Catullus 9 in Latin & English: Verani, omnibus e meis amicis
Channel: David Amster
Date: 21/08/2020

#catullus
#latinpoetry
#latinpronunciation

Catullus 9 is an expression of joy over the safe return of his friend Veranius from a tour of duty in Spain.  Circa 60 BC. 

Note that kissing close friends and family members was very common among among the Romans. See: The History of Kissing: The Ancient Roman Fascination

https://blogs.transparent.com/latin/the-history-of-kissing-the-ancient-roman-fascination/

Notes about the images/art:

Roman Fresco of household deities, Pompeii, 1st century AD.
In ancient Roman religion, Penates were among the dii familiares, or household deities, invoked most often in domestic rituals. 

The lararium was a shrine to the guardian spirits of the Roman household. Family members performed daily rituals at this shrine to guarantee the protection of these domestic spirits, the most significant of which were the lares.

Fayum Portrait of Two Brothers, Roman Egypt, 2nd century AD

Fayum Portrait of a young man in Roman clothing from the Hawara Necropolis, 140 AD

Bronze Lar, a household guardian deity, Roman, 1st century AD

Catullus Manuscript G, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Verona, 1375. Italian Gothic minuscule, Antonio del Gaio da Legnago. Parchment. One of the earliest surviving manuscripts.  

To see the manuscripts of all the poems:

http://www.catullusonline.org/CatullusOnline/index.php

Catulli Carmen IX ad Veranium

Verani, omnibus e meis amicis
antistans mihi milibus trecentis,
venistine domum ad tuos penates
fratresque unanimos anumque matrem?
venisti. o mihi nuntii beati!
visam te incolumem audiamque Hiberum
narrantem loca, facta, nationes,
ut mos est tuus, applicansque collum
iucundum os oculosque suaviabor.
o quantum est hominum beatiorum,
quid me laetius est beatiusve?

Veranius, of all my friends,
standing out ahead, to me,
of even three hundred thousand!
Have you come home 
to your household gods, 
your like-minded brothers, your aged mother?
You have come! O happy news to me!
I shall come see you safe and sound 
and hear you tell, as is your wont,
the different regions of the Iberians, 
their achievements, 
the various peoples, 
and embracing your charming neck
shall kiss your mouth and eyes. 
O, as many as there are 
of very happy people, 
is there anything more joyful 
or more fortunate than I? 

Translation by DWA, Fez 8/21/20