Prīmus et Secundus Annus 1732 Studios

Latin · Unit 34

Lēctiōnēs 8–12

Secundus Annus I

Gabiī captī. (A. U. C. CCXXV.); Librī Sibyllīnī. (A. U. C. CCXXVII.); Rēgēs expulsī. (A. U. C. CCXLIV.); Lars Porsenna.; Horātius.

123 lines

Gabiī captī: indirect statement

The subject in a report

Patrem frātrēsque Rōmā sē expulisse affirmāvit means, "He declared that his father and brothers had driven him out of Rome."

After affirmāvit, the reported subject patrem frātrēsque is accusative. Expulisse is perfect because the expulsion happened before the declaration.

Two earlier actions

Nūntius nūntiāvit Tarquinium Superbum vōcem quidem ēdidisse nūllam, sed summa papāverum capita baculō dēcussisse.

The messenger reported that Tarquinius Superbus had uttered no word, but had knocked off the tallest poppy heads with his stick.

Tarquinium Superbum is the accusative subject. The perfect infinitives ēdidisse and dēcussisse place both actions before nūntiāvit.

  1. 1

    Tarquinius Superbus, many peoples of the Latins being conquered, decided to take Gabii, a nearby city.

    TarquiniusTarquin
    Superbus,proud, haughty
    multīsmultus: much; many
    LatīnōrumLatini: Latin (lingua/language)
    gentibusgens: race, tribe, nation
    victīs,vinco: conquer
    Gabiōs,Gabii: Gabii (a name)
    propinquampropinquus: near, neighboring
    urbem,urbs: city
    caperecapio: take, seize, capture
    cōnstituit.constituo: establish, determine, resolve
  2. 2

    The people of Gabii, however, their walls fortified, had long been resisting the besieging enemy, when Sextus, the youngest son of Superbus, formed a very cunning plan.

  3. 3

    For he ordered his brothers to beat him: having suffered the beating he deserted to Gabii.

  4. 4

    When he had arrived there, the people of Gabii with drawn swords were about to kill him: he, however, showing the marks of the blows, declared that his father and brothers had driven him out of Rome.

  5. 5

    And so, hospitably received by the people of Gabii, he had begun to have great authority among them.

  6. 6

    Soon, made their leader, he secretly sent a slave to his father carrying a letter, in which he had written these words: 'I now have great authority among the people of Gabii: what must I do now?' The king, having read the letter through, answered nothing indeed aloud, but went across into the garden with the messenger following: there as he walked he knocked off the tallest heads of the poppies with his stick.

  7. 7

    So, no answer being received, the messenger, when he had returned to Gabii, reported to Sextus that Tarquinius Superbus had uttered no word, but had knocked off the tallest heads of the poppies with his stick.

  8. 8

    Hearing this Sextus understood his father's orders: the leading men of Gabii, accused of wrongdoing before the people, he either put to death or threw into chains.

  9. 9

    Then at last, the leaders being removed, the city of Gabii is handed over into the power of the Roman king without a struggle.

  10. 10

    What plan did Sextus form?

D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (1911), Lesson LXXII, §§412-421

§412. Learn the principal parts and the conjugation of eō, go (§499).

a. Notice that ī-, the root of eō, is changed to e- before a vowel, excepting in iēns, the nominative of the present participle. In the perfect system -v- is regularly dropped.

[ Conjugation given in §499:

PRINCIPAL PARTS eō, īre, iī (īvī), ĭtum (n. perf. part.)
PRES. STEM ī-
PERF. STEM ī- or īv-
PART. STEM it-

        INDICATIVE       SUBJUNCTIVE                IMPERATIVE
        SING.  PLUR.
Pres. eō   īmus        eam             2d Pers. ī     īte
        īs   ītis
        it   eunt
Impf. ībam             īrem
Fut.    ībō              ----            2d Pers. ītō   ītōte
                                         3d Pers. ītō   euntō
Perf. iī (īvī)        ierim (īverim)
Plup. ieram (īveram)  īssem (īvissem)
F. P. ierō (īverō)

INFINITIVE
Pres. īre
Perf. īsse (īvisse)
Fut.    itūrus, -a, -um   esse

PARTICIPLES
Pres. iēns, gen. euntis (§472)
Fut.    itūrus, -a, -um
Ger.    eundum

GERUND
Gen.    eundī
Dat.    eundō
Acc.    eundum
Abl.    eundō

SUPINE
Acc.    [[itum]]
Abl.    [[itū]] ]
§413. Learn the meaning and principal parts of the following compounds of eō with prepositions:

ad´eō, adī´re, ad´iī, ad´itus, go to, visit, with the accusative ex´eō, exī´re, ex´iī, ex´itus, go forth, with ex or dē and the ablative of the place from which in´eō, inī´re, in´iī, in´itus, begin, enter upon, with the accusative red´eō, redī´re, red´iī, red´itus, return, with ad or in and the accusative of the place to which trāns´eō, trānsī´re, trāns´iī, trāns´itus, cross, with the accusative
§414. Indirect Statements in English. Direct statements are those which the speaker or writer makes himself or which are quoted in his exact language. Indirect statements are those reported in a different form of words from that used by the speaker or writer. Compare the following direct and indirect statements:

                    { 1. The Gauls are brave
Direct statements   { 2. The Gauls were brave
                    { 3. The Gauls will be brave

Indirect statements { 1. He says that the Gauls are brave
  after a verb in   { 2. He says that the Gauls were brave
  the present tense { 3. He says that the Gauls will be brave

Indirect statements { 1. He said that the Gauls were brave
  after a verb in   { 2. He said that the Gauls had been brave
  a past tense      { 3. He said that the Gauls would be brave

We see that in English

a. The indirect statement forms a clause introduced by the conjunction that.

b. The verb is finite (cf. §173) and its subject is in the nominative.

c. The tenses of the verbs originally used are changed after the past tense, He said.
§415. Indirect Statements in Latin. In Latin the direct and indirect statements above would be as follows:

  DIRECT   { 1. Gallī sunt fortēs
STATEMENTS { 2. Gallī erant fortēs
           { 3. Gallī erunt fortēs

           { 1. Dīcit or Dīxit Gallōs esse fortīs
           {    (He says or He said
           {     the Gauls to be brave)[1]
 INDIRECT  { 2. Dīcit or Dīxit Gallōs fuisse fortīs
STATEMENTS {    (He says or He said
           {     the Gauls to have been brave)[1]
           { 3. Dīcit or Dīxit Gallōs futūrōs esse fortīs
           {    (He says or He said
           {     the Gauls to be about to be brave)[1]
[1] These parenthetical renderings are not inserted as translations, but merely to show the literal meaning of the Latin.

Comparing these Latin indirect statements with the English in the preceding section, we observe three marked differences:

a. There is no conjunction corresponding to that.

b. The verb is in the infinitive and its subject is in the accusative.

c. The tenses of the infinitive are not changed after a past tense of the principal verb.
§416. RULE. Indirect Statements. When a direct statement becomes indirect, the principal verb is changed to the infinitive and its subject nominative becomes subject accusative of the infinitive.
§417. Tenses of the Infinitive. When the sentences in §415 were changed from the direct to the indirect form of statement, sunt became esse, erant became fuisse, and erunt became futūrōs esse.
§418. RULE. Infinitive Tenses in Indirect Statements. A present indicative of a direct statement becomes present infinitive of the indirect, a past indicative becomes perfect infinitive, and a future indicative becomes future infinitive.

NOTE. When translating into Latin an English indirect statement, first decide what tense of the indicative would have been used in the direct form. That will show you what tense of the infinitive to use in the indirect.
§419. RULE. Verbs followed by Indirect Statements. The accusative-with-infinitive construction in indirect statements is found after verbs of saying, telling, knowing, thinking, and perceiving.
§420. Verbs regularly followed by indirect statements are:

a. Verbs of saying and telling:
  dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus, say
  negō, negāre, negāvī, negātus, deny, say not
  nūntiō, nūntiāre, nūntiāvī, nūntiātus, announce
  respondeō, respondēre, respondī, respōnsus, reply

b. Verbs of knowing:
  cognōscō, cognōscere, cognōvī, cognitus, learn,
    (in the perf.) know
  sciō, scīre, scīvī, scītus, know

c. Verbs of thinking: arbitror, arbitrārī, arbitrātus sum, think, consider exīstimō, exīstimāre, exīstimāvī, exīstimātus, think, believe iūdicō, iūdicāre, iūdicāvi, iūdicātus, judge, decide putō, putāre, putāvī, putātus, reckon, think spērō, spērāre, spērāvi, spērātus, hope

d. Verbs of perceiving:
  audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītus, hear
  sentiō, sentīre, sēnsī, sēnsus, feel, perceive
  videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus, see
  intellegō, intellegere, intellēxī, intellēctus, understand,
    perceive

Learn such of these verbs as are new to you.
§421. IDIOMS
  postrīdiē eius diēī, on the next day
    (lit. on the next day of that day)
  initā aestāte, at the beginning of summer
  memoriā tenēre, to remember (lit. to hold by memory)
  per explōrātōrēs cognōscere, to learn through scouts
Gabīnī
Gabinus
trānsfūgit
go over to the enemy, from transfugio
hospitāliter
in a hospitable manner
auctōritātem
title, ownership, from auctoritas
papāverum
poppy, from papaver
dēcussit
shake, from decutio
  1. 11

    What did he order his brothers to do?

  2. 12

    What did he say to the people of Gabii?

  3. 13

    Why did the people of Gabii believe him?

  4. 14

    What did he do among the people of Gabii?

  5. 15

    With what purpose did he send a slave to his father?

  6. 16

    What was written in the letter?

  7. 17

    How did the father answer?

  8. 18

    What did the slave report to Sextus?

  9. 19

    What is a baculum? a papāver? a certāmen?

Librī Sibyllīnī: indirect statement

Later than the report

Deinde anus, tribus aliīs combūstīs, prōmīsit sē reliquōs eōdem pretiō illī trāditūram esse.

Then the old woman, three more being burnt, promised that she would hand over the rest to him for the same price.

Prōmīsit introduces an indirect statement. Its future infinitive trāditūram esse places the transfer after the promise and combines the future participle with esse.

In rēgī sē māgnō pretiō eōs venditūram esse, venditūram esse likewise places the sale after dīxit.

  1. 20

    There once came to Tarquinius a foreign old woman, who carried nine books.

  2. 21

    She said oracles were written in them; that she would sell them to the king for a great price.

  3. 22

    But when he refused to buy the books for so much, she threw three of the nine into the flames.

  4. 23

    These being burnt, she said she would give the six for the same price; but Tarquinius answered that it was absurd for the books to be valued at so much.

  5. 24

    Then the old woman, three more being burnt, promised that she would hand over the rest to him for the same price.

  6. 25

    Then at last the king, wondering at such persistence, bought the books: for he hoped they would be of great use to him.

  7. 26

    The money being paid, the old woman, having said that she was the Sibyl, went away.

  8. 27

    The Sibylline books were kept for four hundred years on the Capitol, until the citadel was burnt and they perished.

  9. 28

    Nor were they useless, for if ever the state was brought into danger, the Pontifex Maximus sought an oracle from the books; the will of the gods being learned, the matter turned out well and happily.

  10. 29

    With what purpose did the old woman come to Tarquinius?

anus
ring, circle
peregrīna
foreign, strange, from peregrinus
pertināciam
determination, from pertinacia
Sibyllam
prophetess, sibyl, from Sibylla
Sibyllīnī
of or connected with a, from Sibyllinus
inūtilēs
useless, unprofitable, from inutilis
voluntāte
will, desire, from voluntas
fēlīciter
roar, from felicito
  1. 30

    What did she say about the books?

  2. 31

    Why did the king not want to buy them?

  3. 32

    What did the old woman then do?

  4. 33

    Why did the king at last buy three?

  5. 34

    For what price?

  6. 35

    How did these books afterwards perish?

  7. 36

    How were they useful?

  8. 37

    What is an ōrāculum? a pretium? the Capitōlium?

Rēgēs expulsī: review

A passive form without a subject

Lūditur in castrīs means "there is play in the camp."

The -tur ending marks third-person singular passive. No person or thing is the subject of lūditur.

The same ending with a subject

Cingitur intereā Rōmānīs Ardea sīgnīs means "meanwhile Ardea is ringed with Roman standards."

Ardea is the personal subject of cingitur. Lūditur uses the same -tur ending without a personal subject.

An intransitive verb can appear in the third-person singular passive without a personal subject.

  1. 38

    Meanwhile Ardea is ringed with Roman standards,

  2. 39

    and suffers the long delays of a siege.

  3. 40

    While there is leisure, and the enemy fear to join battle,

  4. 41

    there is play in the camp: the soldier takes his ease.

  5. 42

    Young Tarquinius entertains his comrades with feasts and wine

  6. 43

    unmixed.

  7. 44

    Perhaps as they dine they talk about their wives.

  8. 45

    Each praises his own: the contest grows with their zeal,

  9. 46

    and tongue and heart seethe with much wine.

  10. 47

    He rises to whom Collatia had given a famous name:

Ardea
heron
ōtia
leisure
Collātia
joining of battle
  1. 48

    'No need of words, trust the facts,' he says,

  2. 49

    'the night is left: let us take horse and make for the City!'

  3. 50

    The words please: the horses are bridled.

  4. 51

    When they had reached Rome, first they go to the palace: they find the king's wife keeping late hours and dining.

  5. 52

    Then they go to the house of Collatinus: his wife Lucretia, whom all the Roman matrons admired, was giving out tasks to the slave-women and herself spinning the wool: for she was weaving a cloak for her master.

  6. 53

    While she draws the threads, she was speaking of the men fighting for their country.

  7. 54

    'Only let them come back! But that rash man

  8. 55

    is mine, and rushes anywhere with drawn sword.

  9. 56

    My mind fails and I die, as often as the image of him fighting

  10. 57

    comes over me, and an icy chill holds my breast.'

rēgiam
palace, court, from regia
Collātīnī
joining of battle
lacernam
open mantle, from lacerna
texēbat
weave, from texo
fīla
thread, string, from filum
pūgnantibus
battle, fight, from pugnantia
temerārius
casual, rash
quālibet
where you will, anywhere
subit
go, from subeo
gelidum
ice cold, icy, from gelidus
frīgus
cold
  1. 58

    She ends in tears, and lets fall the stretched threads,

  2. 59

    and laid her face in her lap.

  3. 60

    'Put away your fear, I am here!' says her husband: she revived,

  4. 61

    and hung, a sweet burden, from her husband's neck.

  5. 62

    Then indeed they return to the camp.

  6. 63

    But a few days later Sextus Tarquinius, having slipped secretly out of the camp by night, came to Lucretia at Rome and confessed his love to her.

  7. 64

    In the morning Collatinus, summoned by his wife, returned to the city with his friend Brutus accompanying him: to him Lucretia, having confessed the whole matter, said that she ought not to live any longer.

  8. 65

    This said, she drove into her breast the knife she had hidden under her dress, and, collapsing onto the wound, fell dying.

  9. 66

    Her body being carried into the forum, Brutus before the assembled people denounces the crime of the royal house: that Sextus Tarquinius had come to Rome by night and confessed his love to Lucretia: that she, the whole matter being declared to her husband, had taken her own life.

  10. 67

    Then the whole people, who had long resented the arrogance of Tarquinius, cried with one voice that the Tarquins must be driven from the throne, that the rule of kings must no longer be endured.

Dēsinit
stop, abandon, from desino
intentaque
eager, closely attentive, from intentus
revīxit
live again, from revivesco
Collātīnus
of
cōnfessa
one who admits, from confessum
abditum
hidden, secret, from abditus
moribunda
dying, from moribundus
incūsat
accuse, blame, from incuso
cōnfessum
one who admits, from confessi
  1. 68

    Then Brutus, returning to the army, stood forth as the liberator of the city; the expelled kings fled to the Etruscans.

  2. 69

    At Rome two consuls were created, L. Junius Brutus and L. Tarquinius Collatinus.

  3. 70

    What was happening around Ardea?

  4. 71

    What did young Tarquinius do there?

  5. 72

    Why did the Roman matrons admire Lucretia?

  6. 73

    In the midst of the contests what did Collatinus say?

  7. 74

    What were the king's wife and Lucretia doing at night?

  8. 75

    Why did Sextus return to Rome?

  9. 76

    What did Lucretia do the next day?

  10. 77

    What did Brutus say before the assembled people?

  11. 78

    What did the people cry?

  12. 79

    What happened at Rome?

līberātor
liberator, deliverer
exstitit
step out, come forth, from exsisto
creātī
sprung from, begotten by, from creatus

Lars Porsenna: indirect command

Ut marks the requested action

Hīs verbīs eum ōrābant ut, Rōmā oppūgnātā, simul rēgnum sibi reciperet simul poenās dē Rōmānīs sūmeret.

They begged him "to recover the kingdom for them and to take vengeance on the Romans." English uses infinitives for the requested actions.

Latin places ut before reciperet and sūmeret. Both verbs are subjunctive.

Persuāsērunt ut armīs sūmptīs sibi succurreret follows the same rule after persuading.

Nē marks a negative command

Porsenna igitur mīlitibus imperāvit nē cēssārent means "Porsenna ordered his soldiers not to delay."

The command is imperāvit. The negative action begins with nē, and cēssārent is subjunctive.

After asking, persuading, or ordering, Latin uses ut or nē with a subjunctive to state the requested action.

  1. 80

    The Tarquins, driven from Rome, fled as exiles to Clusium, to Lars Porsenna, king of the Etruscans, and said, 'Porsenna, attack Rome and recover the kingdom for us; for we ourselves are sprung from Etruscans.

  2. 81

    Take vengeance on the Romans!

  3. 82

    For they have driven out their kings: unless you take vengeance on the Romans, perhaps all peoples will drive out their kings!' With these words they begged him, Rome being attacked, both to recover the kingdom for them and to take vengeance on the Romans.

  4. 83

    At last they persuaded him to take up arms and come to their aid.

  5. 84

    So Porsenna ordered his soldiers not to delay but to take up arms and attack Rome; soon he marched on Rome with a great army.

  6. 85

    The senate was terrified, so strong was Clusium then and so great the name of Porsenna.

  7. 86

    Nor did the senate fear the enemy only but its own citizens too: for it believed that the terrified Roman people would receive the Tarquins as kings, and perhaps accept peace along with slavery.

  8. 87

    The enemy approaching, everyone moves into the city, and they prepare to defend the city itself with the army.

  9. 88

    One part seemed safe by its walls, the other by the river Tiber.

  10. 89

    The Sublician bridge offered the enemy a single way.

D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (1911), Lesson LXIV, §§361-367

§361. The perfect and the pluperfect subjunctive active are inflected as follows:

   CONJ. I       CONJ. II      CONJ. III                 CONJ. IV
   PERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE ACTIVE
   SINGULAR
1. amā´verim     monu´erim     rē´xerim     cē´perim     audī´verim
2. amā´veris     monu´eris     rē´xeris     cē´peris     audī´veris
3. amā´verit     monu´erit     rē´xerit     cē´perit     audī´verit

   PLURAL
1. amāve´rimus   monue´rimus   rēxe´rimus   cēpe´rimus   audīve´rimus
2. amāve´ritis   monue´ritis   rēxe´ritis   cēpe´ritis   audīve´ritis
3. amā´verint    monu´erint    rē´xerint    cē´perint    audī´verint

   PLUPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE ACTIVE
   SINGULAR
1. amāvis´sem    monuis´sem    rēxis´sem    cēpis´sem    audīvis´sem
2. amāvis´sēs    monuis´sēs    rēxis´sēs    cēpis´sēs    audīvis´sēs
3. amāvis´set    monuis´set    rēxis´set    cēpis´set    audīvis´set

   PLURAL
1. amāvissē´mus  monuissē´mus  rēxissē´mus  cēpissē´mus  audīvissē´mus
2. amāvissē´tis  monuissē´tis  rēxissē´tis  cēpissē´tis  audīvissē´tis
3. amāvis´sent   monuis´sent   rēxis´sent   cēpis´sent   audīvis´sent

a. Observe that these two tenses, like the corresponding ones in the indicative, are formed from the perfect stem.

b. Observe that the perfect subjunctive active is like the future perfect indicative active, excepting that the first person singular ends in -m and not in -ō.

c. Observe that the pluperfect subjunctive active may be formed by adding -issem, -issēs, etc. to the perfect stem.

d. In a similar way inflect the perfect and pluperfect subjunctive active of cūrō, iubeō, sūmō, iaciō, mūniō.
§362. The passive of the perfect subjunctive is formed by combining the perfect passive participle with sim, the present subjunctive of sum.

   CONJ. I       CONJ. II      CONJ. III                 CONJ. IV
   PERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE
   SINGULAR
1. amā´tus sim   mo´nitus sim  rēc´tus sim  cap´tus sim  audī´tus sim
2. amā´tus sīs   mo´nitus sīs  rēc´tus sīs  cap´tus sīs  audī´tus sīs
3. amā´tus sit   mo´nitus sit  rēc´tus sit  cap´tus sit  audī´tus sit

   PLURAL
1. amā´tī sīmus  mo´nitī s.    rēc´tī s.    cap´tī s.    audī´tī s.
2. amā´tī sītis  mo´nitī s.    rēc´tī s.    cap´tī s.    audī´tī s.
3. amā´tī sint   mo´nitī sint  rēc´tī sint  cap´tī sint  audī´tī sint
§363. The passive of the pluperfect subjunctive is formed by combining the perfect passive participle with essem, the imperfect subjunctive of sum.

   CONJ. I        CONJ. II        CONJ. III                 CONJ. IV
   PLUPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE
   SINGULAR
1. amātus essem   monitus essem   rēctus essem   captus e.  audītus e.
2. amātus essēs   monitus essēs   rēctus essēs   captus e.  audītus e.
3. amātus esset   monitus esset   rēctus esset   captus e.  audītus e.

   PLURAL
1. amātī essēmus  monitī essēmus  rēctī essēmus  captī e.   audītī e.
2. amātī essētis  monitī essētis  rēctī essētis  captī e.   audītī e.
3. amātī essent   monitī essent   rēctī essent   captī e.   audītī e.

a. In a similar way inflect the perfect and pluperfect subjunctive passive of cūrō, iubeō, sūmō, iaciō, mūniō.
§364. The perfect and pluperfect subjunctive of the irregular verb sum are inflected as follows:

PERFECT               PLUPERFECT
fu´erim  fue´rimus    fuis´sem  fuissē´mus
fu´eris  fue´ritis    fuis´sēs  fuissē´tis
fu´erit  fu´erint     fuis´set  fuis´sent
§365. A substantive clause is a clause used like a noun, as,

That the men are afraid is clear enough (clause as subject) He ordered them to call on him (clause as object)

We have already had many instances of infinitive clauses used in this way (cf. §213), and have noted the similarity between Latin and English usage in this respect. But the Latin often uses the subjunctive in substantive clauses, and this marks an important difference between the two languages.
§366. RULE. Substantive Clauses of Purpose. A substantive clause of purpose with the subjunctive is used as the object of verbs of commanding, urging, asking, persuading, or advising, where in English we should usually have the infinitive.

EXAMPLES

1. The general ordered the soldiers to run
     Imperātor mīlitibus imperāvit ut currerent
2. He urged them to resist bravely
     Hortātus est ut fortiter resisterent
3. He asked them to give the children food
     Petīvit ut līberīs cibum darent
4. He will persuade us not to set out
     Nōbīs persuādēbit nē proficīscāmur
5. He advises us to remain at home
     Monet ut domī maneāmus

a. The object clauses following these verbs all express the purpose or will of the principal subject that something be done or not done. (Cf. §348.)
§367. The following verbs are used with object clauses of purpose. Learn the list and the principal parts of the new ones.

hortor, urge
imperō, order (with the dative of the person ordered and a
  subjunctive clause of the thing ordered done)
moneō, advise
petō, quaerō, rogō, ask, seek
persuādeō, persuade (with the same construction as imperō)
postulō, demand, require
suādeō, advise (cf. persuādeō)

N.B. Remember that iubeō, order, takes the infinitive as in English. (Cf. §213.1.) Compare the sentences

Iubeō eum venīre, I order him to come
Imperō eī ut veniat, I give orders to him that he is to come

We ordinarily translate both of these sentences like the first, but the difference in meaning between iubeō and imperō in the Latin requires the infinitive in the one case and the subjunctive in the other.
Clūsium
sluice
perfūgērunt
flee, desert, from perfugio
reciperet
restore, restore to health, from recipero
dēmigrant
emigrate, from demigro
  1. 90

    Where did the Tarquins flee?

  2. 91

    What did they say about their family?

  3. 92

    What did they declare about the other peoples?

  4. 93

    What did they beg of Porsenna?

  5. 94

    Of what did they persuade him?

  6. 95

    What did Porsenna order his soldiers?

  7. 96

    What did the senate fear?

  8. 97

    What did it believe about the people?

  9. 98

    How was Rome safe?

  10. 99

    Which way was hardly safe?

Horātius: indirect command

Ut states the requested action

Ōrāvit ut sēcum manērent et pontem dēfenderent means "he begged them to stay with him and defend the bridge."

English uses the infinitives "to stay" and "defend." Latin uses ut with the imperfect subjunctives manērent and dēfenderent.

The past ōrāvit requires secondary sequence, so both requested actions take the imperfect subjunctive.

Persuasion and orders use the same pattern

Sociīs duōbus imperāvit ut in tūtum sē reciperent means "he ordered his two companions to withdraw to safety."

Imperāvit is past, so ut introduces the imperfect subjunctive reciperent.

Persuāsit ut sibi succurrerent uses the same construction for "he persuaded them to come to his aid."

After asking, persuading, or ordering, Latin uses ut with a subjunctive to state the requested action.

  1. 100

    The enemy took the Janiculum by a sudden attack: the Romans, their ranks abandoned, were fleeing into the city.

  2. 101

    Horatius Cocles, who happened to be posted on guard at the bridge, caught sight of the enemy holding the Janiculum and his own men fleeing.

  3. 102

    As they fled past him he begged them to stay with him and defend the bridge; they in their panic said they would not do it; then he entreated them to cut down the bridge with iron and fire: he himself would withstand the enemy's attack.

  4. 103

    Then alone he goes to the head of the bridge, and with his arms ready for the fight he stunned the Etruscans by the very marvel of his daring.

  5. 104

    Two men, however, Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius, he persuaded to come to his aid.

  6. 105

    With these companions he sustains the unequal fight, while the citizens cut down the end of the bridge.

  7. 106

    But only a small part of the bridge being left, he ordered his two companions to withdraw to safety.

  8. 107

    Alone he himself now challenges the enemy one by one, now all together, to fight.

  9. 108

    These, hesitating at first, urge one another to make an attack on the single enemy.

  10. 109

    Shame at last stirred them, and raising a shout they hurl their weapons at Horatius from every side.

repentīnō
sudden, hasty, from repentinus
pavidī
fearful, terrified, from pavidus
precātus
prayer
vādit
go, advance, from vado
mīrāculō
marvelously ugly woman, from miraculum
Spuriō
bastard, son of an unknown, from spurium
  1. 110

    All these stuck in his shield, but he, unmoved, held the now almost broken bridge with a firm stride.

  2. 111

    Finally they were trying to thrust him into the river by their charge, when at once the crash of the broken bridge and at once the shout raised by the Romans checked the charge.

  3. 112

    Then at last Cocles prayed to the Tiber to receive him, armed, in its kindly stream.

  4. 113

    So he leaped armed into the Tiber, and though many weapons fell on him swam across unharmed to his own men.

  5. 114

    Where was Horatius posted?

  6. 115

    What did he catch sight of?

  7. 116

    What did he beg of those fleeing?

  8. 117

    What did they answer?

  9. 118

    How did he stun the Etruscans?

  10. 119

    Of what did he persuade his two companions?

obstinātus
firm, resolved
dētrūdere
push, from detrudo
propitiō
favorably inclined, well-disposed, from propitius
superincidentibus
overcome, conquer, from superincido
  1. 120

    What were these three doing while the citizens broke the bridge?

  2. 121

    The bridge almost broken, what did he order his companions?

  3. 122

    What were the enemy trying to do?

  4. 123

    How did Horatius save himself from danger?

The particulars

The course
Paine and Mainwaring, Prīmus Annus (Oxford, 1912) and Secundus Annus (1917); Appleton and Jones, Puer Rōmānus (1913); D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (Boston, 1911); Ritchie, Fabulae Faciles (1903). Public domain. The teaching pages, the glosses and the narration are ours.
Reading aloud
Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
The app
The course on your phone, with the drills, your place kept and the audio offline.
The book
The Aeneid, the work this course leads to, free to read here.
Data
JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents
Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.