Notes and Translations from Session 2
I have swapped around things a little between what we studied in Session 2 and session 3, because both the families in Rome and in Pompey, seem to have been giving a dinner party on the same night!
First we are introduced to a friend of the Pompeian family, Metellus
Cambridge Course Section 2 The pictures are there in the book or online –
- Caecilius est in atrio Caecilius is in the atrium
- amicus Caecilium Salutat The friend greets Caecilius
- Metella est in atrio Matella is in the atrium
- amicus Metellam salutat The friend greets Metella
- Quintus est in atrio Quintus is in the atrium
- amicus Quintam Salutat The friend greets quintus
- servus est in atrius The slave is in the atrium
- amicus servum Salutat The friend greets the slave
- canis est in atrio The dog is in the atrium
- amicus canem salutat The friend greets the dog
- coquus est in culina The cook is in the kitchen
- Metella culinam intrat Metella enters the kitchen
- Grumio laborat Grumio is working
- Metella Grumionem spectat Metella sees Grumio
- cibus est paratus Food is prepared
- Metella cibum gustat Metella tastes the food
- Grumio est anxius Grumio is anxious
- Metella Grumio Laudat Metella praises Grumio
- amicus est in horto The friend is in the garden
- Metella amicum vocat Metella calls the friend
As in the previous session, the examples are switching subject and object so that you get used to recognising the different word endings, and can work out in a sentence who is doing what to whom.
Translation text – a friend visits and is entertained to dinner
| amicus Caecilium visitat. amicus est mercator. mercator villam intrat | A friend visits Caecilius. The friend is a merchant. The merchant enters the villa. |
| Clemens est in atrio. Clemens mercatem Salutat. Caecilius est in tablino. | Clemens is in the atrium. Clemens greets the merchant. Caecilius is in the study. |
| Caecilius pecuniam numerat. Caecilius est argentarius. amicus tablinium intrat. | Caecilius is counting money. Caecilius is a banker. The friend enters the study. |
| Caecilius surgit. ‘salve!” Caecilius mercatorem salutat. ‘salve!’ mercator respondit. | Caecilius rises. “Hello” Caecilius greets the merchant. “ Hello” the merchant replies. |
| Caecilius trinclinium intrat. amicus quoque intrat. amicus in lecto recumbit. | Caecilius enters the dining room. his friend also enters. the friend reclines on a couch. |
| argentarius in lecto recumbit. | he banker reclines on a couch. |
| Grumio in culina cantat. Grumio pavonem coquit. coquus est laetus | Grumio sings in the kitchen. Grumio is cooking peacock. The cook is happy. |
| Caecilius coquum audit. Caecilius non est laetus. Caecilius cenam exspectat | Caecilius hears the cook. Caecilius is not happy. Caecilius waits for dinner. |
| amicus cenam exspectat. Caecilius Grunionem vituperat. – | The friend waits for dinner. Caecilius curses the cook. |
| A Successful Dinner? | |
| Grumio trinculinium intrat. Grumio pavonem portat. | Grumio enters the dining room. Grumio carries the peacock. |
| Clemens trinculinium intrat.Clemens vinum portat. Caecilus pavonem gustat. | Clemens enters the dining room. Clemens carries the wine. Caecilius tastes the peacock. |
| pavo est optimus!” Caecilius clamat. mercator quoque pavonem gustat. – | The peacock is excellent” cries Caecilius.The merchant also tastes the peacock. |
| mercato cenam laudit. dominus coquum laudit. Grumio exit. | The merchant praises the dinner. The master praises the cook. Grumio goes out.. |
| ancilla intrat. ancilla suaviter cantat. ancilla dominum delectat. | A slave girl enters. The slave girl sings sweetly. The slave girl pleases the master. |
| ancilla mercatorem delectat. mox dominus dormit. amicus quoque dormit. | The slave girl pleases the merchant. Presently the master sleeps. The friend also sleeps. |
| Grumio in trinculinium intrat et circumspectat. coquus cibum in mensa videt. | Grumio enters the dining room and looks around. The cook sees food on the table. |
| Grumio cibum consumit et vinum bibit! Caecilius Grumionem non videt. | Grumio eats the food and drinks the wine. Caecilius does not see Grumio. |
| coquus in triclinio magnifice cenat. – | The cook dines splendidly in the dining room. |
| coquus ancillam spectat. ancilla Grunionem delectat. Grumio ancillam delectat. | The cook sees the slave girl. The slave girl pleases Grumio. Grumio pleases the slave girl. |
| Grumio est laetissimus | Grumio is most happy. |
Meanwhile in Rome – Watching a Triumph
Marcus and Amelia are being taken to watch Pompey’s Triumph through Rome. Pompey was an extremely successful general, who brought back more treasure and slaves than any other, and who was awarded three triumphs during his career, There is a lot of grammar in this piece, but we are now introducing how verbs change depending on their tense.
Aemilius: Marce et Aemilia, audivistisne de Pompeio? – Aemilius: Marcus and Amelia, have you heard of Pompey?
GRAMMAR ALERT Marce* et Amelia – When addressing someone directly use the vocative as if you are saying “you”. (Marcus is an exception to this rule – see below)
NOUNS In slap-dash English we are usually just content to add extra words, or stick on an “s”, but Latin nouns do what is known as “declining” which means there are different endings for different uses of the word. There are five declensions of nouns, and each group generally declines in the same way. You will notice when you look up a noun in the dictionary, it gives the nominative and the genitive – you then know to which declension the noun belongs to and how it changes in use.
EXAMPLES of first and second declension nouns
1st. Declension usually end in “a” and are feminine unless they are male names, or names of what were seen as male occupations.
| puella ; girl | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative; Subject | Puella | puellae |
| Vocative; direct address | puella | puellae |
| Accusative; object | puellam | puellas |
| Genitive; possessive | puellae | puellarum |
| Dative; to or for | puellae | puellis |
| Ablative; by, with or from | puella | puellis |
2nd. Declension Usually end in “us” or “er”, which are mostly masculine, and “um” which are neuter.
Master boy teacher war
| Nom | domin-us | puer | magister | bell-um |
| Voc | domin-us | puer | magister | bell-um |
| Acc | domin-um | puer-um | magistr-um | bell-um |
| Gen | domin-i | puer-i | magistr-i | bell-i |
| Dat | domin-o | puer-o | magistr-o | bell-o |
| Abl | domin-o | puer-o | magistr-o | bell-o |
| Plural | ||||
| Nom | domin-i | puer-i | magistr-i | bell-a |
| Voc | domin-i | puer-i | magistr-i | bell-a |
| Acc | domin-os | puer-os | magistr-os | bell-a |
| Gen | domin-orum | puer-orum | magistr-orum | bell-orum |
| Dat | domin-is | puer-is | magistr-is | bell-is |
| Abl | domin-is | pueris | magistr-is | bell-is |
* Nouns of the second declension ending in -us are the only ones to have a separate ending for the vocative -direct address, hence “Marce.”
Audivistne Have you heard? Adding “ne” to a verb allows it to ask a question.
VERBS – grammar of verbs is such a vast field I am not going to attempt to tackle it here- all I can do is show the tense and conjugation of verbs that are in the text so that you begin to get the idea of how they change. If you keep the online dictionary open when you are translating, it gives you all the tenses and forms of any word you look up. Very useful!
When you look up a verb in an ordinary dictionary e.g. audire, to hear it appears as audio-ire-ivi- itum, this gives you first person present tense, I hear, infinitive, to hear, perfect tense – (that is an action in the past which is completed) , I heard, and supine. Difficult to describe the supine form, because it is the use of a verb form as a noun. i.e pater orates eos auditum duxit – father took them to hear the orators. More of this later! (My grasp of the supine is a little tenuous – will swot it up)
As with nouns the definition gives you a guide as to how the verb will decline –
to hear audio, audire, audivi, auditum (fourth conjugation)
| Present tense | Perfect tense | Future | |||
| I hear | audio | I heard | audivi | I will hear | audiam |
| You (s) hear | audis | You (s) heard | audivisti | You(s) will hear | audies |
| He, she, it hears | audit | He, she, it heard | audivit | He/she/it will | audiet |
| We hear | audimus | We heard | audivimus | We will hear | audiemus |
| You (pl) hear | auditis | You (pl) heard | audistis | You(pl) will hear | audietis |
| They hear | audiunt | They heard | audiverunt | They will hear | audiunt |
De Pompeio – here “of” means “about”, rather than a possessive so a word for of, plus the ablative form of Pompey is used, not the genitive. Most words like of and in are followed by the ablative, ad by the accusative. When in is used with the accusative it means into.
Marcus: minime vero, quis, pater est Pompeius? Marcus: No indeed father, who is Pompey?
Aemelius; est imperator praeclarus qui Pontum et Bythiniam et Syriam superavit. cras triumphum aget. He is a famous general who overcame Pontus, Bythinia and Syria. Tomorrow he will celebrate a triumph.
The adjective matches the subject, the countries he overcame are the objects. Triumph is object, strictly it reads “he makes or acts a triumph”
Ago, agere, egi, actum to act (has many meanings – and no, it’s not my lousy typing the perfect is egi)
Present tense
| I make | ago |
| You(s) make | agis |
| He/she/it makes | agit |
| We make | agimus |
| You (pl) make | agitis |
| They make | agunt |
Marcus: nosne triumphum videbimus pater? Shall we not see the triumph father
Triumph is the object and adding ne to nos, makes the question. The verb is videre, to see, and videbimus is the future tense.
Video, videre, vidi, visum, see
| Present Tense | Future Tense | ||
| I see | video | I will/shall see | videbo |
| You(s) see | vides | You (s) will/shall see | videbis |
| He/she/it sees | videt | He/she/it will/shall see | videbit |
| We see | videmus | We will/shall see | videbimus |
| You(pl) see | videtis | You (pl) will/shall see | videbitis |
| They see | vident | They will/shall see | videbunt |
Aemilius: “ita vero. cras mane ad Viam Sacrem vos ducam! Yes indeed. Tomorrow morning I will take (lead, conduct) you to the Sacred Way.
The Sacred Way – the main street leading to the Forum is the object, and follows ad so is accusative. Duco, ducere, duxi, ductum to lead, conduct, take. Yes, in the perfect tense c changes to x
| Present Tense | Future Tense | ||
| I lead | duco | I will/shall lead | ducam |
| You(s) lead | ducis | You(s) will/shall lead | duces |
| He/she/it leads | ducit | He/she/it will/shall lead | ducet |
| We lead | ducimus | We will/shall lead | ducemus |
| You(pl) lead | Ducitis | You(pl) will/shall lead | ducetis |
| They lead | ducunt | They will/shall lead | ducent |
Marcus: quid ibi videbimus, quid audiemus?! What shall we see there, what shall we hear?( See future of audire, and videre above.) We will see the citizens on holiday. There will be garlands and flowers. The verb esse, to be is one of the oddest, which doesn’t seem to obey any rules, here are the present and future tenses.
| Present | Future | ||
| I am | sum | I will be | ero |
| You(s) are | es | You(s) will be | eras |
| He/she/it is | est | He/she/it will be | erat |
| We are | sumus | We will be | eramus |
| You(pl) are | estis | You(pl) will be | eratis |
| They are | sunt | They will be | erunt |
Aemilius: cives feriatos videbitis. ubique erunt coronae et flores. We will see the citizens on holiday. There will be garlands and flowers. The verb esse, to be is one of the oddest, which doesn’t seem to obey any rules, here are the present and future tenses.
Primo venient e Campo Martio ad Forum magistratus; deinde spolia et boves alba et captivi. erunt quoque homines qui saltabunt et cantabunt. deinde veniet imporator;
First they will come from the Martial camp to the magistrates forum.; next spoils, and white cattle/oxen, and captives. (These are the subjects though the verb “they will come” has been omitted. As this has already been said in the sentence.) There will also be men who will dance and sing. Next will come the general;
The verb venio, venire,veni,ventum- come
| Present | Future | ||
| I come | venio | I will come | veniam |
| You(s) come | venis | You(s) will come | venies |
| He/she/it comes | venit | He/she/it will come | veniet |
| We come | venimus | We will come | veniemus |
| You(pl) come | venitis | You(pl) will come | venietis |
| They come | veniunt | They will come | venient |
Verbs salto, saltere, saltavi, saltunt dance; canto,cantare, cantavi, cantunt sing
| Present | Future | Present | Future |
| salto | saltabo | canto | cantabo |
| saltas | saltabis | cantas | cantabis |
| saltat | saltabit | cantat | cantabit |
| saltamus | saltabimus | cantamus | cantabimus |
| saltatis | saltabitis | cantatis | cantabitis |
| saltant | saltabunt | cantant | cantabunt |
Getting the hang of this declining lark?
vestem purpureum geret et coronam lauream in capite habebit. He will wear a garment of purple and will have a laurel wreath on his head. Purple garment object – purpura (f) is a first declension noun, genitive, of purple, purpureum It is a noun rather than an adjective because if you had made it in Ancient Rome you would be described as “wearing” or “in” the purple. In fact Roman purple was red, purple dye was not available then.(Vestem is accusative of vestis (f), (a third declension noun, which we haven’t covered yet.)
Verbs gero, gerere, gessi, gestum, wear; habeo, habere, habui, habitum have
| Present | Future | Present | Future |
| gero | geram | habeo | habebo |
| geris | geres | habes | habebis |
| gerit | geret | habet | habebit |
| gerimus | geremus | habemus | habebimus |
| geritis | geretis | habetis | habebitis |
| gerunt | gerent | habent | habebunt |
postremo milites incedent et “Io triumphe !” clamabunt. Lastly soldiers will parade and they will shout “Hurrah for the Triumph” . Milites nom. plural, subject, miles- militis(m) soldier. Triumphus-i(m) second conjugation noun direct speech, see Marcus in Line 1
Verbs incedo, incedere, incedessi, incedessum parade: clamo, clamare, clamavi, clamatum shout, cry out
| Present | Future | Present | Future |
| incedo | incedam | clamo | clamabo |
| incedis | incedes | clamas | clamabis |
| incedit | incedet | clamat | clamabit |
| incedimus | incedemus | clamamus | clamabimus |
| inceditis | incedetis | clamatis | clamabitis |
| incedunt | incident | clamant | clamabunt |
per Viam Sacram imperator in forum intrabit. Through the Sacred Way the general will enter the forum. The road is the object, accusative, and follows per which takes the accusative.
Verb intro, intrare, intravi intratum enter
| Present | Future |
| intro | intrabo |
| intras | intrabis |
| intrat | intrabit |
| intramus | intrabimus |
| intratis | intrabitis |
| intrant | intrabunt |
inde Montem Capitolinum ascedet et in templo Iovis sacerdotes boves albos mactabunt From there he will climb the Capitoline Hill and in the Temple of Jupiter the priests will sacrifice the white oxen. Capitoline Hill accusative, object as are the white cattle.
ascedo, ascedere, ascedevi ascetatum, ascend, climb; macto, mactare, mactavi, mactatum, sacrifice
| Present | Future | Present | Future |
| ascendo | ascendam | macto | mactabo |
| ascendis | ascendes | mactas | mactabis |
| ascendit | ascendet | mactat | mactabit |
| ascendimus | ascendemus | mactamus | mactabimus |
| ascenditis | ascenditis | mactatis | mactabitis |
| ascendunt | ascendent | mactant | mactabunt |
Marcus: optima dicis. triumphus nos maxime delectabit. What you say is great. The triumph will please us greatly. Puzzled by the first sentence, and have just translated as best I can. Triumph is subject of 2nd. sentence
Verb delecto, delectare, delectavi, delictum, delight/please
| Present | Future |
| delecto | delectabo |
| delectas | delectabis |
| delectat | delectabit |
| delectamus | delectabimus |
| delectatis | delectabitis |
| delectant | delectabunt |
I hope these notes have been helpful. You will be seeing already how verbs fall into groups in the way they are declined. Of course, Latin being Latin there are plenty of exceptions to the rules!