Foreign Languages

Greek geometry (Euclid et al.) and its terminology is well known. Less well known are the terms for common arithmetical operations. With few exceptions, no Greek mathematical writer used formulas or equations; they described mathematical operations, even the simplest, in words. This peculiarity makes Greek mathematical texts read quite differently from any modern work, and can hinder a modern reader from understanding the text. Even worse, each author tended to use his own vocabulary; usage was not standardized. This paper gives the various expressions for "count," "add," "subtract," "multiply,' and "divide," along with others, and includes many examples from a range of authors: Plato, Euclid, Theon, Diophantus, Vettius Valens, Ptolemy, and others.

The prefaces of most Renaissance books include several liminary poems (limen=threshold) by the author or by his friends. These poems praise the author and the book, and they put the book in an intellectual or literary context. This paper illustrates the character of these poems using two 16th century Latin textbooks.

An introduction to a Jesuit drama by Nicolaus Avancini, published 1686. The play recounts the story of the Countess Genevieve, wrongly suspected of infidelity by her husband Count Siegfried. He orders her killed, but she survives in the forest with her small son for six years, before being reunited with her repentant husband. This pdf introduces the play and gives its context.

The Latin text of a Jesuit drama by Nicolaus Avancini, transcribed and edited from  the only printed edition, 1686. The play recounts the story of the Countess Genevieve, wrongly suspected of infidelity by her husband Count Siegfried. He orders her killed, but she survives in the forest with her small son for six years, before being reunited with her repentant husband. This pdf contains the entire Latin text with lightly modernized punctuation and capitalization. Original spelling is retained. Read the pdf of the Introduction first.

In the prefatory materials (Ad lectorem, "To the Reader") to the collected edition of his plays, Nicholaus Avancini discusses his motives for publishing the plays, the reason for their titles, and several features of his poetic style. This unpublished paper contains the Latin text, an English translation, and some explanatory notes.

The Jesuit writer, Carolus Kolczawa/Karel Kolčava !656-1717), wrote one of the two surviving Latin plays on Richard III of England. (Thomas Legge wrote the other.) This talk outlines Kolczawa's very long play and gives reasons for believing that it is not a drama written for the stage, but a long series of lessons in Latin vocabulary, rhetoric, philosophy, and mythology. Extensive passages are quoted in Latin and in English translation.

This is the introduction to an edition of Carolus Kolczawa/Karel Kolcava, Tyrannis triumphans et triumphata,seu Anglia / Tyranny Triumphant and Defeated, or England (Prague 1704). The exceedingly long Jesuit play deals with the career of Richard III of England, and can be compared with Shakespeare's Richard III. Kolczawa's interests were primarily pedagogical, not literary, as his play illustrates. This is the only translation of Kolczawa into any language. There is some valuable secondary literature in Czech, as outlined in the bibliography. An on-line version of this introduction can be found at the Philological Museum (http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/tyrannis/).

This is the Latin text of Carolus Kolczawa/Karel Kolcava, Tyrannis triumphans et triumphata, seu Anglia - Tyranny Triumphant and Defeated, or England (Prague 1704). See the accompanying Introduction for details about this work. An on-line version can be found at the Philological Museum (philological.bham.ac.uk)

The Introduction to F. H. Flayder's comedy, Moria Rediviva (Folly Reborn) from 1627. Flayder was a professor at the Protestant Tübingen University in Germany and the author of four comedies written for presentation by his students (a common practice in the 17th century). All of his comedies are available on-line at the Philological Museum (http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/library.html). His Latin language Moria Rediviva was last printed in 1627, and this on-line edition is the first translation into any modern language. The play presents a vivid picture of German society in the years immediately preceding the Thirty-Year-War and is well worth reading.

The Department of Foreign Languages (now "World Languages"), California State University Sacramento, was established shortly after the school, then Sacramento State College, was founded in 1947. Beginning with French and Spanish, by the turn of the 21st century a wide spectrum of languages were offered. This brief history, written by a faculty member who spent most of his career in Sacramento, outlines the ups and downs of the Department's beginning years, and gives brief biographies of teachers who worked during those years.

An introduction to a Jesuit drama by Nicolaus Avancini, first published in 1679. The play, which is centered on palace intrigue, not on morality or religion, dramatizes the downfall of the young Alexius Comnenus, Byzantine emperor from 1180-1183, at the hands of his ambitious uncle Andronicus Comnenus. The central action of the play is more or less historical, but many of the characters and episodes are the author’s own creation. There are three related files: Alexius Introduction (this file), Alexius Latin text, and Alexius English translation. For a hypertext version of all three files, see this website: http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/alexius/

The Latin text of a Jesuit drama by Nicolaus Avancini, first published in 1679. The play, which is centered on palace intrigue, not on morality or religion, dramatizes the downfall of the young Alexius Comnenus, Byzantine emperor from 1180-1183, at the hands of his ambitious uncle Andronicus Comnenus. The central action of the play is more or less historical, but many of the characters and episodes are the author’s own creation. There are three related files: Alexius Introduction, Alexius Latin text (this file), and Alexius English translation.