:: REBVS 1 ::

O QVID TVÆ BE EST BIÆ

" O superbe quid superest tuae superbiae?"

O conceited man, will anything

remain of your arrogance? :: REBVS 2 ::

RA RAM RA ES ET IN RAM II RA RAM

"Terra es et in terram ibis"

Dust (earth) you are and into dust you will go

:: REBVS 3 ::

MITTO TIBI NAVEM

PRORA PVPPIQVE

CARENTEM

(This is a riddle by Cicero) :: REBVS 4 ::

HOMO TRIVM

LITERARVM

In a Plautus' comedy:

'Man of three letters!'

(i.e. FUR, "thief!")

:: REBVS 5 ::

EGO SVM PRINCIPIVM MVNDI ET FINIS SÆCVLORVM ATTAMEN NON SVM DEVS

I am the beginning of the world and the end of the ages, but I am not God... :: REBVS 6 ::

CVM MENTIOR ET MENTIRI ME DICO, MENTIOR AN VERVM DICO?

"When I lie and say I am lying, am I lying or saying the truth?" - Aulus Gellius

:: REBVS 7 ::



:: RIDDLE ::

ULTIMA RATIO

REGUM

The last resort of kings...

More original latin riddles! :: Latin Pangrams :: (A pangram, or holoalphabetic sentence, is a sentence which uses every letter of the alphabet at least once) "DUC ZEPHIRE EXURGENS CURRUM CUM FLATIBUS ÆQUOR" "SIC FUGIENS, DUX, ZELOTYPOS QUAM KARUS HABERIS" "VIX PHLEGETON ZEPHIRI QUÆRENS MODO FLABRA MYCILLO"

:: The unsolved riddle of Bologna :: The Latin enigmatic inscription illustrated below was discovered, in the sixteenth century, upon a Roman tombstone near Bologna. It has obsessed and exercised the wits of many puzzlers for more than four hundred years to find out its meaning. Mario L. Michelangelo published a 410-page pamphlet on it at Venice, in 1548. In 1683, Count Carlo Cesare Malvasia in his work 'Aelia Laelia Crispis non nata resurgens in expositione legali' enumerates 43 attempted solutions of it. It has been thought to denote: rain, the soul, Niobe, Lot's wife, a child promised in marriage that died before its birth, etc. (source 'Bibliotheca Chemica', John Ferguson) Carl Gustav Jung dedicated a full chapter to this enigma in his 'Mysterium Conjunctionis'. The French writer Gerard de Nerval cited the enigma in two tales: 'Pandora' and 'Le Comte de Saint-Germain'. Until now, no univocal solution to this riddle and its puzzling antitheses has been found.

[key words: negative disjunction (neque...neque), contraries, antonyms, antithesis] D. M.

AELIA LAELIA CRISPIS

NEC VIR NEC MULIER

NEC ANDROGYNA

NEC PUELLA NEC JUVENIS

NEC ANUS NEC CASTA

NEC MERETRIX NEC PUDICA

SED OMNIA

SUBLATA

NEQUE FAME NEQUE FERRO

NEQUE VENENO

SED OMNIBUS

NEC COELO NEC AQUIS

NEC TERRIS

SED UBIQUE JACET

LUCIUS AGATHO PRISCUS

NEC MARITUS NEC AMATOR

NEC NECESSARIUS

NEQUE MOERENS

NEQUE GAUDENS

NEQUE FLENS

HANC NEQUE MOLEM

NEC PYRAMIDEM

NEC SEPULCHRUM

SCIT ET NESCIT

CUI POSUERIT HOC EST SEPULCHRUM

INTUS CADAVER NON HABENS

HOC EST CADAVER SEPULCHRUM

EXTRA NON HABENS

SED CADAVER IDEM EST

ET SEPULCHRUM SIBI [TO THE GODS OF THE DEAD]

Aelia Laelia Crispis,

Not man, nor woman, nor hermaphrodite;

Not girl, nor youth, nor old woman;

Not chaste, nor unchaste, nor modest;

But all [of these]:

Carried off,

Not by hunger, not by sword, nor by poison

But by all [of them]:

Lies,

Not in air, not in earth, not in the waters,

But everywhere.

Lucius Agatho Priscus,

Not her husband, nor her lover, nor her friend;

Not sorrowing, nor rejoicing, nor weeping;

Erecting

This, not a stone-pile, nor a pyramid,

Nor a sepulchre

But all:

Knows, and knows not,

To whom he erects it. This is a tomb that has no body in it.

This is a body that has no tomb round it.

But body and tomb are the same. Do you have an original interpretation for this puzzle? Mail it to us !

:: Tongue Twisters ::

Te te, ro ro, ma ma, nu nu, da da, te te, la la, te te!

(properly: Te tero, Roma, manu nuda, date tela, latete!)

"I will destroy you, Rome, with my bare hands, give arms and hide yourself!" This sentence is said to be pronounced by Hannibal (or even by Alaric the Visigoth) as he neared the gates of Rome. - Posted by Austin J. Peters O Tite tute Tati, tibi tanta, tyranne tulisti!

O thou tyrant, Titus Tatius, such great troubles you brought upon yourself! (By Ennius) In mari meri miri mori muri necesse est

In a sea of delightful wine a mouse may only die. Summergimurne?

Are we sinking? Quantum materiæ materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

:: Paronyms and equivocal sentences ::

Ave, ave, aveo esse aves.

Hi Grandpa, I'd like to eat birds. Cane decane, canis? Sed ne cane, cane decane, de cane; de canis, cane decane, cane.

Do you sing, o white-haired old man? But please don't sing about your dog, o venerable old man; Sing about your old age. Malo malo malo malo.

I'd rather (stay) on a mast (than) on a bad apple tree. Cum eo eo eo libenter.

I go there with him with pleasure. Persevera, per severa, per se vera.

Persist through difficulties, even though it is hard.

:: The incredible vanish puzzle ::

Cut the marble plate on the left into 3 pieces in order to make a latin word disappear once the pieces are reassembled to form a square again

:: Solution ::

SEPTEM

TUR

BIDO OCTO

LUC

TRI



FLU



LI BER

IFER

GINTA

TAMEN

VIALIS



VIDUS SEPTEM

TUR

OCTO

LUC

TRI



FLU BER

IFER GINTA

TAMEN

VIALIS



VIDUS

LI

BIDO Count the number of latin words before and after permutation.

Where did the 8th word go?

:: Latin magic square :: The palindromic "SATOR square" below dates back to Roman times. It is inscribed on a stone tablet outside Rome in Italy and is the earliest known 2D palindrome. "SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS" means something like: "the sower Arepo works with the help of wheels" or "countryman Arepo runs a wheel shop"... S A T O R A R E P O T E N E T O P E R A R O T A S Opposite is a variant called "ROTAS Square" inscription carved on the wall of a private house in Pompei (Click 'Start' to reveal the script) :: Chronograms :: A chronogram is a sentence or inscription that has hidden numbers which have to be summed for revealing a date of a particular event. These numbers are represented by letters of the Roman numerals: I, V, X, L, C, D, or M. For instance, the inscription "CHRISTVS DVX ERGO TRIVMPHVS" gives MDCXVVVVII or 1632. Although the practice originated in the late Roman Empire, it was particularly popular during the Renaissance, when chronograms were often used on tombstones and foundation stones. Many lengthy examples can be found in Germany, notably in and around the town of Bad Salzuflen. These commemorate the building of houses in the form of prayers or quotations from the Bible. :: Palindromes :: "IN GIRUM IMUS NOCTE ET CONSUMIMUR IGNI"

This famous maccaronic verse, called "the devil's verse", is a riddle in the form of a palindrome - literally a puzzle inside a puzzle... It means "we wander in the night, and are consumed by fire" or "we enter the circle after dark and are consumed by fire" and is said to describe the movement of months. Some others believe that it is about the 'mayfly', that insect that circles the fire only to be consumed by flame. See variants. "SIGNA TE, SIGNA, TEMERE ME TANGIS ET ANGIS / ROMA TIBI SUBITO MOTIBUS IBIT AMOR"

According to a legend, the devil himself said this sentence to St. Martin, who had changed him into a donkey and ridden him to Rome. Each half of the sentence is palindromic; in translation: 'Cross thyself, you plague and vex me without need / For by my efforts you are about to reach Rome, the object of your travel'. "SUM SUMMUS MUS"

'I am the mightiest mouse' "ABLATA AT ALBA"

'Secluded but pure' More Latin palindromes. ΝΙΨΟΝ ΑΝΟΜEΜΑΤΑ ΜE ΜΟΝΑΝ ΟΨΙΝ

"NIPSON ANOMEMATA ME MONAN OPSIN"

Graeco Christian palindromic inscription found on baptismal fountains. It translates as "wash the sin as well as the face"

"NOMON O KIONOS EKHE SON OIKONOMON"

Another early Greek palindrome meaning "whoever you are, always let the law be your guide"

::Double-meaning sentences:: "PORTA PATENS ESTO NULLI CLAUDARIS HONESTO"

This sentence carved on the gate of an early Cistercian gatehouse means "Gate, be thou open - Never closed to honest man", but also "Gate, be thou never open - Closed to honest man"! An ambiguous Latin message of the Archbishop of Esztergom (János) to the conspirators who killed queen Gertrudis, wife of the Hungarian King András II (1213):

"REGINAM NOLITE OCCIDERE TIMERE BONUM EST SI OMNES CONSENTIUNT EGO NON CONTRADICO"

Means: 'Don't kill the queen, it's good to be afraid of it, if everybody agrees, I don't, I oppose it' or 'Don't be afraid of killing the queen, it's good if everybody agrees, I don't oppose it'. :: Bilingual sentences :: "I VITELLI DEI ROMANI SONO BELLI"

You can read this both in Latin and in Italian, but the meaning is not quite the same! (in Latin it means: 'go forth, Vitellius, on the call of war of the Roman God!', and in Italian: 'The Roman calves are beautiful') "CANE NERO MAGNA BELLA PERSICA!"

'Sing, o Nero, the great Persian wars!', in Latin - 'The black dog eats a nice peach', in dialectical Italian. "IN MARE IRATO, IN SUBITA PROCELLA INVOCO TE, NOSTRA BENIGNA STELLA"

This poetic verse has exactly the same meaning in Latin and in Italian!

:: Word stack :: " AMORE , MORE , ORE , RE VERVS AMICVS COGNOSCITVR"

(“You can recognize a true friend from affection, behavior, words and deeds”)

The phrase also comes in the version "amore more ore re // iunguntur amicitiae", (it seems medieval since it rhymes only if the -ae in amicitiae is pronounced like a long e and more and ore are not elided). :: Logogriphs :: "RES VOLAT IN SILVIS, NIGRO VESTITA COLORE. SI CAPUT ABSTULERIS RES ERIT ALBA NIMIS"

(It flies in the woods, dressed in black clothes. If you take its head off it becomes very white)

Interpretation: cornix et nix (crow and snow). "SI QVID DAT PARS PRIMA MEI, PARS ALTERA RODIT"

(If the first part gives me something, the following one erodes what I have received).

Interpretation: domus, do, mus (house, I give, mouse).

:: Lipograms :: The late antiquity Greek poets Nestor of Laranda and Tryphiodorus of Sicily wrote lipogrammatic adaptations of the Homeric poems: Nestor composed an Iliad, which was followed by Tryphiodorus' Odyssey. Both Nestor's Iliad and Tryphidorous' Odyssey were composed of 24 books (like the original Iliad and Odyssey) each book omitting a subsequent letter of the Greek alphabet. Therefore, the first book omitted 'alpha', the second 'beta', the third 'gamma', and so forth. :: Word morphs or Metagrams :: "QVID NOBILEM REDDAT? NON G ENS NOBILITAT, SED M ENS, NON O RTUS, AT A RTES, NON GENUS, AT GEN I VS"

(What makes you noble? Not your name, but your mind; not your origin, but your ability; not your descendants, but your ingenuity) " I ACET. T ACET. PL ACET"

(She lies. She is silent. Like it).

An epitaph written by an upset Roman husband for her too voluble wife.

:: Anagram :: A famous Latin anagram was an answer made out of a question asked by Pilate. The question was: "QUID EST VERITAS?" ('What is the truth?'), and the answer: "EST VIR QUI ADEST" ('it is the man who stands before you'). :: More historical Latin anagrams :: On August 1610, Galileo Galilei sent the following coded message to Kepler to announce an important discovery he had made:

"SMAISMRMILMEPOETALEVMIBVNENVGTTAVRIAS"

Kepler worked hard to solve the enigma and concluded that the term was an anagram for a Latin verse to state that he had discovered a Moon around Mars:

"SALVE VMBISTINEVM GEMINATVM MARTIA PROLES" (in English: 'hail, burning twins, offspring of Mars'). But the real answer was:

"ALTISSIMVM PLANETAM TERGEMINVM OBSERVAVI" ('I have observed the highest planet [Saturn] in triplicate form'). In december of the same year, Galileo sent another anagram-like message to Kepler:

"HAEC IMMATVRA A ME IAM FRVSTRA LEGVNTVR O.Y."

which, translated, means roughly 'These immature ones have already been read in vain by me -oy'. Kepler again tried to decrypt the message and came up with this sentence:

"MACVLA RVFA IN IOVE EST GYRATVR MATHEM, ETC."

which in translation reads: 'There is a red spot in Jupiter which rotates mathematically' (The wondrous thing is: how could Kepler have known of the red spot in Jupiter, then not yet discovered? It was discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in the 1660's, after the time of Kepler and Galileo!). About a month after, however, Galileo revealed the solution of his anagram:

"CYNTHIAE FIGVRAS AEMVLATVR MATER AMORVM"

'The mother of love imitates the shapes of Cynthia', in plain words Venus (the mother of Love) manifests all the phases that the Moon (Cynthia) goes through (and hence Venus must pass on both sides of the sun). Galileo's observation absolutely proved the Ptolemaic system wrong.

:: Labyrinth of St. Bernard :: The table below is a sample of a verbal labyrinth which consists in forming 5 maxims by selecting words in a proper order. You can solve this puzzle by starting with the word at the foot of the left-hand column, then the first maxim will be: NOLI DICERE OMNIA QUAE SCIS QUIA QUI DICIT OMNIA QUAE SCIT SAEPE AUDIT QUOD NON VULT... DICERE SCIS DICIT SCIT AUDIT NON VULT FACERE POTES FACIT POTEST INCURRIT NON CREDIT CREDERE AUDIS CREDIT AUDIT CREDIT NON EST DARE HABES DAT HABET MISERE QUAERIT NON HABET JUDICARE VIDES JUDICAT VIDET CONTEMNIT NON DEBET NOLI OMNIA QUAE QUIA QUI OMNIA QUAE SAEPE QUOD

:: Antique Joke 1 :: Ἀφυὴς γραμματικὸς ἐρωτηθείς· ἡ μήτηρ Πριάμου τίς ἐκαλεῖτο; ἀπορῶν ἔφη· ἡμεῖς κατὰ τιμὴν κυρίαν αὐτὴν καλοῦμεν.

An incompetent schoolteacher was asked who the mother of Priam was. Not knowing the answer, he said: "It's polite to call her Ma'am". :: Antique Joke 2 :: Μισογύναιος, τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ ἀποθανούσης, ἐπὶ τῶι θάψαι ἐκήδευε. τινὸς δὲ ἐρωτήσαντος· τίς ἀνεπαύσατο; ἔφη· ἐγὼ ὁ ταύτης στερηθείς.

A misogynist paid his last respects at the tomb of his dead wife. When someone asked him, "Who has gone to rest?", he replied: "Me, now that I'm alone". More Ancient Greek jokes are recorded in the 'Philogelos' of Hierocles and Philagrios.

:: Antique Joke 3 :: Puer: Cur hi homines, pater, currunt?

Pater: Certant de argenteo calice

Puer: Et quis accipiet?

Pater: Primus

Puer: Cur igitur ceteri currunt?

A boy: Why are those men running?

The father: They compete in order to win a cup.

Boy: And who will win the cup?

Father: The first one...

Boy: So, why keep the other men running? :: Antique Joke 4 :: When Cicero saw his son-in-law, Lentulus, a man of small stature, with a long sword by his side, he said: " Quis generum meum ad gladium alligavit? " ('Who has girded my son-in-law to that sword?'). In another occasion, on seeing the half-length portrait of his brother Quintus, drawn with very large features and an immense shield, Cicero exclaimed: " Frater meus dimidius maior est quam totus! " ('Half of my brother is greater than the whole!'). Many similar wits of great men are recorded in the 'Saturnalia' of Macrobius.