Last night I was reading psalm 98. Inevitably I picked up a parallel Latin-English psalter, and read it again in Latin. In the Vulgate it’s psalm 97, of course.
One thing that I noticed was that “orbis terrarum” was the phrase used to mean “the world.” Literally this means “the orb/circle/sphere of the earth.” It’s a common Latin usage, which appears in Augustus, Res Gestae, Pliny the Elder, and indeed in Augustine.
But, because it was in the psalms, every monk from ancient times onwards must have chanted this regularly and memorised it.
It’s an interesting thought.
My latin is not good!! However does orbis terratum mean that the earth is actually spherical rather than a disc. I know Jerome was aware of the sphericity of the earth. Can you elucidate for me please
Without consulting a single source, I think “orbis” would mean sphere, circle. “Discus” would be disk. But I don’t actually know.
It’s also in the Te Deum: Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur ecclesia. On the sphericality of orbis, I seem to remember there’s been a whole scholarly debate on the subject, but the result of it, if there was one, eludes me.
Ah thank you! I must google that debate…