Selections from Viri Romae Part 3

7. CONDITION:

#re# male #gesta# (if he fails), XVI, 31; ne, #deserto# agro, non esset (lest, if he neglected his farm, he might not have), XVII, 34.

8. MEANS:

#advectis ballistis# et #catapultis# (by bringing up, etc.) . .

deiciendus hostis fuit, XVII, 23.

9. ATTENDANT CIRc.u.mSTANCE:

#crinibus pa.s.sis#, II, 36; #magna gloria# belli regnavit, IV, 75; scriba c.u.m rege #pari fere ornatu# sedebat, X, 6.

10. The ablative absolute is often best translated by the English perfect active participle with an object: #armatis pastoribus#, I, 25, _having armed_ the shepherds. A combination of an abl. abs. and a finite verb is often best rendered by two verbs in the same mood and tense: #interempto Amulio#, Numitorem in regnum #rest.i.tuit#, I, 37, _he killed_ Amulius _and restored_ Numitor to the throne.

_L._ PARTICIPLES

In Latin the participles, especially the perfect pa.s.sive participle, are used far more frequently than in English, and with a much larger variety of meanings. The use of the participle tends to produce brevity of expression. Thus the Latin participle may be equivalent to

1. A RELATIVE CLAUSE:

#raptae# mulieres, II, 35; Roma.n.u.s . . male #sustinentem# (= qui male sustinebat) arma Curiatium conficit, IV, 29; ab lanio cultro #adrepto# (with a knife _which he caught up_ from a butcher's stall), XII, 24; #volentibus# (= eis qui volebant) consulere se de iure praebuit, XIII, 97.

2. A CAUSAL CLAUSE:

necessitate #compulsus# indicavit, I, 24; nomina mutare non potuit #deterritus# . . Navii auctoritate, VI, 16; Hoc terrore ceteri #adacti# nomina promptius dederunt, XV, 25.

3. A CONCESSIVE CLAUSE:

#victus# (though beaten) crucis supplicium effugit, XVI, 30.

4. Latin often uses a perfect pa.s.sive participle in agreement with a noun, where, judging from English usage, we should expect a noun with a limiting genitive:

ob #virgines# raptas (on account of the _seizure of_ the maidens), II, 14; Anno trecentesimo ab #urbe condita# (from the _founding of_ the city), XII, 1.

5. English is fond of coordinated verbs, that is, verbs in exactly the same mood, tense, and construction, _e.g._ 'They took the a.s.s and saddled him.' Latin, however, objects to such constructions, and prefers to replace the former of the two verbs by some other form of expression, _e.g._ a pa.s.sive or deponent participle. We have to notice here two cla.s.ses of sentences:

(_a_) Such sentences as fulmine #ictum conflagra.s.se#, IV, 74, which = fulmine #ictum esse et conflagra.s.se#, _i.e._ 'he _was struck_ by lightning _and burned_,' etc.

(_b_) such sentences as the following: parvulos alveo #impositos abiecit#, I, 6 = parvulos alveo #imposuit et abiecit#; #elatam# securim in eius caput #deiecit#, VI, 37 = #extulit# securim #et# in eius caput #deiecit#; coniugem e Curia #evocatum# . . regem #salutavit#, VII, 47 = coniugem e Curia #evocavit et# eum regem #salutavit#.

_M._ INDIRECT DISCOURSE

1. INDIRECT DISCOURSE DEFINED.--The terms _Direct Discourse_ and _Indirect Discourse_ denote the two distinct ways in which a writer may quote the statement or represent the thought of another person. If the writer gives the exact words in which the statement was made, or in which the thought was formulated (if put into words at all), he is said to use the _direct_ discourse. If, on the other hand, he gives merely the substance or the gist of his own or another's statements or thoughts, he is said to use the _indirect_ discourse. In Latin, as in English, the indirect discourse is more common than the direct.

2. In pa.s.sing from the direct discourse to the indirect, numerous changes become necessary. These may, however, be readily grouped under two heads: (_a_) those which occur in princ.i.p.al clauses, and (_b_) those which occur in subordinate clauses.

3. CHANGES IN PRINc.i.p.aL CLAUSES.--Princ.i.p.al clauses may be declarative, interrogative, or imperative; that is, they may make a statement, ask a question, or give expression to a command. We thus have to consider three forms of princ.i.p.al clauses: (_a_) Statements, (_b_) Questions, (_c_) Commands.

4. STATEMENTS IN INDIRECT DISCOURSE.

All Statements of the Direct Discourse, on pa.s.sing into the Indirect, fall into the infinitive mood, because they become objects of verbs of saying:

adfirmans #visum# (sc. #esse#) a se Romulum . . eundemque #praecipere#, II, 51 (direct form, #visus est# a me Romulus . .

idemque #praecipit#); proclamabat filiam suam iure #caesam esse#, IV, 43 (direct form, filia mea iure #caesa est#); minatur se vi #abstracturum#, XII, 12 (direct form (ego) vi te #abstraham#).

5. QUESTIONS IN INDIRECT DISCOURSE.

All Questions of the Direct Discourse, on pa.s.sing into the Indirect, fall into the subjunctive mood, because they are in reality dependent on a verb of asking. No example of a question in formal indirect discourse occurs in the selections contained in this book. Indirect questions (cf. p. 3, n. 2), however, fall under this general head as giving some one's thoughts without quoting his exact words.

6. COMMANDS IN INDIRECT DISCOURSE.

All Commands of the Direct Discourse, on pa.s.sing into the Indirect, fall into the subjunctive, because they are in reality dependent on some verb like _imperavit_, to be supplied in thought:

proinde #ne gravaretur# se spectandum praebere, XXI, 289 (direct form, #Noli gravari# te spectandum praebere); satis constat Sullam . . proclama.s.se, #vincerent#, dummodo scirent, XXVII, 12-15 (direct form, #Vincite#, dummodo sciatis).

7. SUBORDINATE CLAUSES IN INDIRECT DISCOURSE.

All Subordinate Clauses of the Indirect Discourse have their verbs in the subjunctive mood:

Tatius . . Tarpeiae optionem muneris dedit, #si . . perduxisset#, II, 19-21 (direct form, do or dabo optionem muneris, #si . .

perduxeris#: see note); Illa petiit quod #gererent#, II, 21 (direct form, Peto quod . . #geritis#).

The grammatical references in the footnotes are to the Latin Grammars in most common use; H = Harkness' Complete Latin Grammar, references to Harkness' Standard Grammar being inclosed in parentheses; M = Lane & Morgan; A = Allen & Greenough; G = Gildersleeve; B = Bennett.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HILLS OF ROME]

The original Latin city comprised only the Palatine and a small portion of the surrounding territory. The Etruscans inhabited the Caelian Hill, and extended toward the Esquiline. The Sabine town occupied the Quirinal, which was originally connected with the Capitoline, on which was the Sabine citadel, by a ridge sloping toward the Forum and the Campus Martius. Ancus Marcius added to the city the Aventine, and built a fortress on the Janiculum. Servius Tullius added the Viminal and Esquiline, and inclosed the seven hills with a line of fortifications, of which one portion is still traceable. The ridge connecting the Capitoline and Quirinal was a barrier which cut the town in two. The only means of communication between the two halves of the city, when its population had reached nearly two million inhabitants, were the narrow strip of land between the Capitoline and the river and a lane ten feet wide crossing the ridge. To relieve the pressure, this ridge was cut away by the Emperor Trajan, in whose Forum on the site of the excavations stands the well-known 'Trajan's Column,' 140 feet high, 'erected to show to posterity how high was the mountain leveled by the Emperor.' The business portion of the modern city occupies the Campus Martius, its main artery, the famous 'Corso,' following the line of the ancient street shown on the plan. See Lanciani, _Ancient Rome_, p. 86.

URBIS ROMAE VIRI INl.u.s.tRES

#I. Romani imperii exordium# [[stripped text]]

Proca, rex Albanorum, Numitorem et Amulium filios habuit. Numitori, qui natu maior erat, regnum reliquit; sed Amulius, pulso fratre, regnavit et, ut eum subole privaret, Rheam Silviam, eius filiam, Vestae sacerdotem fecit, quae tamen Romulum et Remum geminos edidit. Ea re cognita Amulius ipsam in vincula coniecit, parvulos alveo impositos abiecit in Tiberim, qui tunc forte super ripas erat effusus; sed, relabente flumine, eos aqua in sicco reliquit. Vastae tum in iis locis solitudines erant. Lupa, ut fama traditum est, ad vagitum accurrit, infantes lingua lambit, ubera eorum ori matremque se gessit.

c.u.m lupa saepius ad parvulos veluti ad catulos reverteretur, Faustulus, pastor regius, re animadversa eos tulit in casam et Accae Larentiae coniugi dedit educandos. Adulti deinde hi inter pastores primo ludicris certaminibus vires auxere, deinde venando saltus peragrare et latrones a rapina pecorum arcere coeperunt. Quare c.u.m iis insidiati essent latrones, Remus captus est, Romulus vi se defendit. Tum Faustulus, necessitate compulsus, indicavit Romulo quis esset eorum avus, quae mater. Romulus statim armatis pastoribus Albam properavit.

Interea Remum latrones ad Amulium regem perduxerunt, eum accusantes, quasi Numitoris agros infestare solitus esset; itaque Remus a rege Numitori ad supplicium traditus est; at c.u.m Numitor, adulescentis vultum considerans, aetatem minimeque servilem indolem compararet, haud procul erat quin nepotem agnosceret. Nam Remus oris lineamentis erat matri simillimus aetasque expositionis temporibus congruebat. Ea res dum Numitoris animum anxium tenet, repente Romulus supervenit, fratrem liberat, interempto Amulio avum Numitorem in regnum rest.i.tuit.