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As they rose much earlier than we do, the hours up to noon were divided into two parts: mane, or morning, which lasted from sunrise to the beginning of the third hour, and ad meridiem, or forenoon; then followed de meridie, i.e. afternoon, and suprema, from about the ninth or tenth hour till sunset.
Britannia, insularum quas Romana notitia complectitur, maxima, spatio ac coelo in orientem Germaniae, in occidentem Hispaniae obtenditur: Gallis in meridiem etiam inspicitur: septemtrionalia ejus, nullis contra terris, vasto atque aperto mari pulsantur.
But custom has sanctioned our departing from strict rules for the sake of euphony; and I should prefer saying pomeridianas quadrigas to postmeridianas, and mehercule to mehercules. Non scire already appears a barbarism; nescire is sweeter. The word meridiem itself, why is it not medidiem? I suppose because it sounded worse.
For the same reason non scire would now be deemed a barbarism, becaule nescire has a smoother sound; and we have likewise substituted meridiem for medidiem, because the latter was offensive to the ear.
Post meridiem praesenti litem addicito. Si ambo praesentes, Sol occasus suprema tempestas esto." The difference between these fragments and the Latin of Plautus is really inconsiderable. After that it remained untouched; and, in fact, the main portion of the laws as now preserved shows a strong resemblance to the Latin of the age of Livius, who introduced the written literature.
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