Latin

PRICES WERE out of control at the end of third-century Rome, and the Emperor Diocletian was determined to rein them in. In AD 301 he issued his famous Edict on Prices , a complex piece of legislation that banned speculation and established price ceilings for a wide range of goods and services. But the ambitious law failed. Though violators could be punished with death, inflation and speculation persisted. Goods were hoarded, or sold on the black market. The economic crisis worsened.

In the midst of making history at the 1951 Amateur Athletic Union high school indoor nationals, Bob Rittenburg made a gesture that showed competition meant more to him than just filling a shelf with trophies. Mr. Rittenburg, a Boston Latin School senior from Dorchester, won gold medals in the high jump and 60-yard high hurdles, becoming the first Massachusetts track athlete to win two events at the nationals. But what he did behind the scenes in New York City's Madison Square Garden was reported by the Globe's John Ahern, who wrote that Mr. Rittenburg handed his high jump...

Would a Rosa rubiginosa by another name smell as sweet? We may have a chance to find out; since Jan. 1, newly discovered plant species no longer need to be fully described in Latin to be considered valid, as they have been for centuries. The names and in-depth descriptions, a requirement that traces back to the era when Latin was the common language of scientists, now seem almost quaint - a way, perhaps, to keep classics majors employed. A major impetus for the change was time: Species are disappearing faster than they can be officially named and described.

Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe Latin Academy pitcher Sam Steeves dives into third base during a loss to Brighton on Wednesday afternoon at English High. By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent With a trip to the Boston City League tournament on the line, the Brighton baseball team had to pull out a 4-3 win over Latin Academy on Wednesday afternoon at English high school, but they're status is still up in the air. With the victory, the Bengals aren't guaranteed a spot in the tournament.

We live in the ESPN age, when even a salami-swinging journeyman can make the nightly highlight reel. With every new "Web gem," baseball's pre-video legends slip further into the background, reduced to choppy, black-and-white clips and the testimonies of bow-tied, PBS-tested talking heads. Sure, grampy tells us Ted Williams and Willie Mays were special. But can we really understand how those players revolutionized the game? Tonight's one-hour "American Experience" film, "Roberto Clemente," should at least educate those poor Yankees fans who recently booed reliever LaTroy Hawkins out of his No. 21...

MEXICO CITY -- Bobby Avila, a three-time All-Star who was the first Latin player to win the American League batting title in 1954, died Tuesday of complications from diabetes and a lung ailment in a private clinic in Veracruz, his hometown. He was 78. He played second base for the Cleveland Indians from 1949 to 1958 and also was with the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Braves, before ending his 11-year big league career with the Boston Red Sox. Mr. Avila batted .341 to edge out Minnie Minoso for the AL batting title and help Cleveland...

De gustibus non est disputandum. (There is no disputing matters of taste.) Latin saying

IS IT just me, or is there something seriously wrong when a school in Mattapan doesn't have a librarian, while Cambridge Rindge and Latin just completed a $112 million renovation? Brian McGrory's Sept. 30 Metro column ( "Better things to dwell on" ) made me smile, thinking of the generosity of the Boston Celtics organization. But then I saw the article in the same edition of the paper about the renovation of the Cambridge school ( "Rindge and Latin opens with refreshed feeling" )

CLEVELAND - Musician Carlos Valdes, a Cuban native whose conga playing made him a legend among Latin jazz percussionists, has died. He was 81. Mr. Valdes died Tuesday of complications from emphysema in Cleveland, said Charles Carlini, a booking agent for Mr. Valdes. Mr. Valdes, who lived in New York and had been working with his group the Conga Kings, had recently performed in California, including an appearance at the San Francisco Jazz Festival on Nov. 9, Carlini said. Mr. Valdes came to the United States in the 1950s and worked with major Latin and jazz figures of the day,...

(h/t to the Deadspinners for a great, great find.) Brother Ryan often asserts his First Law Of Officiating -- Know Why Thou Art On The Floor. Apparently, egregious violations of this law go back millenia. The refs are killing us out there...just killing us. At least we all now know the Latin translation for "Steve Javie. " In related news, the HBO doc on Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe is very good.

After 18 consecutive years of an O'Bryant stronghold on the Boston City League girls' outdoor track and field championships, there's a new champion in town. Latin Academy pulled off the upset, scoring 126 points and dethroning the Tigers at Monday and Tuesday afternoon's city track championships at White Stadium in Jamaica Plain. "I think that's great that we could break that 18-year record, that's fantastic. We just have a great group of kids and they have been doing really well for the last few years," said Latin Academy coach Brian Leussler.

Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe Latin Academy senior pitcher Sam Steeves lifted the Dragons to a 6-3 victory against Boston English High on Wednesday afternoon. By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent Latin Academy senior pitcher, Sam Steeves, and Boston English catcher, Jessy Valdez, are such good friends that they don't dare talk trash after playing one another on the baseball diamond. Before striking out Valdez to secure the final out of a 6-3 victory at English High on Wednesday afternoon, Steeves gave up...

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent For the first time in 18 years a girls' track team other than O'Bryant won the Boston City League Track Championships. What's even more remarkable about Latin Academy overthrowing the Tigers Tuesday at White Stadium is that they did it with major contributions from five middle school students. Latin Academy coach Brian Leussler said he's never had so many middle schoolers perform so well in his 10 years coaching the school, which consists of students from...

HSBC Holdings PLC says that it is selling its businesses in Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay for $400 million to Banco GNB Sudamaris, part of the the Gilinski Group. The businesses being sold operate 62 branches in the four countries and had a gross asset value of $4.4billion. Subject to regulatory approval, HSBC says the sale is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2013.

The Metropolitan Chorale, a Brookline-based ensemble led by music director Lisa Graham, takes a Latin American turn with performances of "The Lamentations of Jeremiah" by Alberto Ginastera, "Misa Criolla" by Ariel Ramirez, and pieces by Oscar Escalada, Astor Piazzolla, Ruben Urbiztondo, Manuel de Sumaya, and Heitor Villa-Lobos in an 8 p.m. concert Saturday at Holy Name Parish, 1689 Centre St. in West Roxbury. For more information, visit www.metropolitanchorale.org. Andreae Downs

Pavel Dzemianok/For the Globe By far the best boys' volleyball team in the city, Latin Academy struggles to find opponents that can prepare them for the state tournament. The team also struggles with stereotypes that their sport is only for girls and Asians. By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent Less than an hour after their match against Latin Academy began last month, several members of the West Roxbury boys' volleyball team waited outside their opponents' Dorchester school building for rides.

RE "CATHOLIC liturgy has new translation" (Page A1, Nov. 27): The new Catholic liturgy is a distraction to the majesty of the Mass. Jesus spoke to the people of his time in the simple, clear vernacular that everyone could understand. This new translation has lost that vision of simplicity and clarity. Jesus did not speak Latin. He spoke Aramaic, a regional dialect of Judea. While Hebrew was the liturgical language of Judaism in Jesus' time, and the equivalent to the liturgical language of Roman Catholicism, he spoke to those who would listen in simple words they would understand and...

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent Latin Academy girls' tennis coach, Jimmy Hite, who helped found the school's tennis program about six years ago, resigned last week and was replaced by Sportsmen's Tennis Club's new strength and conditioning coach, Calvin Carter. Hite, a local tennis legend and fixture at Carter Playground near Northeastern University, said paperwork and bureaucratic red tape increased significantly since Latin Academy's program started as a co-ed squad.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It's not often that condiments can cause confusion. But that's precisely what ensues against a soundtrack of raw, twangy country music on a Tuesday night recently at the Silver Dollar. Our soft-spoken waiter delivers a plate of warm corn bread and gives us the skinny on three squeeze bottles of sauces tucked into slots of a cardboard beer-bottle carrier. Ancho, the mildest, is like a mole without the chocolate. The savory arbol is the chef's riff on the classic Texas Pete sauce.