by Professor Catherine Steel
The Thesaurus Linguae Latinae has been at work since 1893 to create the most detailed and comprehensive dictionary of classical Latin in existence (it has got as far as resurgo).
It is an extraordinary treasure trove of information about Latin, and the entries can stimulate all sorts of ideas about the Latin language as well as bigger questions about the ancient world and its reception. One of the many resources on the TLL website is a podcast in which researchers offer brief reflections about specific words in the TLL which have caught their attention; a recent episode contains my reflections on obrepo and its use in the political discourse of the late Roman Republic, particularly in Marcus Tullius Cicero’s Pro Plancio speech.