# This is all there is.



## Dminor

This is from a little scene from the series Rome I'm trying to translate:

- Do you believe there is an afterlife?
- Of course.
- Well, there are people who say no. And this is all there is.
- Who says that?

- Credin esse uitam alteram?
- Certe.
- Sunt autem qui negant. Dicunt id esse omnia.
- Qui ea dicunt?

Any remarks or suggestions on the Latin?


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## litelchau

Dminor said:


> This is from a little scene from the series Rome I'm trying to translate:
> 
> - Do you believe there is an afterlife?
> - Of course.
> - Well, there are people who say no. And this is all there is.
> - Who says that?
> 
> - Credisne esse uitam alteram?
> - Certe.
> - Sunt autem qui negant. Dicunt id esse omnia.
> - Qui ea dicunt?
> 
> Any remarks or suggestions on the Latin?


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## Hamlet2508

- Credi*sne *esse uitam post mortem ?(since the answer is going to be postive,you might as well go for "*Nonne* credis...")
- Ita est.
- Sunt autem, qui neg*e*nt. Dicunt post mortem nihil ex homine restare.(cf.Seneca,ep.XCII)
- Qui ea dicunt?

Perfectly all right.
Do not forget about the enclitic particle though.
The only thing to be kept in mind is that "sunt,qui.." always takes the subjunctive.


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## Dminor

Thanks. I did overlook the subjunctive, but -_ne_ was present: it frequently drops the final _e_ and preceding _s_. In Plautus for example, you can often find _credin_ and _scin_ instead of _credisne_ and _scisne_.

That Seneca quotation is nice, but now it's a paraphrasis of the original. Isn't there something closer to the English? Maybe _nihil pluris esse_?


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## Hamlet2508

Dminor said:


> Thanks. I did overlook the subjunctive, but -_ne_ was present: it frequently drops the final _e_ and preceding _s_. In Plautus for example, you can often find _credin_ and _scin_ instead of _credisne_ and _scisne_.
> 
> That Seneca quotation is nice, but now it's a paraphrasis of the original. Isn't there something closer to the English? Maybe _nihil pluris esse_?



Still, I wouldn't look to Plautus for proper Latin usage.
Problem is that Roman thoughts about death were influenced by philosophy.
What about

Dicunt post mortem nihil esse.

Regards,
Hamlet


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## Dminor

That does seem fine. Thanks!


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## Joca

Dminor said:


> That does seem fine. Thanks!


 
By the way, who said "Post mortem nihil est, ipsaque mors nihil"?


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## Dminor

Seneca again, eh?  Well, whatever the source, it serves as a fine translation here.


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## Hamlet2508

Joca said:


> By the way, who said "Post mortem nihil est, ipsaque mors nihil"?



It's from Seneca,Troades,the second choral song sung by the Trojan women


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