Before Reginald Foster there was Antonio Bacci, often regarded as the greatest Latinist of the 20th Century. This Catholic prelate composed the Lexicon Eorum Vocabulorum Quae Difficilius Latine Redduntur, a dictionary of modern terms in Latin. This was a standard reference for writers of Modern Latin, especially at the Vatican. It has since been superseded by the current Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis which gives us words like bracae linteae caeruleae for blue jeans, capitilavium for shampoo and tromocrates for terrorist.
From the 1930′s through the 1960′s Bacci was the Vatican’s top Latinist and held the title Segretario dei Brevi ai Principi. He and his team of three laymen translated all the official documents of the Vatican into Latin. Foster currently fits this role, however, with a much less illustrious title.
Hat Tip: Orbis Catholicus Rome Tours
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