Nihil dicit choco
June 29, 2022 12:12 PM Subscribe
What is this (perhaps faux/imitatio) Latin on a chocolate coin I am eating? One side reads "HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS" with his bust, which is obvious enough, but the other: "OXONIA BRITANNIA PRIORA TEMPORES" around a Roman centurion with spear and shield. What does it mean, if anything?
I wonder if it has anything to do with the legal term "prior tempore?" As I understand it, it has something to do with the idea that a person who makes an earlier claim gets more consideration that someone who makes a later one.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:22 PM on June 29, 2022
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:22 PM on June 29, 2022
Where did you get your chocolate coin from?
I'm suspicious about the grammar, but can't remember enough to be 100% confident in my suspicion. I agree with plonkee though: Oxonia is Oxford, Britannia is obvious, priora is a form of prior (previous / former), and tempores is... well, it doesn't look right to me; but tempore is a form of tempus (time) or tempus (temple), and I'd imagine they were going for the former.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 1:43 PM on June 29, 2022
I'm suspicious about the grammar, but can't remember enough to be 100% confident in my suspicion. I agree with plonkee though: Oxonia is Oxford, Britannia is obvious, priora is a form of prior (previous / former), and tempores is... well, it doesn't look right to me; but tempore is a form of tempus (time) or tempus (temple), and I'd imagine they were going for the former.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 1:43 PM on June 29, 2022
Response by poster: The label on the bag says The Roman Baths, in Bath! Heritage Chocolates is the company. I wonder if that is an inscription at the baths somewhere?
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:56 PM on June 29, 2022
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:56 PM on June 29, 2022
Any chance it could be "temporis" instead of "tempores"?
My Latinist wife suggests in that case "Oxford is Britain's prioress of the mind." "Priora" can be Medieval Latin for "prioress," and "tempores" has a standard meaning of the temples of one's head, and a metaphorical meaning of the mind.
posted by biogeo at 7:57 PM on June 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
My Latinist wife suggests in that case "Oxford is Britain's prioress of the mind." "Priora" can be Medieval Latin for "prioress," and "tempores" has a standard meaning of the temples of one's head, and a metaphorical meaning of the mind.
posted by biogeo at 7:57 PM on June 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
"Prioress" specifically because Oxonia is a feminine noun, you could reasonably render it as "abbess" also I think?
posted by biogeo at 7:58 PM on June 29, 2022
posted by biogeo at 7:58 PM on June 29, 2022
Best answer: I think they're using old moulds to make the chocolates. I think 'Priora Tempores' is bad Latin for 'Past Times', the name of a chain of shops and a mail-order catalogue that started in Oxford in the 1980s, selling... I'll be honest, mostly pseudo-historical tat. It went bust in 2012.
posted by Hogshead at 5:31 PM on June 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Hogshead at 5:31 PM on June 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: This sounds like the right answer to me. It's a tourist shop this came from and I bet they just took over the deal from the distributor since it's kind of a match and no one will object to the Latin.
I'm going to leave this question open for a few more days though in case the people get back to me, but thanks everyone for putting your heads to this!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 5:39 PM on June 30, 2022
I'm going to leave this question open for a few more days though in case the people get back to me, but thanks everyone for putting your heads to this!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 5:39 PM on June 30, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by plonkee at 12:21 PM on June 29, 2022