New feature on Linear B, Knossos & Mycenae: famous quotes from Greek & Latin authors in Linear B:
We begin this new “column” with our first 6 translations of quotes from Latin authors, because it is much easier to transform Latin into Linear B, given that Latin words primarily contain a lot of consonants immediately followed by vowels, which is a prime characteristic of a syllabary such as Mycenaean Linear B. The only caveat is that Linear B words always end in a vowel, whereas Latin vocabulary, which is declined, often ends with consonants. But the oblique cases in Latin very often end with vowels, which makes it much easier to translate Latin quotations than Greek into Linear B. The only real problem other than the complete absence of terminal consonants in Linear B is that there is no L series of syllabograms (la, le, li, lo, lu) but only an R series (ra, re, ri, ro, ru), which must make do for all words in Greek or Latin which contain syllables beginning with the consonant L. Examples of quotations as illustrated here make this quite clear:
The translations of each of the Latin quotes are as follows:
de rerum natura = on the nature of things
Senatus populusque Romanus = the Senate and the People of Rome
aura popularis = a popular breeze (gossip)
Causa causarum miserere mei. = May the causes of causes have mercy on me.
Cicero pro domo sua. = Cicero prefers his own home.
The Linear B translations are a pretty good match with the Latin quotations, n’est-ce pas?
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Translations: amabalis insania = adorable insanity Mater saeva cupidinum = the savage mother of avarice Nil esse in summa, neque habere ubi corpora prima = in the sum of all things there exists nowhere an abyss, nowhere is a realm of rest for primal bodies. Cuius, uti memoro, rei simulacrum et imago = An image of it, like an idea, as I recall (to mind)...
Canadian Zen Haiku canadien ISSN 1705-4508 
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