Fascinating stuff, thanks. I still hate it when the meaning of words gets changed, for example “decimation”. When I encountered the term in digital signal processing I thought “Aha I know that one, all those Lain classes paid off!”. But as in general usage, it’s used as a synonym for “reduction”, not necessarily by a factor of 1/10th. “Words have meanings dammit!”
Some of the Roman ideas just don’t translate into modern times, but it was clear they all knew that to keep the bad guys out, you needed to BUILD A WALL.
However, the idea of Obama throwing a spear into the enemy territory is laughable...besides the fact that he’d have to throw it underhanded.
I never understood the objection to the changed meaning of the word “decimate” in English, especially as expressed on this forum. No one seems to be bothered that “font,” “limousine,” and “egregious” as well as many other words no longer mean what they once did. English is a living language, meanings and usage change over time. Latin is a dead language, nothing changes.