3 ms·
Centurion: What is this then? Romanes eunt domus, "People called Romanes they go the house"? Brian: It..it says, "Romans, go home"! Centurion: No, it doesn't!
by wyldfire 4y ago
Centurion: What is this then? Romanes eunt domus, "People called Romanes they go the house"?
Brian: It..it says, "Romans, go home"!
Centurion: No, it doesn't! What's Latin for "Roman"? [grabs Brian's ear] Come on, come on!
Brian: Romanus!
Centurion: Goes like?
Brian: Annus!
Centurion: Vocative plural of annus is...?
Brian: Anni?
Centurion: [writes] Romani. And eunt? What is eunt?
Brian: "Go"! Let-
Centurion: Conjugate the verb "to go".
Brian: Ire; eo, is, it, imus, itis, eunt!
Centurion: So eunt is...?
Brian: Third person plural, present indicative. "They go!"
Centurion: But "Romans, go home" is an order, so you must use the...?
Brian: The... imperative!
Centurion: Which is...?
Brian: I!
Centurion: [twisting Brian's ear] How many Romans?
Brian: [yelling] I.. Plural, plural! Ite, ite!
Centurion: [writing] Ite. Domus? Nominative? But "go home", it is motion towards, isn't it, boy?
Brian: Dative, sir! [The centurion promptly draws his swords and presses it against Brian's throat.
Brian yells:] No, not dative! Not the dative, sir! No! The... accusative, accusative! Domum, sir, ad domum!
Centurion: Except that domus takes the...?
Brian: The locative, sir!
Centurion: Which is?
Brian: Domum!
Centurion: [writing] Domum... -um [sheathing his sword] Understand? Now, write it out a hundred times!
Brian: Yes, sir, thank you, sir! Hail Caesar!
Centurion: Hail Caesar. If it's not done by sunrise, I'll cut your balls off!
Brian: Oh, thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Hail Caesar and everything, sir!
- krylon 4y agoThe secondary school I went to taught Latin as the first language, and someone had - before my time - written "Romanes eunt domus" on the school wall next to the main entrance. I did not get the joke until I watched Life of Brian, but when I did, I absolutely loved it. To my knowledge, nobody has removed the graffiti to this day.
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- canjobear 4y agoI love this scene because it captures the crazy dissonance between Latin as it was taught for generations (basically a highly structured linguistic hazing ritual) and the fact that it really was a lively living language once.
- nescioquid 4y agoIt was funny when I saw the movie because I never expected a movie to wittily touch on such schoolboy Latin troubles. But since the internet became a thing and this scene gets regurgitated at the slightest provocation, a damnatio memoriae wold be a kindness.