” and “rhyme.”

As for the humanities crisis, don’t ask a Latinist about that. We’ve taken some hits in the last century or so. On the other hand, my friends in math and science fields certainly don’t seem to feel that everything is ducky in their disciplines. It is a struggle to get students to substantively engage in science and math, just as it is a struggle for us in the humanities. Students are often utilitarian in their thinking, and this should be no cause for surprise or lament. We should use every tool at our disposal to promote learning and intelligent living in all disciplines, and to create connections between, say, computer science and humanities. This is an attractive enterprise to some computer scientists of my acquaintance as well.

Prof. Stephens’ course is a model of this kind of forward, engaged thinking. The description of the course goals lays it out nicely:

This Workshop is predicated on four assumptions: (1) on-line teaching is here to stay; (2) within the career trajectory of those of you who are now graduate students it will replace or force essential modification of traditional classroom and book-centered learning; (3) the field is growing exponentially in tools and sophistication of applications; and (4) we do not all come to these emerging technologies with equal expertise. For those of us with low technical skills, the challenges may often seem to outweigh the rewards.

Therefore the Workshop has as its primary goal to allow us to gain familiarity with a broad range of digital materials currently available for teaching classical subjects (1) initially by engaging with experienced users or designers of various digital media, then (2) by experimenting ourselves with a selection of sites in order to evaluate what works in various teaching environments. You should learn how and in what ways a medium can enhance (or distract from) learning, gain familiarity with various ways of assessing the success of various media in teaching, and understand issues of intellectual property, copyright, and plagiarism. A secondary goal is to facilitate thinking collaboratively about pedagogical issues and to encourage departmental sharing of individual digital classroom materials.

The course is a mix of presentations about all kinds of online resources and digital tools, along with a practicum component in which students create lessons using them. All along there is searching discussion of how to marry tools to learning goals in an intelligent way. RapGenius may not be your cup of tea, but the kind of dialogue going on at Stanford among humanists and those in other fields about digital tools and humanistic methods is exciting, forward thinking, and unfortunately missed by the big media outlets. But then again, I guess that’s why we have blogs.

DCC board member Wille Major of Louisiana State University  sends along this handy guide to typing polytonic Greek in a Windows environment—no special keyboard required.

TYPING ANCIENT (POLYTONIC) GREEK
in a Windows environment

This is a practical guide to setting up Windows to type ancient (polytonic) Greek. It does not require you to purchase or install any software, just to activate a feature in Windows.

Step 1:  Activate polytonic Greek in Windows

Setup instructions for Windows Vista or Windows 7
1. Go to the Control Panel.
2. Select Clock, Language and Region (or Regional and Language Options).
3. Select Change keyboards and other input methods.
4. A window will appear. Select Change Keyboards button.
5. A window will appear with three tabs. The “general” tab is open by default. Click the Add button.
6. You will see a list of keyboards based on languages. Scroll down and click on Greek, and then select Greek Polytonic keyboard.
7. Click OK on this tab and then all the previous tabs until you are back in the Control Panel. Close the Control Panel.

Setup instructions for Windows XP
1. Go to the Control Panel.
2. Double-click Regional and Language Options.
3. Click the Languages tab,
4. Click Details under “Text Services and Input Languages”
5. Click Add under “Installed Services”
6. You will see a list of keyboards based on languages. Click on Greek Polytonic from the list.
7. Click OK on this tab and then all the previous tabs until you are back in the Control Panel. Close the Control Panel

After you activate Polytonic Greek, you should have a language button or taskbar similar to one of the images below.
• The English keyboard is represented by the letters EN.
• The Greek keyboard is represented by EL.
By clicking on this symbol, you can toggle between the English and Greek keyboard at any time! You can move and manipulate the appearance of the bar if you wish.

If you want, you can pull up keyboard images and type directly on them.
• Go to START:
• select ALL PROGRAMS
• select ACCESSORIES
• select ACCESSBILITY (or EASE of ACCESS)
• select “On-screen Keyboard”

IMPORTANT: No matter how you input polytonic Greek, you must use a Unicode font. If the basic alphabet and vowels with acute accents appear correctly, but other accents and breathings do not appear correctly, it is because the font you are using is not consistent with Unicode. There are many Unicode fonts available, but a good one that comes with Windows is “Palatino Linotype.”

Step 2. The keyboard layout of the Greek alphabet and punctuation

These layouts show the placement of the letters. This arrangement is the same for Ancient and Modern Greek keyboards. The keys in yellow will be used for placing polytonic diacritical marks:

Punctuation

• The period and comma are the same as on the standard English keyboard.
• Half-stop: hold the <shift> key & right-hand <alt> key, then type the ] key: type <shift>&<right alt> ]
  → ·

• Question mark: type q <space>
  → ;

remember: “q for question”!
Make sure to type the space after the q. Otherwise, if you type a vowel next, it will put an accent on the vowel. (See below.)

• For the acute accent, type the semi-colon (;) key, then the vowel: for example: type ; a
  → ά

The Dickinson College Department of Classical Studies will sponsor a full day Saturday Workshop of interest to teachers and students of the classical world and of archaeology.

Ancient Corinth and Roman City Planning

Saturday, November 16, 2013, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tome Hall Room 115.

Speakers:

Dr. David Gilman Romano, Karabots Professor of Greek Archaeology at the School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, and Director of the Corinth Computer Project and the Archaeological Mapping Lab

Dr. Nicholas Stapp, Director of Geospatial Research at the Archaeological Mapping Lab at the University of Arizona

There will be four hour-long sessions, with time for questions and discussion. Lunch will be provided. The workshop is free of charge, but to order materials and food we need to have an accurate count of attendees. To register please contact Terri Blumenthal at blumentt@dickinson.edu by November 10, 2013.

Description:

When the former Greek city of Corinth was settled as a Roman colony by Julius Caesar in 44 BC Roman land surveyors were called upon to lay out the urban as well as the rural aspects of the new colony. In the 70s AD when a second Roman colony was founded there, again the agrimensores were involved in new organization of the city and landscape. The agrimensores were Roman land surveyors responsible for the planning and measurement of cities and landscapes all over the Roman world. They were a professional group, usually a part of the Roman army, and we know a good deal about their work from a compilation of ancient texts known as the Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum. The Corpus was originally compiled in the fourth or fifth century AD, but includes texts as early as the first century AD. These texts give us substantial information about the training of the agrimensores and their day-to-day activities as well as some of the practical issues that they faced in the field.

Since 1988 a research team from the Mediterranean Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania has been involved in making a computerized architectural and topographical survey of the Roman colony of Corinth. The leader of this team, Prof. David Gilman Romano (Karabots Professor of Greek Archaeology at the School of Anthropology, University of Arizona), will present a workshop on the results of the Corinth Computer Project, http://corinthcomputerproject.org/ as they relate to the ancient written evidence for Roman city planning. He will be joined by Dr. Nicholas Stapp who has worked with Dr. Romano on the Corinth Computer Project since 1995. He is an archaeologist and an expert in the use of new emerging technologies in higher education and research.

In the workshop participants will learn some of the Latin terms that refer to Roman surveying and city and land planning and, in addition, they will learn about high tech methods utilized in the research: electronic total station survey, digital cartography and remote sensing, utilizing air photos, balloon photos and satellite images, all in the study of an ancient city. The planning of the urban and rural aspects of two Roman Colonies at Corinth are outlined in detail, including some of the social, economic and political implications of these foundations.

Anyone with an interest in Roman culture and archaeology; digital cartography, GIS, and spatial analysis; ancient and modern surveying techniques; or city-planning and urban design will find this a rewarding workshop.

Funding for this workshop is provided by the Roberts Fund for Classical Studies at Dickinson College.

With apologies to the good folks a Classical Outlook (the journal of the American Classical League), I wanted to make more widely available Sharon Kazmierki’s favorable review of Paul Hudson’s SPQR app for iPad in the latest issue (print only). We need more reviews of apps and other digital resources by experienced teachers and scholars like Sharon. Paul lives in Bath, England, and is not a subscriber to CO, so this is partly for his benefit, but also for anyone interested. Paul has plans to include some DCC content in SPQR in future. He is a great example of an app developer who is an active part of the community he is trying digitally to serve, so I wanted to support his good work. Sorry about the coaster in the shot . . .

CONVENTICULUM DICKINSONIENSE     July 7-13, 2014               

The Conventiculum Dickinsoniense is an immersion seminar in active Latin. It is specifically designed for all cultivators of Latin who wish to gain some ability to express themselves ex-tempore in correct Latin. A wide range of people can benefit from the seminar: professors in universities, teachers in secondary schools, graduate students, undergraduates, and other lovers of Latin, provided that anyone who considers applying has a solid understanding of the grammatical essentials of the Latin language. A minimum requirement for participation is knowledge of Latin grammar and the ability to read a Latin text of average complexity, even if using a dictionary often.  But no previous experience in speaking Latin is necessary. Sessions will be aimed at helping participants to increase their ability to use Latin effectively in spoken discourse and to understand others speaking in Latin. After the first evening reception (in which any language may be spoken),  Latin will be the language used throughout the seminar. Participants will be involved in intensive activity each day from morning until early evening (with breaks for lunch and mid-afternoon pauses). They will experience Latin conversations on topics ranging from themes in literature and art all the way to the routines and activities of daily life, and will enjoy the benefits of reading and discussing texts in the target language. Activities will involve both written and spoken discourse, both of which engage the active faculties of expression, and each of which is complementary to the other. The seminar will not merely illustrate how active Latin can be a useful tool for teachers, it will show how developing an active facility in Latin can directly and personally benefit any cultivator of Latin who wishes to acquire a more instinctive command of the language and a more intimate relationship with Latin writings.

Moderators:

Prof. Milena Minkova, University of Kentucky

Prof. Terence Tunberg, University of Kentucky

We can accept a maximum number of 40 participants. Deadline for applications is May 1, 2014. The participation fee for each participant will $300. The fee includes lodging in a single room in campus housing (and please note that lodging will be in a student residence near the site of the sessions), two meals (breakfast and lunch) per day, as well as the opening dinner, and a special cookout at the Dickinson farm for one night. That also covers the facilities fee, which allows access to the gym, fitness center, and the library, as well as internet access. The $300 fee does not include the cost of dinners (except for the opening dinner and the cookout at the Dickinson farm), and does not include the cost of travel to and from the seminar. Dinners can easily be had at restaurants within walking distance from campus.  Please keep in mind that the participation fee of $300, once it has been received by the seminar’s organizers, is not refundable.  This is an administrative necessity. 

For more information and application instructions write to:

Professor Terence Tunberg /

email: terence.tunberg@gmail.com

photo: Mary Lou Burke via flickr

Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop

July 13-19, 2014

The Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop is intended for teachers of Latin, as a way to refresh the mind through study of an extended Latin text, and to share experiences and ideas with Latinists and teachers. Sometimes those who are not currently engaged in teaching have participated as well, including retired teachers and those working towards teacher certification.

In 2014 we will read selections from Lucretius’ De rerum natura.

In a sometimes lyrical, sometimes argumentative style, Lucretius argues that all matter is composed of atoms, and describes their movements (Books 1 and 2). He says that the soul itself is made of atoms, and is therefore mortal, and thus that we should not fear death (Book 3). He discusses the theory of sense perception and emotion (Book 4), of cosmology and the origin of culture, and argues that the world is not divinely made and governed and that the gods are not to be feared (Books 5 and 6). Throughout, Lucretius’ goals are both scientific and therapeutic.

Moderators:

Christopher Francese (Dickinson College)

Wells Hansen (Assistant Editor, Amphora, formerly of Milton Academy)

Participants must have a firm grasp of the basics of Latin grammar and a solid working vocabulary. But we aim at a mixture of levels and experience.

Deadline for applications is May 1, 2014. The participation fee for each participant will $300. The fee covers lodging, three meals per day, the facilities fee, which allows access to the gym, fitness center, and the library, as well as wireless and wired internet access while on campus. The $300 fee does not cover the costs of books or travel. The recommended book is W.E. Leonard and S.B. Smith, The Latin Text of Lucretius (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1942). Please keep in mind that the participation fee of $300, once it has been received by the seminar’s organizers, is not refundable. This is an administrative necessity.

Lodging: accommodations will be in a student residence hall near the site of the sessions. The building features suite-style configurations of two double rooms sharing a private bathroom, or one double and one single room sharing a private bathroom.

The first event will be an introductory dinner at 6:00 p.m., Sunday, July 13. The final session ends at noon on Saturday, July 19, with lunch to follow. Sessions will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. each day, with the afternoons left free for preparation.

TO APPLY: please contact Mrs. Terri Blumenthal, blumentt@dickinson.edu by the application deadline May 1, 2014. The fee for 2014 is $300, due in a check made out to Dickinson College, by the fee deadline June 1, 2014.

For more information please contact Prof. Chris Francese (francese@dickinson.edu).