Frequently asked questions for Quintus
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. What’s your background?

·          Quintus was educated to doctorate level at the University of Cambridge and taught Latin Prose and Verse Composition at the University before taking on the leadership of the Classics department of one of England's most prestigious independent boarding schools. His broadcasts include talks on ‘Virgil’ and ‘Caligula’.

·          Quintilla was educated at the University of Oxford and has acted as the Latin language consultant for a number of television documentaries.

 

2. Why not use free online software and online dictionaries to translate Latin?

Because they don’t work!!! The two best known online machine translators are Quick Latin and Blitz Latin. Here’s what they make of a very short sentence from one the most famous Roman poets, Horace:

·          Latin text: Diffugere nives, redeunt iam gramina campis arboribusque comae.

·          English translation (Quintus): The snows have fled, and now the grass returns to the fields and the leaves to the trees.

·          Blitz Latin: Have scattered the snows, the hairs return now the grasses with the plains and trees.

·          Quick Latin: To flee in different directions the snows, they return now/already the grasses to the caterpillars the tree of the hair.

These translation programs are useless – that’s why they’re free - and sadly people who use them to translate phrases into Latin don’t realize this, and end up with gibberish for their company motto, tattoo etc.

 

3. What about other Internet Latin translation agencies?

Only a handful of other sites offer Latin translations, and none is a dedicated Latin site run by Latinists. They are run as multi-lingual sites with no special expertise in Latin, which is farmed out to untested third parties. We know this because they frequently email us to help out with difficult assignments. With us you are in direct contact with a combined 85 years of experience in Latin (that’s twice as long as the average lifespan of a Roman!)

 

4. What positive reasons are there for choosing Quintus?

·          Lifelong academic experience of translating Latin.

·          Unparalleled experience in internet Latin translation work over more than eight years.

·          Inbuilt quality assurance from a highly satisfied verifiable customer base (900+ verified Paypal customers this year alone – see our Paypal pages).

5. What sort of translations do you do?

Every sort! Latin bons mots for an erudite Californian nursery, Ph.D. prefaces, funerary inscriptions, huge amounts of academic research, mottos, tags for wedding rings and tattoos, genealogy, alchemy, scientific writings (including geology, biology, chemistry and mathematics), company logos, love-letters, medieval Latin (for much of which no English translation exists), diplomas, theology, weapons systems, etc., etc.

 

6. Examples?

We are currently translating the 1,600,000 word Historia Norvegica (History of Norway) by Torfaeus into English for a Norwegian academic foundation and have just translated the 35,000 word Lun Yu of Confucius into Latin for the Confucius Publishing Company of Hong Kong, both for publication on the web. We are working on a Latin dialogue text and sound files for a History Channel documentary on Boudicca. I recently translated an early scientific work by Lister, dealing with the chemical content of mineral springs. By contrast, I have also just emailed a two word phrase to Virginia destined to become a tattoo!

 

7. Extras

We can supply sound files in .mp3 format for a small extra charge, with Quintus reading your  translation in an authentic Roman accent (to hear an example go to the QuintusVocalis page).

How to order your translation and pay for it