ἡμιμόχθηρος, ον (hēmimochthēros) —half-evil, half a villain

The gap between a Latinist's level at the end of schooling and their readiness to read authentic texts has been growing with each generation (due to successive curriculum time cuts). At the same time we've been focusing on only publishing school-oriented Latin texts. 1/10

γνωμοτυπικός, ή, όν (gnōmotypikos) —clever at coining maxims

γλισχρολογέομαι (glischrologeomai) —squabble about trifles

κωρυκοβολία, ἡ (kōrykobolia) —exercise with punching-bag

βαθυγένειος, ον (bathygeneios) —with deep, full beard

νωτοπλήξ, ῆγος, ὁ, ἡ (nōtoplēks) —'with scourged back,' said of slaves

νωδογέρων, οντος, ὁ (nōdogerōn) —toothless old man

πωγωνοτροφέω (pōgōnotropheō) —let the beard grow

γαλακτοφάγος, ον (galaktophagos) —'milk-fed,' said of men

δυσάγγελος, ον (dysanggelos) —messenger of ill

καθαρουργός, ὁ (katharourgos) —baker of fine bread

καββαλικός, ή, όν (kabbalikos) [Spartan for καταβλητικός] —'good at throwing,' said of wrestlers —metaphorical, more ready to trip up oneʼs neighbour

φρύγανον [ῡ], τό (phryganon) —dry stick; mostly in plural, firewood

Latinists, can you tell me why 'pater familias' is often taken as a single word, when this presumably could not be determined from space-less manuscripts?

You have three hours to say something intelligent about one of these massive topics, including the Mediterranean, how history should be written, what political points Plato would argue with Lenin about, and the United Nations. Oh, and you have to write your essay in Latin:

λειόγλωσσος, ον (leioglōssos) —smooth-tongued, i.e. flattering