LATIN TRANSLATION AT SIGHT

BY THE

REV. EDMUND LUCE

WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE

BY THE

REV. THE HON. E. LYTTELTON, M.A.

HEADMASTER OF ETON

ETON COLLEGE

SPOTTISWOODE & CO., LIMITED

1908

All rights reserved

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Whatever controversies may be astir as to the precise objects of a classical training, it will hardly be disputed that if that teaching has been successful the pupils will sooner or later be able to make out an ordinary passage of ‘unseen’ Latin or Greek. It is a test to which the purely linguistic teacher must obviously defer: while the master, who aims at imparting knowledge of the subject-matter must acknowledge, if his boys flounder helplessly in unprepared extracts, that they could have learnt about ancient life better through translations.

In, addition to the value of unseen translation, as a test of teaching it constitutes an admirable thinking exercise. But so numerous are the various books of extracts already published that I should have seen nothing to be gained from the appearance of a new one like the present volume were it not, as far as I know, different in two important respects from others. It contains six Demonstrations of how sentences are to be attacked: and further, the passages are chosen so that if a boy works through the book he can hardly fail to gain some outline knowledge of Roman Republican history.

As to the Demonstrations, their value will be evident if it is realised that failure in this sort of translation means failure to analyse: to split up, separate, distinguish the component parts of an apparently jumbled but really ordered sentence. A beginner must learn to trust the solvent with which we supply him; and the way to induce him to trust it is to show it to him at work. That is what a Demonstration will do if only the learner will give it a fair chance.

In regard to the historical teaching contained in the extracts, there can be little doubt that the present tendency of classical teaching is towards emphasising the subject-matter as well as the language. It is felt that as training in political principles the reading of Greek and Roman authors offers unique advantages, such as many English boys can appreciate, who are deaf to the literary appeal. The choice therefore of historical extracts in chronological order is an attempt to recognise both the two great aims of classical teaching at once. At any rate there is no reason to suppose that the linguistic exercise is in any way impaired by being combined with a little history.

I should like to direct attention also to the notes given on the extracts, and the purpose they are meant to serve. If no notes had been given some of the passages which are important or interesting historically would have been found too difficult for the boys for whom they are intended. Moreover, most of the notes concern the historical aspect of the extract to which they belong, and are part of the scheme by which the subject-matter of the passage is emphasised. Although the passages themselves are not strictly graduated, the help given in translation becomes less and less as the boy goes through the book; and it is obvious that those extracts which illustrate the later periods of Roman History will be found more difficult than the legends and stories which belong to an earlier age. In cases where no help at all is desired, the Miscellaneous Passages (which are without notes) may be used.

E. LYTTELTON.

Eton: April 1908.

EDITOR’S PREFACE

The aim of the present book is to help boys to translate at sight. Of the many books of unseen translation in general use few exhibit continuity of plan as regards the subject-matter, or give any help beyond a short heading. The average boy, unequal to the task before him, is forced to draw largely upon his own invention, and the master, in correcting written unseens, has seldom leisure to do more than mark mistakes—a method of correction almost useless to the boy, unless accompanied by full and careful explanation when the written work is given back.

Now that less time is available for Latin and Greek, new methods of teaching them must be adopted if they are to hold their own in our public schools. When Lord Dufferin could say, ‘I am quite determined, so far as care and forethought can prevent it, that the ten best years of my boy’s life shall not be spent (as mine were) in nominally learning two dead languages without being able to translate an ordinary paragraph from either without the aid of a dictionary;’ and Dr. Reid could write, ‘It is not too much to say that a large number of boys pass through our schools without ever dreaming that an ancient writer could pen three consecutive sentences with a connected meaning: chaos is felt to be natural to ancient literature: no search is made for sense, and the Latin or Greek book is looked upon as a more or less fortuitous concourse of words;’ when Dr. Rouse can assert, ‘The public schoolboy at nineteen is unable to read a simple Latin or Greek book with ease, or to express a simple series of thoughts without atrocious blunders: he has learnt from his classics neither accuracy nor love of beauty and truth’—it is obvious that, for the average boy, the system of perfunctorily prepared set-books and dashed-off unseens is a failure. The experience of every teacher who is also an examiner, and who has had to deal with public schoolboys, will confirm this; but during twenty-five years’ teaching and examining of boys in almost every stage, I have found that translation at sight, taught upon the plan of this book, not only produces a good result, but teaches a boy how to grapple with the bare text of a Latin author better than the habitual practice of translating at sight without any help at all. If the average boy is to be taught how to translate, his interest must be awakened and sustained, and the standard of routine work made as high as possible. The clever boys are, as a rule, well provided for; but, even for them, the methods of this book have been found to be the shortest road to accuracy and style in translation. Moreover by this means they have gained a firsthand acquaintance with Latin literature and the sources of Roman history.

It is impossible here to enter into ‘the question of the close and striking correspondence between the history, the literature, and the language of Rome. It was not until the history of Rome threw its mantle over her poetry that the dignity of the poet was recognised and acknowledged. . . . In the same way the life of the Roman people is closely bound up with the prose records, and the phenomena of the Roman Empire lend a human interest to all representative Roman writers.’1 Considerations of this kind form a sufficient justification of the method here adopted of employing the historical records of Rome as a basis of teaching.

In this book the Introduction (pp. 1-14) is written to teach a boy how to arrive at the meanings of words (Helps to Vocabulary, pp. 1-5); how to find out the thought of a sentence through analysis and a knowledge of the order of words in Latin (Helps to-Translation, pp. 5-12); how to reproduce in good English the exact meaning and characteristics of his author (Helps to Style, pp. 13-14).

In the Demonstrations (pp. 15-58) the boy is taught to notice all allusions that give him a clue to the sense of the passage, to grapple with the difficulties of construction, to break up sentences, and to distinguish between the principal and the subordinate thoughts both in prose and verse.

The Passages have been carefully selected, and contain accounts of nearly all the important events and illustrious men of the period of history to which they belong. They are chronologically arranged and divided into six periods, covering Roman history from B.C. 753 to B.C. 44, leaving the Augustan and subsequent period to be dealt with in a second volume. The translation help given in the notes is carefully graduated. The notes to Parts I., II., III. (marked D, pp. 60-107) are thus intended to help younger boys to deal with passages which would in some cases be too difficult for them; less help in translation is given in Parts IV. and V. (marked C, pp. 108-159); while the notes to Part VI. (marked B, pp. 160-236) are mainly concerned with historical explanation, illustration, or allusion.

The Miscellaneous Passages (pp. 238-271), chosen for me by my brother-in-law, Mr. A. M. Goodhart (Assistant Master at Eton College), are added to provide occasional passages in which no help is given. It is hoped that these, which deal with subjects of general interest, and include a somewhat wide range of authors, may give variety to the book, and supply more verse passages than the historical character of the rest would admit. For the sake of variety, or to economise time, some of the passages may be translated viva voce at the discretion of the master.

The Appendices (pp. 274-363) may be referred to when a boy finds himself in doubt about the value of a Conjunction (I.), the force of a Prefix (II.), the meaning of a Suffix (III.), the Life and Times of his Author (VI.), or the historical significance of a date (VII.). In Appendix V. a Demonstration is given to show how a boy, after sufficient practice in translation by the help of analysis, may to some extent learn to think in Latin, and so to follow the Latin order in arriving at the thought.

The important question of what maps should accompany the book will be best solved by providing each boy with a copy of Murray’s Small Classical Atlas, edited by G. B. Grundy, which will be found to be admirably adapted to the purpose. By the kindness of Mr. John Murray, two plans (Dyrrachium and Pharsalus), not at present included in the Atlas, have been specially drawn to illustrate passages on pp. 216 and 218, and are placed opposite the text.

As far as possible I have acknowledged my indebtedness to the Editors whose editions of the classics have been consulted. For the historical explanations I am under special obligation to the histories of Ihne and Mommsen, to the ‘Life of Cicero’ by the Master of Balliol, and to the ‘Life of Caesar’ by Mr. Warde Fowler. I have also to thank Messrs. Macmillan for allowing me to quote from Dr. Potts’ ‘Aids to Latin Prose,’ and from Professor Postgate’s Sermo Latinus. For the prose passages the best texts have been consulted, while for Livy, Weissenborn’s text edited by Müller (1906) has been followed throughout. As regards the verse passages, the text adopted is, wherever possible, that of Professor Postgate’s recension of the Corpus Poetarum Latinorum. For the Short Lives I have found useful ‘The Student’s Companion to Latin Authors’ (Middleton and Mills), but I owe much more to the works of Teuffel, Cruttwell, Sellar, Tyrrell, and Mackail.

The Head Master of Eton, besides expressing his approval of the book, has kindly offered to write an Introductory Note. He has also given me an exceptional opportunity of testing more than half the historical passages by allowing them to be used in proof, until the book was ready, for the weekly unseen translation in the three blocks of fifth form, represented by the letters, B, C, D. The criticisms and suggestions made by Classical Masters at Eton, who have used the passages week by week, have been very valuable, and, in particular, my thanks are due to Mr. Impey, Mr. Tatham, Mr. Macnaghten, Mr. Wells, and Mr. Ramsay. My thanks are also due to the Lower Master, Mr. F. H. Rawlins, for kindly reading the MS. of the Introduction, Demonstrations, and Appendices I.-IV., and for giving me the benefit of his wide experience.

To my brother-in-law, Mr. A. M. Goodhart, I owe it that I undertook to write the book; without his advice it would never have seen the light, and he has given me most valuable help and encouragement at every stage.

As regards the choice of type and style of printing, I owe a special debt of thanks to Mr. W. Hacklett (manager of Messrs. Spottiswoode’s Eton branch), whose unceasing care and attention has been invaluable in seeing the book through the press. I must also acknowledge the patience and skill of Messrs. Spottiswoode’s London staff in carrying out the many alterations which I have found to be inseparable from the task of bringing each passage and its notes into the compass of a single page.

In conclusion I should like to say that it has been my aim throughout to adhere to what is best in Roman literature, and to omit passages the choice of which can only be justified by regarding their literary form apart from their moral value. Latin literature contains so much that is at once excellent in style and noble in thought that it seems a grave mistake to exalt the one at the expense of the other.

Maxima debetur puero reverentia.

EDMUND LUCE.

Windsor: April 1908.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introductory Note v

Editor’s Preface vii

List of Passages for Translation xv

Index of Authors xxiii

INTRODUCTION. HOW TO TRANSLATE AT SIGHT 1-14

I. Helps to Vocabulary 1-5

II. Helps to Translation 5-12

III. Helps to Style 13-14

DEMONSTRATIONS IN UNSEEN TRANSLATION 15-58

PASSAGES FOR TRANSLATION AT SIGHT 59-236

(1) Illustrating Roman History.—

Part I.—Regal Period, B.C. 753-509 60-66

Part II.—Early Republic, B.C. 509-366 67-88

Part III.—The Conquest of Italy, B.C. 366-266 89-107

Part IV.—Contest with Carthage, B.C. 264-202 108-146

Part V.—Formation of Empire beyond Italy, in Europe and Africa, B.C. 200-133 147-159

Part VI.—Period of Civil Strife in Italy, and Foreign Wars, ending in Revolution, B.C. 133-44 160-236

(2) Miscellaneous Passages 237-271

APPENDICES:—

I. List of Important Conjunctions 274-276

II. List of Important Prefixes 277-281

III. List of Important Suffixes 282-286

IV. Groups of Cognate Words 287-288

V. How to Think in Latin 289-292

VI. Short Lives of Roman Authors 293-345

VII. Chronological Outlines of Roman History and Literature 347-363

INDEX 365-368

PLAN OF DYRRACHIUM opposite page 216

PLAN OF PHARSALUS opposite page 218

LIST OF PASSAGES FOR TRANSLATION.

DEMONSTRATIONS.

PAGE

16 Fierce encounter with the Germans Caesar, B. G. i. 52

24 The Music of Arion Ovid, Fasti ii. 83

32 A rash promise rashly believed Livy xxv. 19

40 Rashness justly punished Livy xxv. 19

48 The Happy Life Vergil, Georg. ii. 490

54 The Tomb of Archimedes Cicero, Tusc. v. 23. 64

Part I.—The Regal Period, 753-509 B.C.

60 The Vision of Anchises Vergil, Aen. vi. 777

61 A. The Passing of Romulus Livy i. 16

B. The Mystery explained Ovid, Fasti ii. 379

62 A. The Gate of Janus Livy i. 19

B. „„ Vergil, Aen. vii. 607

63 The Sibylline Books A. Gellius i. 19

64 A. Sextus Tarquinius at Gabii Livy i. 54

B. The Fall of Gabii Ovid, Fasti ii. 543

65 The Position of Rome Cicero, de Rep. ii. 3

66 The Praise of Italy Vergil, Georg. ii. 136

Part II.—The Early Republic, 509-366 B.C.

67 A. Horatius Vergil, Aen. viii. 646

B. „ Livy ii. 10

68 Horatius Livy ii. 10

69 A. Mucius Scaevola Livy ii. 12

B. „„ Martial, i. 21

70 Battle of Lake Regillus Livy ii. 20

71 Tribunes of the People Livy ii. 32

72 Coriolanus Livy ii. 40

73 Destruction of the Fabii Ovid, Fasti ii. 175

74 A. Cincinnatus Florus i. 11. 12

B. ‘In the brave days of old’ Ovid, Fasti iii. 729

75 The Decemvirate. XII. Tables Livy iii. 32, 34

76 Verginia’s Death not in vain Livy iii. 49

77 Cossus wins the Spolia Opima Livy iv. 19

78 First Pay given to Citizen Soldiers Livy iv. 59

79 A. Lament over Veii Propertius v. 10. 27

B. The Rise of the Alban Lake Cicero, de Div. i. 44. 100

80 The Conquest of Veii Livy v. 21

81 The Battle of the Allia Livy v. 38

82 A. The Battle of the Allia Livy v. 38

B. July 18th, a Dies Nefastus Lucan, Phars. vii. 407

83 Roman Dignity and Courage Livy v. 41

84 A. Manlius Capitolinus and the Sacred Geese Verg. Aen. viii. 652

B. The Fate of Manlius Val. Max. vi. de Sev.

85 Camillus, Parens Patriae Livy v. 49

86 A. Migration to Veii abandoned Livy v. 55

B. Juno forbids Rebuilding of Troy Horace, Od. iii. 3. 57

87 First Plebeian Consul Livy vi. 35

88 Origin of the Floralia Ovid, Fasti v. 237

Part III.—The Conquest of Italy, 366-266 B.C.

89 Manlius and his son Torquatus Cicero, de Off. iii. 112

90 An Important Epoch Livy vii. 29

91 Battle of Mt. Gaurus. M. Valerius Corvus Livy vii. 33

92 A. Self-sacrifice of Decius Mus Propertius, iii. 11. 63

B. The Dream of the Consuls Val. Max. i. de Somn.

93 The Battle of Mt. Vesuvius Livy viii. 10

94 The Dictator and his Master of the Horse Livy viii. 30

95 The Caudine Forks Livy ix. 2

96 „ „The Yoke Livy ix. 5

97 Rome repudiates the Treaty Cicero, de Off. iii. 109

98 Battle of Bovianum Livy ix. 44

99 Battle of Sentinum Livy x. 28

100 Aims of Pyrrhus. Battle of Heraclea Justinus xviii. 1

101 Fabricius the Just Cicero, de Off. iii. 86

102 Appius the Blind Cicero, de Sen. 16, 37

103 A. The Battle of Asculum Florus i. 18. 9

B. The Battle near Beneventum Florus i. 18. 11

104 In Praise of Pyrrhus Justinus xxv. 5

105 A. Manius Curius Dentatus Cicero, de Sen. 55

B. „„ „ Juvenal xi. 78

C. „„ „ Horace, Od. i. 12. 41

106 In Praise of Tarentum Horace, Od. ii. 6. 9

107 The Praise of Italy Vergil, Georg. ii. 155

Part IV.—The Contest with Carthage, 264-202 B.C.

108 The Vision of Anchises Vergil, Aen. vi. 836

109 The Foundation of Carthage Justinus, xviii. 5

110 Aeneas views the Building of Carthage Vergil, Aen. i. 419

111 Regulus, a Roman Martyr Cicero, de Off. iii. 99

112 A. Naval Victory near Mylae (Adapted)

B. Honour conferred on Duilius Cicero, de Sen. 44

113 Carthaginian Victory off Drepana Cicero, N. D. ii. 3. 7

114 A. Lutatius’ Victory off Aegates Insulae Nepos, Hamilcar i.

B. „ „„„„ Sil. Ital. vi. 653

115 A. Importance of Second Punic War Livy xxi. 1

B. Oath of the Boy Hannibal Livy xxi. 1

116 ‘The paths of glory lead but to the grave’ Juvenal x. 147

117 Character of Hannibal Livy xxi. 4

118 The Siege of Saguntum Livy xxi. 7

119 A. The Dream of Hannibal Cicero, de Div. i. 24. 49

B. The Interpretation Sil. Ital. iii. 198

120 From the Pyrenees to the Rhone Livy xxi. 28

121 From the Rhone to Italy Livy xxi. 30

122 The Descent of the Alps Livy xxi. 36

123 A. The Battle at the Trebia Frontinus, Strat. ii. 5. 23

B. The River bars the Retreat Sil. Ital. iv. 570

124 The Battle of Lake Trasimene Livy xxii. 4

125 „ „ „ Livy xxii. 5

126 The Death of Flaminius Sil. Ital. v. 644

127 Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator Cicero, de Sen. 10

128 Fabius and his Master of the Horse Livy xxii. 29

129 Cannae. Destruction of the Roman Infantry Livy xxii. 47

130 Cannae. ‘Paulus animae magnae prodigus’ Livy xxii. 49

131 A. Maharbal urges Hannibal to march on Rome Livy xxii. 51

B. Scipio forbids Nobles to abandon Italy Frontinus, Strat. iv. 7. 39

132 A. Rome’s Heroes Horace, Od. i. 12. 37

B. The Dream of Propertius Propertius iii. 3. 1

133 A. Capua aspires to rival Rome Horace, Epod. xvi. 1

B. Decius Magius defies Hannibal Livy xxiii. 10

134 A. ‘Capua became Hannibal’s Cannae’ Florus ii. 6. 21

B. The Punishment of Rebel Capua Livy xxvi. 16

135 Marcellus at Nola Livy xxiii. 16

136 Cicero’s Description of Syracuse Cicero, in Verr. ii. 4. 117

137 Engineering Skill of Archimedes Livy xxiv. 34

138 Marcellus laments over Syracuse Livy xxv. 24

139 The Death of Marcellus Livy xxvii. 27

140 Character of Scipio Africanus Maior Livy xxvi. 19

141 Scipio takes New Carthage Livy xxvi. 45

142 Nero’s March to the Metaurus Livy xxvii. 43

143 The Metaurus Horace, Od. iv. 4. 29

144 Hannibal leaves Italy Livy xxx. 19

145 Zama. Before the Battle Livy xxx. 31

146 Zama. The Order of Battle Frontinus, Strat. ii. 3. 16

Part V.—Formation of Empire beyond Italy, in Europe and Africa, 200-133 B.C.

147 Battle of Cynoscephalae Livy xxxiii. 9

148 Flamininus proclaims Freedom of Greece Livy xxxiii. 32

149 A. Battle of Thermopylae Frontinus, Strat. ii. 4

B. Battle of Magnesia Florus i. 24

150 Deaths of Three Great Men Livy xxxix. 51

151 M. Porcius Cato Nepos, Cato ii.

152 „„ Horace, Od. ii. 15

153 Pydna (Aemilius Paulus) Livy xliv. 41

154 „„ „ Livy xliv. 41

155 Destruction of Carthage Florus ii. 15. 11

156 Destruction of Corinth Vell. Paterc. i. 13

157 The Lusitanian Hannibal Florus ii. 17. 13

158 Destruction of Numantia Florus ii. 18. 11

159 Rome the Invincible Horace, Od. iv. 4. 49

Part VI.—Civil Strife in Italy, and Foreign Wars, ending in Revolution, 133-44 B.C.

160 The Gracchi Sallust, Iug. 42

161 A. On the Death of Tiberius Gracchus Cicero, de Off. i. 76

B. On Lex Frumentaria of C. Gracchus Cicero, Tusc. iii. 20. 48

C. On C. Gracchus as an Orator Cicero, Brutus 125

162 The Betrayal of Jugurtha Sallust, Iug. 113

163 A. Arpinum. Birthplace of Cicero and Marius Juvenal viii. 237

B. Cicero on Marius Cicero, Marius

164 Teutones annihilated at Aquae Sextiae Florus iii. 3

165 A. Marius’ Flight from Sulla Lucan, Phars. ii. 67

B. Marius outlived his fame Juvenal x. 278

166 Cicero on Civil Strife Cicero, in Cat. iii. 10

167 Tribunate of M. Livius Drusus Vell. Paterc. ii. 13

168 A. Outbreak of the Social War at Asculum Florus iii. 18. 3

B. The Sabellian father’s advice to his sons Juvenal xiv. 179

169 A. Defeat and Death of Rutilius Ovid, Fasti vi. 563

B. The Lex Plautia Papiria Cicero, pro Arch. iv. 7

C. Cicero’s first and only Campaign Cicero, Phil. xii. 11. 27

D. The Battle near Asculum Florus iii. 18. 14

170 Sulla’s Character and Bearing Sallust, Iug. 95

171 A. Mithridates’ Youth and Early Training Justinus xxxvii. 2

B. His Preparations for Conquest Justinus xxxvii. 3. 4

172 The Battle of Chaeronea Frontinus, Strat. ii. 3. 17

173 A. Capture of Athens and the Piraeus Vell. Paterc. ii. 23

B. Battle of Orchomenus Frontinus, Strat. ii. 8. 12

C. Peace of Dardanus Vell. Paterc. ii. 23

174 A. Battles of Sacriportus and the Colline Gate Lucan, Phars. ii. 134

B. „ „ „ „„ Vell. Paterc. ii. 27

175 A. Death of the Younger Marius. Sulla Felix Vell. Paterc. ii. 27

B. The Sullan Proscriptions Lucan, Phars. ii.

176 A. Sulla appointed Dictator Vell. Paterc. ii. 28

B. Sulla lays down his Dictatorship Suetonius, Iul. 77

C. Death of Sulla Val. Max. ix. 3. 8

177 A. Limitation of Tribune’s Right of Veto Cicero, de Leg. iii. 9. 22

B. Abolition of Corn Distributions Sallust, Hist., Or. M. Lep.

C. Judicial Functions restored to Senators Vell. Paterc. ii. 32

D. A Sumptuary Law A. Gellius ii. 24. 11

178 Speech of Lepidus against Sulla Sallust, Hist., Or. M. Lep.

179 Sertorius and his Fawn A. Gellius, xv. 22

180 A. A New Hannibal Florus iii. 22. 2

B. The Death of Sertorius Vell. Paterc. ii. 30

181 Lucullus’ Character and Early Career Cicero, Acad. ii. 1

182 A. A Soldier of Lucullus Horace, Ep. ii. 2. 26

B. The Wealth of Lucullus Horace, Ep. i. 6. 40

183 Spartacus and his Gladiators Florus iii. 20. 3

184 Lucullus Ponticus Cicero, pro L. Man. 20

185 Pompeius’ Character and Career Cicero, pro L. Man. 29

186 The Man Caesar Suetonius, Iul. 45

187 Caesar and the Pirates Suetonius, Iul. 4

188 A Roman Citizen maltreated Cicero, in Verr. ii. 5. 62

189 The Lex Gabinia Vell. Paterc. ii. 31

190 Pompeius clears the Seas of Pirates Cicero, pro L. Man. 34

191 Pompeius subdues Mithridates and Tigranes Vell. Paterc. ii. 37

192 A. Caesar Curule Aedile Suetonius, Iul. 10

B. Caesar Propraetor in Further Spain Suetonius, Iul. 18

193 Cicero declaims against Catiline Cicero, in Cat. i. 1

194 The End of Catiline Sallust, Cat. 61

195 Caesar forms First Triumvirate Vell. Paterc. ii. 44

196 ‘That day he overcame the Nervii’ Caesar, B. G. ii. 25

197 Naval Battle with the Veneti Caesar, B. G. iii. 14

198 Caesar’s Bridge across the Rhine Caesar, B. G. iv. 17

199 Cassivellaunus Caesar, B. G. v. 19

200 The Gallic uprising. Vercingetorix Caesar, B. G. vii. 14

201 Siege of Gergovia Caesar, B. G. vii. 50

202 Siege of Alesia Caesar, B. G. vii. 84

203 Cicero’s Banishment Vell. Paterc. ii. 45

204 Cicero’s Return Cicero, ad Att. iv. 1

205 In Praise of Caesar Cicero, de Prov. Cons. 33

206 ‘Quem deus vult perdere, prius dementat’ Florus iii. 11. 1

207 Carrhae: after the Battle Lucan, Phars. i. 98

„ „„ Horace, Od. iii. 5. 5

„ „„ Ovid, Fasti vi. 465

208 Cicero’s humane Administration Cicero, ad Att. v. 21

211 Caesar crosses the Rubicon Lucan, Phars. i. 213

212 Caesar’s defence before the Senate Caesar, B. C. i. 32

213 The Campaign round Lerida Lucan, Phars. iv. 167

214 A. Siege of Massilia Lucan, Phars. iii. 388

B. „ „ Caesar, B. C. ii. 14

215 The Death of Curio Lucan, Phars. iv. 799

216 Dyrrachium Caesar, B. C. iii. 47

217 Eve of Pharsalus. Pompeius’ Dream Lucan, Phars. vii. 7

218 Pompeius ill-advised at Pharsalus Caesar, B. C. iii. 92

219 A. Pharsalus and Cannae compared Lucan, Phars. vii. 397

B. Battlefields of Pharsalus and Philippi Vergil, Georg. i. 489

220 How Pompeius died Caesar, B. C. iii. 103

221 Cato’s Eulogy on Pompeius Lucan, Phars. ix. 190

222 The Grave of Pompeius Lucan, Phars. viii. 789

223 ‘Atrox Animus Catonis’ A. Pollio, B. Afr. 88

224 A. Cato Uticensis Vell. Paterc. ii. 35

B. „„ Lucan, Phars. ii. 374

225 Caesar dines with Cicero Cicero, ad Att. xiii. 52

226 The Death of Caesar Suetonius, Iul. 82

227 A. In Praise of Caesar Cicero, Phil. ii. 45

B. „„„ Lucan, Phars. i. 143

C. Apotheosis of Caesar Suetonius, Iul. 88

230 A. Peroration of Second Philippic Cicero, Phil. ii. 46

B. On the Murder of Cicero Martial, iii. 66

231 A. Cicero as Orator and Poet Juvenal x. 114

B. Cicero as Advocate Catullus xlix.

232 The Death of Cicero Livy, fr.

233 A. In Praise of Cicero Vell. Paterc. ii. 66

B. „„„ Livy fr.

234 Laus Italiae Propertius iii. 22

235 Laus Romae Claudian, de Cons. Stil. iii. 150

236 ‘Quod cuncti gens una sumus’ Prudentius, c. Symm. ii. 583

Miscellaneous Passages.

238 A. Propempticon Vergilio Horace, Od. i. 3

B. „„ „ Horace, Od. i. 3

239 A. Propempticon Maecio Celeri Statius, Sil. ii. 2. 1

B. „„ „„ Statius, Sil. ii. 2. 42

240 A. Seneca Seneca, Ep. xv. 8

B. „ Seneca, Medea 920

241 A. Criticism of Poets Horace, Ep. ii. 1. 50

B. „„Terence Caesar, ap. Sueton.

C. Ovid on his Contemporaries Ovid, Tr. iv. 10. 41

242 A. A Storm at Sea Ovid, Tr. i. 2. 19

B. The Passing of Romulus Ovid, Fasti ii. 493

C. Thunder and Hail Pacuvius ap. Cic.

D. The Argo in a Gale Val. Fl. Arg. viii. 328

243 A. Lesbia’s Sparrow Catullus iii.

B. ‘My Parrot, an obtrusive bird’ Statius, Sil. ii. 4

C. The Lap-dog and its Portrait Martial i. 109

244 A. The Roman Satirists Quintilian x. 1. 93

B. A Criticism of Lucilius Horace, Sat. i. 4. 1

C. Why Juvenal wrote Satire Juvenal i. 19

D. Juvenal’s Subject Juvenal i. 81

245 A. Virtue defined Lucilius, fr.

B. Poor men of mighty deeds Juvenal xi. 90

C. Persius in praise of his Tutor Persius v. 19

246 A. Objections to a permanent Theatre Livy, Epit. 48

B. Scenic Arrangements Suetonius ap. Serv.

C. The Awnings Lucretius iv. 75

D. The Law of Otho Livy, Epit. 99

E. Usurpers of Equestrian Privileges Horace, Epod. iv. 11

247 A. The Web of Fate Catullus lxiv. 311

B. The Skill of Arachne Ovid, Met. vi. 19

C. The Pastime of Circe Vergil, Aen. vii. 10

248 A. The Monster approaches Andromeda Ovid, Met. iv. 671

B. How Perseus won his Bride Ovid, Met. iv. 721

249 A. Andromeda Manilius, Astr. v. 567

B. The Death of the Monster Manilius, Astr. v. 595

250 A. The School of Flavius Horace, Sat. i. 6. 71

B. Ovid at School Ovid. Tr. iv. 10. 15

C. The Schoolmaster’s Life Juvenal vii. 222

D. Early School Martial xiv. 223

E. Homogeneous Divisions Quintilian i. 2. 23

F. Plagosus Orbilius Martial ix. 68. 1

251 A. Books Ovid, Tr. i. 1. 1

B. „ Tibullus iii. 1. 9

C. „ Martial i. 2

252 A. Arethusa Ovid, Met. v. 585

B. „ Ovid, Met. v. 614

253 A. Hylas Propertius i. 20. 17

B. „ Val. Fl. Arg. iii. 581

254 The Portmanteau Fish Plautus, Rud. iv. 3. 58

255 A. ‘Humani nihil a me alienum puto’ Terence, Haut. i. 1. 15

B. Cicero on Terence Suetonius, vit. Ter. 34

C. Defence of Contaminatio Terence, Haut. prol. 16

256 A. The Song of the Nightingale Pliny, H. N. x. 81

B. A Corinthian Statuette Pliny, Ep. iii. 6

257 A. Helps to Style Pliny, Ep. vii. 9

B. Importance of Concentration Quintilian, Inst. Or. x. 3. 28

258 A. De Simonide Phaedrus iv. 23

B. Mons Parturiens Phaedrus iv. 24

C. Truth will out Phaedrus, App. 22

259 A. The Golden Age Tibullus i. 3. 35

B. Birthday Wishes Tibullus ii. 2

260 A. On the delights of Hunting with a Note-book Pliny, Ep. i. 6

B. Oenone Paridi Ovid, Her. v. 17

C. The Hunting Party Vergil, Aen. iv. 129

261 A. A Roman Day Martial iv. 8

B. The Simple Life Horace, Sat. i. 6. 110

262 A. In Praise of Agricola Tacitus, Agr. 46

B. Britain: its Climate and Products Tacitus, Agr. 12

263 A. Trimalchio’s Supper Petronius 50

B. „ „ Petronius 51

264 I. Pronunciation: H „ H II. A Street Cry III. K, Q, C IV. U Quintilian i. 5. 20

Catullus lxxxiv.

Cicero, Div. ii. 40. 84

Ter. Maurus

Plautus, Men. 555

265 I. Proverbial Expressions II. „ „ III. „ „ IV. „ „ V. „ „ VI. „ „ VII. „ „ VIII. „ „ IX. „ „ X. „ „ XI. „ „ XII. „ „ XIII. „ „ XIV. „ „ XV. „ „ XVI. „ „ Caesar, B. C. ii. 27

Cicero, Phil. xii. 5

Horace, Ep. i. 2. 40

Juvenal ii. 83

Livy xxi. 10

Lucretius ii. 79

Martial i. 32

Plautus, Bacch. i. 2. 36

Terence, Eun. prol. 41

Terence, Ph. ii. 4. 14

Pub. Syrus

Seneca, de Brev. Vit. i. 2

Tacitus, Agr. 30

Varro, de Re Rust. iii. 1

Vergil, Aen. vi. 95

Vergil, Aen. i. 461

266 A. ‘Whom the gods love die young’ Quintilian, Inst. Or. vi. 1. 9

B. Servius Sulpicius to Cicero. Cicero, ad Fam. iv. 5

267 A. Catullus at his Brother’s Grave Catullus ci.

B. To Calvus on his Wife’s Death Catullus xcvi.

C. Cornelia’s Plea to her Husband Propertius iv. 11. 1

D. Mors Tibulii Ovid, Am. iii. 9

268 Apophoreta Martial

269 „ Martial

270 Epitaphs and Inscriptions.

I. On Naevius II. On Ennius III. On Pacuvius IV. On Plautus V. On Tibullus VI. In tumulo hominis felicis VII. Thermopylae Naevius

Ennius

Pacuvius

Plautus

Domitius Marsus

Ausonius, Epit. 36

Cicero, Tusc. i. 42. 101

271 Epilogue.

A. Horace Horace, Od. iii. 30

B. Ovid Ovid, Met. xv. 871

C. Martial Martial iv. 89

INDEX OF AUTHORS

Asinius Pollio, 223

Aulus Gellius, 63, 177, 179

Ausonius, 270

Caesar, 16, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 241, 265

Catullus, 231, 243, 247, 264, 267

Cicero, 54, 65, 79, 89, 97, 101, 102, 105, 111, 112, 113, 119, 127, 136, 161, 163, 166, 169, 177, 181, 184, 185, 188, 190, 193, 204, 205, 208, 225, 227, 230, 264, 265, 266, 270

Claudian, 235

Domitius Marsus, 270

Ennius, 270

Florus, 74, 103, 134, 149, 155, 157, 158, 164, 168, 169, 180, 183, 206

Frontinus, 123, 131, 146, 149, 172, 173

Horace, 86, 105, 106, 132, 133, 143, 152, 159, 182, 207, 238, 241, 244, 246, 250, 261, 265, 271

Justinus, 100, 104, 109, 171

Juvenal, 105, 116, 163, 165, 168, 231, 244, 246, 250, 265

Livy, 32, 40, 61, 62, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 115, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 124, 125, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 144, 145, 147, 148, 150, 153, 154, 232, 233, 246, 265

Lucan, 82, 165, 174, 175, 207, 211, 213, 214, 215, 217, 219, 221, 222, 224, 227

Lucilius, 245

Lucretius, 246, 265

Manilius, 249

Martial, 69, 230, 243, 250, 251, 261, 265, 268, 269, 271

Naevius, 270

Nepos, 114, 151

Ovid, 24, 61, 64, 73, 74, 88, 169, 207, 241, 242, 247, 248, 250, 251, 252, 260, 267, 271

Pacuvius, 242, 270

Persius, 245

Petronius, 263

Phaedrus, 258

Plautus, 254, 264, 265

Pliny the Elder, 256

Pliny the Younger, 256, 257, 260

Propertius, 79, 92, 132, 234, 253, 267

Prudentius, 236

Publilius Syrus, 265

Quintilian, 244, 250, 257, 264, 266

Sallust, 160, 162, 170, 177, 178, 194

Seneca, 240, 265

Silius Italicus, 114, 119, 123, 126

Statius, 239, 243

Suetonius, 176, 186, 187, 192, 226, 227, 246, 255

Tacitus, 262, 265

Terence, 255, 265

Terentianus Maurus, 264

Tibullus, 251, 259

Valerius Flaccus, 242, 253

Valerius Maximus, 84, 92, 176

Varro, 265

Velleius Paterculus, 156, 167, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 180, 189, 191, 195, 203, 224, 233

Vergil, 48, 60, 62, 66, 67, 84, 107, 108, 110, 219, 247, 260, 265

INTRODUCTION

1. Heading.—The selections in this book are in most cases intelligible apart from their context. In cases where this is not so, you will find it a valuable exercise to endeavour to arrive at the context for yourself. In all cases, however, you should pay attention to the Heading, which will give you a useful clue to the meaning of the passage,

2. Author.—When you see the author’s name, try to remember what you know about him. For example, Livy, the historian of Rome and friend of Augustus, the contemporary of Vergil and Ovid. The short Lives, pp. 293-345, will tell you the chief facts about the authors from whom the selections are taken, and will give you a brief summary of their chief works. Also, if you refer to Appendix VII., pp. 347-363, you will gain some idea of the time in which the authors lived and of their contemporaries.

3. Read the Passage through, carefully.—As you read—

(1) Notice all allusions and key-words that may help you to the sense of the passage.

(2) Pay special attention to the opening sentence. In translating a passage much depends on getting the first sentence right.

(3) Notice especially the connectives which introduce sentences and clauses marked off by commas. In this way you will be able to distinguish between a Principal Sentence and a Subordinate Clause.

(For List of Conjunctions see Appendix I. pp. 274-276.)

HELPS TO VOCABULARY.

4. Through English Derivatives.—English derivatives, if used in the proper way, may give you valuable help in inferring meanings. The reason why you must generally not translate the Latin word by the derived English word is that, as you probably know, many English derivatives have come from Latin words which had wholly or in part lost their earlier classical meaning, or from Latin words not found at all in classical Latin. Yet in such cases the English word may be far from useless. You must take care to let it suggest to you the original or root-meaning, leaving the correct meaning of the Latin, whether the same as the English word or not, to be determined by the context.

For example, sē-cūr-us does not mean secure, but (like secure in Shakespeare and Milton) care-less.

In-crēd-ib-il-is, on the other hand, often cannot be better translated than by incredible, and im-plācā-bilis by implacable.

Notice, too, how often in the case of verbs the supine stem will suggest to you the meaning of the Latin through some English derivative, which the present stem conceals.

For example:—

pingo pictum picture suggests to paint.

caveo cautum caution „ „ beware.

colo cultum culture „ „ till.

fallo falsum false „ „ deceive.

5. Through French Derivatives.—Sometimes, when you cannot think of an English derivative, a French word that you know will help you to the meaning of the Latin.

For example:—

L. F.

pontem pont suggests bridge.

gustum goût „ taste.

prātum pré „ meadow.

tālem tel „ such.

bĭbĕre boire „ to drink.

But, in order to make French derivatives a real help to you, you must know something of the origin of the French language and of the chief rules that govern the pronunciation (and therefore the spelling) of French. Without going too much into detail, it may help you to remember that—

(1) French has taken many words from colloquial Latin, which in the days of Cicero was very different from classical Latin.

For example:—

Literary Latin. Popular Latin. French.

equus caballus cheval horse.

pugna batalia bataille battle.

os bucca bouche mouth.

(2) Unaccented syllables are usually dropped.

For example:—

cérv-um cerf stag.

bonitátem bonté goodness.

(3) The general tendency of French is towards smoothness and contraction.

For example:—

L. F.

bestiam bête beast.

fact-um fait deed.

spiss-um épais thick.

coll-um cou neck.

In fact, bearing in mind the caution given you, it is an excellent rule to try to think out the meaning of the Latin by the help of English and French derivatives.

6. Compound Words.—When you come to a word which you cannot translate, and in regard to which English and French derivatives do not help you, break up the word, if a compound, into its simple elements of Prefix, Stem, Suffix. Then from the meaning of its root or stem and from the force of the prefix and suffix, and by the help of the context, try to arrive at an English word to suit the sense.

In order to be able to do this you should have some knowledge of—

(1) A few simple rules for the vowel changes of verbs in composition. Thus:

a before two consonants (except ng) often changes to e.

E.g. sacr-o, con-secr-o; damn-o, con-demn-o.

a before one consonant and before ng often changes to i.

E.g. fac-io, ef-fic-io; căd-o, ac-cid-o; tang-o, con-ting-o.

But grăd-ior, ag-grĕd-ior.

a before l and another consonant changes to u.

E.g. salt-are, in-sult-are.

ĕ changes to ĭ (but not e before two consonants) and ae to i.

E.g. ten-ere, ob-tin-ere; quaer-ere, in-quir-ere.

au changes to u.

E.g. claud-ere, in-clud-ere.

(2) Prefixes:—To help you to detach the prefix more readily, notice these simple euphonic changes, all of which result in making the pronunciation smoother and easier. Thus:—

(i.) The last consonant of a Latin prefix is often made the same as, or similar to, the first consonant of the stem.

E.g. ad-fero = affero; ob-pono = op-pono; com(=cum)-tendo = con-tendo.

(ii.) The final consonant of a prefix is often dropped before two consonants.

E.g. ad-scendo = a-scendo.

Notice also that the prepositional prefixes to verbs express different ideas in different combinations.

Thus, sometimes the prefix has a somewhat literal prepositional force.

E.g. per-currere = to run through.

But sometimes an intensive force.

E.g. per-terrere = to thoroughly frighten.

In all such cases you must be partly guided by the context.

(For List of Important Prefixes, see Appendix II. pp. 277—281.)

(3) Suffixes (other than grammatical inflexions).

A knowledge of the most important suffixes will often help you to the correct meaning of a Latin word, the root of which is familiar to you.

Thus from the √ag = drive, move, we have—

by addition of -tor (= agent or doer of an action), actor = a doer, agent.

„„„ -men (= acts or results of acts), agmen = a course, line of march, &c.

„„„ -ilis (= belonging to, able to), agilis = easily moved, agile.

„„„ -ito (= forcible or repeated action), agito = put in action, agitate.

(For List of Important Suffixes, see Appendix III. pp. 282—286.)

(4) Cognates, that is, words related in meaning through a common root. You will find it very useful to make for yourself lists of cognate words.

Thus from the √gna, gno = know, we have—

gna-rus = knowing.

i-gnarus (= in + gnarus) = ignorant.

nos-co (= gno-sco) = to get a knowledge of.

i-gno-sco = not to know, pardon.

no-bilis (= gno-bilis) = that can be known, famous, noble.

no-men (= gno-men) = a name.

To group together in this manner words of common origin and words closely associated in meaning is one of the best ways in which you can increase your vocabulary.

(For additional Examples of Cognates, see Appendix IV. pp. 287-8.)

HELPS TO TRANSLATION.

You have now read the passage through carefully, and thought out the vocabulary to the best of your ability. Begin then to translate the opening sentence, and pay great attention to these

7. General Rules.—(1) Underline the Principal Verb, Subject (if expressed), and Object (if any).

(2) If the sentence contains only one finite verb, all you have to do is to group round Subject, or Verb, or Object the words and phrases that belong to each of the three.

(3) Translate the sentence literally. Do this mentally, without writing it down.

(4) Then write down the best translation you can.

For example:—

At GERMANI celeriter, consuetudine sua phalange facta, IMPETUS gladiorum EXCEPERUNT.

But the Germans quickly formed into a phalanx, as was their custom, and received the attacks of the swords (i.e. of the Romans with drawn swords).

(5) If the sentence contains one or more subordinate clauses, consider each subordinate clause as if it were bracketed off separately, and then deal with each clause as if it were a principal sentence, finding out its Subject, Verb, Object, and adding to each its enlargements. Then return to the sentence as a whole, and group round its Subject, Predicate, and Object the various subordinate clauses which belong to each.

8. Help through Analysis.—Very often analysis will help you to find out the proper relation of the subordinate clauses to the three parts of the Principal Sentence. You need not always analyse on paper, but do it always in your mind. You will find an example of a simple method of analysis at the close of Demonstrations I and IV, pp. 23, 47.

When analysing, notice carefully that:—

(1) An enlargement of a Noun may be

(a) An adjective TERTIAM aciem.

(b) A noun in apposition Publius Crassus ADULESCENS.

(c) A dependent genitive impetus GLADIORUM.

(d) A participle or participial phrase nostris LABORANTIBUS.

(e) An adjectival clause Publius Crassus QUI EQUITATUI PRAEERAT.

(2) An enlargement of a Verb may be

(a) An adverb CELERITER exceperunt.

(b) A prepositional phrase EX CONSUETUDINE SUA exceperunt.

(c) An ablative absolute PHALANGE FACTA exceperunt.

(d) An adverbial clause ID CUM ANIMADVERTISSET, Publius Crassus misit.

9. Help through Punctuation.—Though only the full-stop was used by the ancients, the punctuation marks which are now used in all printed texts should be carefully noticed, especially in translating long and involved sentences.

Thus in Demonstrations III and IV notice how the subordinate clauses are for the most part enclosed in commas.

10. Help through Scansion and Metre.—A knowledge of this is indispensable in translating verse. To scan the lines will help you to determine the grammatical force of a word, and a knowledge of metre will enable you to grasp the poet’s meaning as conveyed by the position which he assigns to the various words, and the varying emphasis which results from variation of metre. For example:—

(1) A grammatical help.—You know that final -a is short in nom. and voc. sing. 1st Decl., and in neut. plural, and is long in abl. sing. 1st Decl. and 2nd Imperat. 1st Conj.

Thus in Demonstration II (p. 24) you can easily determine the grammatical form of finals in -a.

In Sentence IV agnă, in VI cervă, in VIII iunctă columbă, in IX Cynthiă are all short and nom. sing.

In Sentence V umbrā unā are long and abl. sing. in agreement.

(2) A help to the poet’s meaning.—The more you know of the principles of scansion, the better able you will be to understand and appreciate the skill with which a great poet varies his metre and chooses his words.

11. Help through a Study of the Period in Latin.—One great difference between English and Latin Prose is that, while modern English is to a great extent a language of short, detached sentences, Latin expresses the sense by the passage as a whole, and holds the climax in suspense until the delivery of the last word. ‘This mode of expression is called a PERIOD (a circuĭtus or ambĭtus verborum), because the reader, in order to collect together the words of the Principal Sentence, must make a circuit, so to say, round the inserted clauses,’2 ‘Latin possesses what English does not, a mode of expression by means of which, round one main idea are grouped all its accessory ideas, and there is thus formed a single harmonious whole, called the PERIOD.’3

A PERIOD then is a sentence containing only one main idea (the Principal Sentence) and several Subordinate Clauses. The Periodic style is generally used for History and Description, and is best seen in Cicero and Livy.

The following is a good example of the Period in Latin:—

4VOLSCI exiguam spem in armis, alia undique abscissa, cum tentassent, praeter cetera adversa loco quoque iniquo ad pugnam congressi, iniquiore ad fugam, cum ab omni parte caederentur, ad preces a certamine versi, dedito imperatore traditisque armis, sub iugum missi, cum singulis vestimentis ignominiae cladisque pleni DIMITTUNTUR. The VOLSCIANS found that now they were severed from every other hope, there was but little in prolonging the conflict. In addition to other disadvantages they had engaged on a spot ill-adapted for fighting and worse for flight. Cut to pieces on every side they abandoned the contest and cried for quarter. After surrendering their commander and delivering up their arms, they passed under the yoke, and with one garment each WERE SENT to their homes covered with disgrace and defeat.

Notice here that

(1) There is only one main idea, that of the ignominious return of the Volscians to their homes.

(2) The rest describes the attendant circumstances of the surrender and of the causes that led to it.

(3) In English we should translate by at least four separate sentences.

(4) The Latin contains only forty-eight words, while the English contains eighty-one.

Professor Postgate (‘Sermo Latinus,’ p. 45) gives the following example of the way in which a Latin PERIOD may be built up:—

BALBUS vir optimus, dux clārissimus et multis mihi beneficiis carus, rogitantibus Arvernis ut populi Romani māiestātem ostentāret suīque simul imperi monumentum eis relinqueret, MŪRUM laterīcium, vīginti pedes lātum, sexāginta altitūdine et ita in immensum porrectum ut vix tuis ipse oculis crēderes tantum esse, nēdum aliis persuāderes, non sine adverso suo rūmore ut qui principātum adfectaret AEDIFICAVIT. BALBUS, an excellent man and most distinguished commander, who had endeared himself to me by numerous kindnesses, was requested by the Arverni to make a display of the power and greatness of Rome, and at the same time to leave behind him a memorial of his own government. He accordingly BUILT a WALL of bricks, twenty feet wide, sixty high, and extending to such a prodigious length that you could hardly trust your own eyes that it was so large, still less induce others to believe it. But he did not escape the malign rumour that he had designs upon the imperial crown.

Here, as in the previous example,

(1) There is only one main idea,

BALBUS MURUM AEDIFICAVIT.

(2) The rest consists of—

(a) Enlargements of BALBUS—vir optimus . . . carus; placed, therefore, directly after BALBUS.

(b) Enlargements of MURUM—laterīcium . . . persuaderes; placed, therefore, directly after MURUM.

(c) Enlargements of AEDIFICAVIT

rogitantibus . . . relinqueret = the cause of the building of the wall.

(murum) non sine . . . adfectaret = the attendant circumstances of the building of the wall; placed, therefore, before AEDIFICAVIT.

(3) In English we must translate by at least three separate sentences, and, where necessary, translate participles as finite verbs, and change dependent clauses into independent sentences.

It has been well said: ‘An English sentence does not often exhibit the structure of the Period. It was imitated, sometimes with great skill and beauty, by many of the earlier writers of English prose; but its effect is better seen in poetry, as in the following passage:—

12. Help through a Knowledge of the Order of Words in Latin.—If you study the examples already given of the Period you will see that the Order of Words in English differs very much from the Order of Words in Latin.

Dr. Abbott writes as follows: ‘The main difference between English and Latin is that in English the meaning depends mainly on the order of words, and the emphasis mainly on the voice, while in Latin the meaning depends almost entirely on the inflexions, and the emphasis upon the order.’

Thus, if we take the English sentence, Caesar conquered the Gauls, we cannot invert the order of Caesar and Gauls without entirely changing the meaning. In Latin, however, we may write (since each Latin word has its own proper inflexion, serving almost as a label)

Caesar vicit Gallos: Gallos Caesar vicit: Caesar Gallos vicit, without any change of meaning except that of shifting the emphasis from one word to another.

The usual order of words in a Latin Prose Sentence may be said to be

(1) Particles, or phrases of connection (with some exceptions, e.g. vero, autem, quidem, enim, which stand second).

(2) Subject.

(3) Words, phrases, clauses, as enlargements of Subject.

(4) Adverbial enlargements of Predicate (though an Ablative Absolute must generally stand first).

(5) Indirect Object (if any) and its enlargements.

(6) Direct Object (if any) and its enlargements.

(7) The Principal Verb.

To take a simple example:—

5LIVIUS, imperator fortissimus, quamquam adventus hostium non ubi oportuit nuntiatus est, PERICULUM illa sua in rebus dubiis audacia facile EVASIT. LIVIUS, a most excellent commander, although the enemy’s arrival was not reported when it should have been, easily ESCAPED the DANGER by his well-known daring in perilous positions.

To take another example:—

6Archimedis EGO quaestor ignoratum ab Syracusanis, cum esse omnino negarent, saeptum undique et vestitum vepribus et dumetis, INDAGAVI SEPULCRUM. When I was Quaestor, I WAS ABLE TO TRACE OUT the TOMB of Archimedes, overgrown and hedged in with brambles and brushwood. The Syracusans knew nothing of it, and denied its existence.

Notice here the following special points of order:—

(1) The two most important positions in the sentence are the beginning and the end.

(2) Special emphasis is expressed by placing a word in an unusual or prominent position.

E.g. here, the unusual position of Archimedis and sepulcrum.

(3) In the middle of the sentence the arrangement is such that the words most closely connected in meaning stand nearest together.

E.g. here, ignoratum . . . dumetis is all logically connected with the object sepulcrum, which for the sake of emphasis is put in an unusual position at the end of the sentence.

13. Additional Hints.—(1) Remember that Latin is often concrete where English is abstract.

E.g.—

ingeniosi (men of genius) = genius.

eruditi docti (learned men) = learning.

viri summo ingenio praediti, saepe invidia opprimuntur. The most exalted genius is frequently overborne by envy.

omnes immemorem benefici oderunt. The world regards ingratitude with hatred.

(2) The same Latin word may stand for different English words. Take, for example, the various uses of the word RES in the following passage of Livy, xlv. 19:—

7Ut RES docuit . . . animo gestienti REBUS secundis . . . speculator RERUM quae a fratre agerentur . . . REM prope prolapsam restituit . . . aliis alia regna crevisse REBUS dicendo. As the FACT showed . . . spirits running riot from PROSPERITY . . . to watch the COURSE pursued by his brother . . . he restored what was almost a lost CAUSE . . . by saying that kingdoms grow by various MEANS.

In translating RES, avoid at all costs the word THING, or THINGS, and let the context guide you to the appropriate English word.

(3) You may often translate a Latin Active by an English Passive. Latin prefers the Active because it is more direct and vivid.

For example:—

Liberas aedes coniurati sumpserunt. An empty house had been occupied by the conspirators.

(4) Use great care in translating Latin Participles, and make clear in your translation the relation of the participial enlargements to the action of the main Verb.

For example:—

concessive: Romani, non ROGATI, auxilium offerunt. The Romans, though they were not asked, offer help.

final: Fortuna superbos interdum RUITURA levat. Fortune sometimes raises the proud, only to dash them down.

causal: S. Ahala Sp. Maelium regnum APPETENTEM interemit. S. Ahala killed Sp. Maelius for aiming at the royal power.

Notice also:—

Pontem captum incendit = He took and burned the bridge.

Nescio quem prope adstantem interrogavi. I questioned someone who was standing by.

Haec dixit moriens = He said this while dying. Nuntiata clades = The news of the disaster.

(5) In translating, try to bring out the exact force of the Ablative Absolute, by which a Latin writer shows the time or circumstances of the action expressed by the Predicate. The Ablative Absolute is an adverbial enlargement of the Predicate, and is not grammatically dependent on any word in the sentence. It is, therefore, called absolutus (i.e. freed from or unconnected). It should very seldom be translated literally. Your best plan will be to consider carefully what the Ablative Absolute seems to suggest about the action of the Principal Verb.

For example:—

Capta Troia, Graeci domum redierunt. The Greeks returned home after the capture of Troy.

Regnante Romulo, Roma urbs erat parva. When Romulus was reigning, Rome was a small city.

Exercitu collecto in hostes contenderunt. They collected an army and marched against the enemy.

Nondum hieme confecta in fines Nerviorum contendit. Though the winter was not yet over, he hastened to the territory of the Nervii.

Tum salutato hostium duce, ad suos conversus, subditis equo calcaribus, Germanorum ordines praetervectus est, neque expectatis legatis, nec respondente ullo. Thereupon, after saluting the enemy’s general, he turned to his companions, and setting spurs to his horse, rode past the ranks of the Germans, without either waiting for his staff, or receiving an answer from anyone.

HELPS TO STYLE.

Though Style cannot perhaps be taught, it can certainly be formed and improved. There are several ways of improving your Style. For example:—

14. Through the Best English Literature.—Read good Literature, the best English Authors in prose and verse. You will know something, perhaps, of Shakespeare and Scott, of Macaulay and Tennyson. Though you may not be able to attack the complete works of any great author, you ought not to have any difficulty in finding good books of selections from the English Classics.

15. Through good Translations.—Study a few good English Versions of passages from the best Latin writers. You may often have a good version of the passage you translate read to you in your Division after your mistakes have been pointed out to you, and to this you should pay great attention. You will thus learn eventually to suit your style to the Author you are translating, while at the same time you render the passage closely and accurately.

16. Be Clear.—Remember that the first characteristic of a good style is clearness—that is, to say what you mean and to mean what you say. Quintilian, the great critic, says that the aim of the translator should be, not that the reader may understand if he will, but that he must understand whether he will or not. The more you read the greatest Authors the more you will see that, as Coleridge says, ‘there is a reason assignable not only for every word, but for the position of every word.’

17. Be Simple.—With clearness goes simplicity—that is, use no word you do not understand, avoid fine epithets, and do not choose a phrase for its sound alone, but for its sense.

18. Avoid Paraphrase.—You are asked to translate, not to give a mere general idea of the sense. What you have to do is to think out the exact meaning of every word in the sentence, and to express this in as good and correct English as you can.

19. Pay attention to Metaphors.—The subject of Metaphor is of great importance in good translation. You will find that every language possesses its own special Metaphors in addition to those which are common to most European languages. As you become familiar with Latin Authors you must try to distinguish the Metaphors common to English and Latin and those belonging only to English or to Latin.

For example:—

(1) Metaphors identical in Latin and English—

Progreditur res publica naturali quodam itinere et cursu. The State advances in a natural path and progress.

(2) Metaphors differing in Latin and English—

cedant arma togae = let the sword yield to the pen.

ardet acerrime coniuratio = the conspiracy is at its height.

rex factus est = he ascended the throne.

conticuit = he held his peace.

20. Careful Translation a Help to Style.—In conclusion. Nothing will help your style more than to do your translations as well as you possibly can, and to avoid repeating the same mistakes. The Latins themselves knew the value of translation as a help to style.

For example, Pliny the Younger says:—

‘As useful as anything is the practice of translating either your Greek into Latin or your Latin into Greek. By practising this you will acquire propriety and dignity of expression, an abundant choice of the beauties of style, power in description, and gain in the imitation of the best models a facility of creating such models for yourself. Besides, what may escape you when you read, cannot escape you when you translate.’

DEMONSTRATIONS IN UNSEEN TRANSLATION

NOTE

The use of a personal mode of address in the following Demonstrations is explained by the fact that they are written primarily for the use of boys. It is hoped, however, that they may be found useful to masters also, and that the fulness with which each passage is treated may supply some helpful suggestions.

Demonstration I.

Fierce encounter with the Germans.

(a) Reiectis pilis cominus gladiis pugnatum est. |II| At Germani celeriter, ex consuetudine sua, phalange facta, impetus gladiorum exceperunt. |III| Reperti sunt complures nostri milites, qui in phalangas insilirent, et scuta manibus revellerent, et desuper vulnerarent. |IV| Cum hostium acies a sinistro cornu pulsa atque in fugam conversa esset, a dextro cornu vehementer multitudine suorum nostram aciem premebant. |V| Id cum animadvertisset Publius Crassus adulescens, qui equitatui praeerat, quod expeditior erat quam hi qui inter aciem versabantur, tertiam aciem laborantibus nostris subsidio misit. |VI| Ita proelium restitutum est. ||

Caesar.

Fierce encounter with the Germans.

(b) Reiectis pilis cominus gladiis pugnatum est. II At Germani celeriter, ex consuetudine sua, phalange facta, impetus gladiorum exceperunt. III Reperti sunt complures nostri milites [qui in phalangas insilirent, et scuta manibus revellerent, et desuper vulnerarent.] IV [Cum hostium acies a sinistro cornu pulsa atque in fugam conversa esset,] a dextro cornu vehementer multitudine suorum nostram aciem premebant. V [Id cum animadvertisset Publius Crassus adulescens,] [qui equitatui praeerat,] [quod expeditior erat quam hi qui inter aciem versabantur,] tertiam aciem laborantibus nostris subsidio misit. VI Ita proelium restitutum est.

Caesar.

Demonstration I.

Caesar, B. G. i. 52. Reiectis pilis . . . restitutum est.

Heading and Author.—This tells you enough for working purposes, even if you do not remember the outline facts of Caesar’s campaign against Ariovistus, the chief of the Germans, called in by the Gauls in their domestic quarrels, who conquered and ruled them until he was himself crushed by the Romans.

Read through the passage carefully.—As you do this, notice all allusions and key-words that help you to the sense of the passage, e.g. Germani, nostri milites, Publius Crassus. The general sense of the passage should now be so plain (i.e. an incident in a battle between the Germans and the Romans) that you may begin to translate sentence by sentence.

I. Reiectis pilis cominus gladiis pugnatum est.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

Reiectis = re + iacio = throw back or away. The context will tell you which is the better meaning for re-. Notice the force of all prefixes in composition, whether separate or inseparable as here. For re-, see pp. 280, 281.

pilis = the pīlum, the distinctively Roman missile weapon.

cominus = comminus: i.e. con (= cum) + manus = hand to hand. N.B.—In composition a often becomes i, cf. iacio, re-icio; and cf. e-minus = at a distance.

(ii.) Translation.—

PUGNATUM EST. The only finite verb in the sentence, and the principal one. The form shows you it is a so-called impersonal verb, and therefore the subject must be sought from the verb itself in connection with the context. Here, clearly, you must translate the battle was fought.

cominus tells us how, i.e. hand to hand.

reiectis pilis. You will recognise this as an ablative absolute phrase. But do not translate this literally their javelins having been thrown away, for this is not English. Let the principal verb and the sense generally guide you to the force of the phrase. Thus you can see here that the Roman soldiers had no use for their javelins, and so threw them away as a useless encumbrance. (The context tells us that the Roman soldiers had no time to hurl their javelins against the foe.) You can now translate the whole sentence—(and so) the Romans threw away their javelins and fought hand to hand with swords.

II. At Germani celeriter, ex consuetudine sua, phalange facta, impetus gladiorum exceperunt.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

ex consuetudine sua = according to their custom. You will probably have met with consuetudo, or consuesco, or suesco. Our own word custom comes from it through the French coutume. For this use of ex cf. ex sententia, ex voluntate.

phalange = phalanx. If you learn Greek, you will readily think of the famous Macedonian phalanx.

impetus = attacks = in + peto (= aim at). Cf. our impetus, impetuous.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence contains only one finite verb, the principal one.

EXCEPERUNT = (they) received. Who received? Clearly

GERMANI = the Germans. Received what?

IMPETUS = the attacks. impetūs must be Acc. Plur.

All you now have to do is to assign to their proper places the words and phrases that remain. Of these

1. celeriter 2. ex consuetudine sua 3. phalange facta modify the action of exceperunt, telling us when and how they received, and

4. gladiorum belongs to impetūs.

Now translate the whole sentence. But the Germans quickly formed into a phalanx, as was their custom, and received the attacks of the swords (i.e. of the Romans with drawn swords).

III. Reperti sunt complures nostri milites, qui in phalangas insilirent, et scuta manibus revellerent, et desuper vulnerarent.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

insilirent = in + salio = leap-on. And cf. our insult. Notice the usual phonetic change of vowel from a to i. (English derivatives will often help you to the meaning of a Latin word, though, for reasons that are explained to you in the Introduction, pp. 1, 2, § 4, you must let them lead you up to the root-meaning of the Latin word rather than to an exact translation.)

revellerent = re + vello = pluck-away. If you forget the meaning of vello, the supine vulsum through some English derivative—e.g. re-vulsion, con-vulsion—will probably help you to the root-meaning.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence contains four finite verbs. As you read it through, underline the principal verb, clearly REPERTI SUNT, and bracket qui to vulnerarent. You cannot doubt which verbs to include in your bracket, for qui, which is a subordinate conjunction as well as a relative pronoun, serves as a sure signpost. Also revellerent and vulnerarent are joined by et—et to insilirent, so your bracket includes all from qui to vulnerarent. The commas in the passage will often help you to the beginning and end of a subordinate clause. Now begin with the principal verb REPERTI SUNT and its subject complures nostri MILITES, many of our soldiers were found.

qui . . . vulnerarent. This subordinate clause describes, just as an adjective does, the character of these complures nostri, so that qui = tales ut—i.e. brave enough to leap upon the phalanxes, and pluck away the shields (of the Germans) and wound them from above.

IV. Cum hostium acies a sinistro cornu pulsa atque in fugam conversa esset, a dextro cornu vehementer multitudine suorum nostram aciem premebant.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

ăcies = line of battle.

√ac = sharp (cf. ācer), perhaps thought of as the edge of a sword.

cornu = horn; so, figuratively, the wing of an army.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence contains three finite verbs. Underline PREMEBANT, clearly the principal verb, and bracket cum to conversa esset. Here the signpost is the subordinate conjunction cum. Next find the subject of premebant: obviously no word from a dextro to aciem can be the subject; it is implied in premebant—i.e. they, which as context shows = Germani. Now find the object = nostram aciem = our line.

Thus you have as the backbone of the whole sentence:—

They (the Germans) were pressing our line.

All the rest of the sentence will now take its proper place, as in some way modifying the action of premebant.

Thus:—

cum . . . conversa esset tells us when they were pressing.

a dextro cornu „ „ where „ „

vehementer „ „ how „ „

multitudine suorum „ „ how or why „ „

N.B.—suorum, reflexive, must be identical with the subject of premebant.

Now translate

Though When the enemy’s line had been routed and put to flight on their left wing,

on their right wing, owing to their great numbers, they were pressing hard upon our line.

V. Id cum animadvertisset Publius Crassus adulescens, qui equitatui praeerat, quod expeditior erat quam hi qui inter aciem versabantur, tertiam aciem laborantibus nostris subsidio misit.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

animadvertisset = animum + ad + verto = to turn the mind to, to observe.

adulescens = here like our junior, to distinguish him from his father, Marcus Crassus the triumvir.

expeditior = more free (ex + pes = foot-free; so impeditus = hampered, hindered).

versabantur—(verso frequent. of verto) = turn this way and that; so verso-r dep. = turn oneself, engage in, be, according to the context.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence is more involved, ‘periodic’8 in style. You will see on p. 23 how much help can be given by a more detailed analysis.

Now, as before, bracket the subordinate clauses thus:—

1. Id . . . adulescens

2. qui . . . praeerat

3. quod . . . versabantur

and then the only principal verb is MISIT. Underline this. Next underline the principal subject, clearly P. CRASSUS, which is also the subject of clause 1. Then, outside the brackets, the only possible object is ACIEM: underline this.

Now analyse, as on p. 23.

(a) Write down CRASSUS, MISIT, ACIEM.

(b) Place alongside these their proper enlargements.

(c) If necessary, analyse separately all subordinate clauses—e.g. A₁, A₂, A₃ in example on p. 23.

You should now be able to translate without any difficulty; only take care to arrange the enlargements so as to make the best sense and the best English. Thus: When Publius Crassus the younger, who was in command of the cavalry, had observed this, he sent the third line to the help of our men who were hard pressed, as he was more free to act than those who were engaged in action.

VI. Ita proelium restitutum est. In this way the battle was restored.

Final Hints.

Remember that one passage mastered is worth a great many hurriedly translated. So before you leave this passage notice carefully in the

I. Vocabulary.—

(i.) Any words that are quite new to you. Look them out in the dictionary, and notice their derivation and use; if you do not do this you will find the same word new to you the next time you meet with it.

(ii.) English Derivatives.—As you have seen, these will often help you to the root-meaning of a word. Thus:—

reiectis = reject, throw away

insilirent = insult, jump on

and in the case of verbs, as these two examples show, derivatives are most easily found from the supine stem.

N.B.—This must be done very carefully, because many such English derivatives have come from Latin words after they had wholly, or in part, lost their classical meaning, or from Latin words not found at all in classical Latin.

A great many other English words are derived from the Latin of this passage—e.g. pugnacious, (with) celerity, fact, except, military, manual, super-sede, vulnerable, hostile, sinister, uni-corn, and many others.

(iii.) Prefixes.—Notice especially the force of prepositions and inseparable particles in composition, e.g.:—

re- in re-iectis, re-vellerent, restitutum.

in- in impetus, insilirent.

ex- in exceperunt, expeditior.

(iv.) Simple Phonetic Changes in Composition, e.g.:—

a to i in insilirent, cominus (con + manus).

(v.) Groups of Related Words.

Thus

acies √ac = sharp, is related to ăc-er, sharp; ăc-ervus, a heap; ăc-utus, sharp, &c.

expeditior √ped = tread, go, is related to pes, a foot; impedio = entangle; impedimentum = hindrance, etc.

II. Historical and other Allusions.—

(i.) Read a summary of Caesar’s campaign against Ariovistus.

(ii.) Terms relating to War.—Thus notice:—

pilum, the distinctively Roman infantry weapon, and see a good illustration.

phalanx; cf. the Roman testudo.

tertiam aciem—i.e. the line of reserves, kept for just such emergencies. Read, if necessary, some short account of the triplex acies, the usual Roman order of battle.

III. Some Authorities.—

(i.) Caesar, Allen and Greenough, published by Ginn & Co. (an admirable edition).

(ii.) Froude’s Caesar, p. 50.

(iii.) Mommsen’s History of Rome, vol. iv. p. 295.

(iv.) Napoleon’s Caesar, vol. ii. cap. 4, and vol. ii. p. 405.

Demonstration I.

Caesar, B. G. i. 52: ‘Reiectis pilis . . . restitutum est.’

Sentence Kind of Sentence Con­nective Subject Predicate Object

Simple Enlarged Simple Enlarged Simple Enlarged

A. Id cum animadvertisset Publius Crassus adulescens, qui equitatui praeerat, quod expeditior rat quam hi ui inter aciem versabantur, tertiam aciem laborantibus nostris subsidio misit. Principal (complex) CRASSUS 1. Publius 2. adules­cens 3. qui . . . praeerat MISIT 1. Id cum . . . adulescens (= when) 2. quod . . . versabantur (= why) 3. laborantibus . . . subsidio (= how) ACIEM tertiam

A₁. Id cum animad­vertisset Publius Crassus adules­cens Subordinate adverbial to MISIT in A cum Crassus Publius animad­vertisset — id —

A₂. qui equitatui praeerat Subordinate adjectival to CRASSUS in A qui qui (= Crassus) — praeerat equitatui — —

A₃. quod expedi­tior erat quam hi qui inter aciem versa­bantur Subordinate adverbial to MISIT in A quod (Crassus) — erat expedi­tior quam . . . hi versa­bantur — —

Demonstration II.

The Music of Arion.

The Music of Arion.

Demonstration II.

Ovid, Fasti ii. 83-92 (Hallam’s Edition).

Heading and Author.—The heading will probably suggest to you the well-known story of Arion and the Dolphin, and the name of the author, Ovid, will lead you to expect a beautiful version of the legend.

Read the Passage carefully.—As you read, notice all allusions that help you to the sense of the passage. Thus the first line (which you can no doubt translate at once) tells of the fame of Arion, and the succeeding lines describe the charm of his music.

The Form of the Passage: Elegiac Verse.—Scan9 as you read, and mark the quantity in the verse of all finals in -a. You will see the value of this, as you translate.

You can now begin to translate, taking one complete sentence at a time.

I. Quod mare non nōvit, quae nescit Ărīŏnă tellūs?

(i.) Vocabulary.—You will know all the words here, but observe nōvit = knows, not knew, for nōvi means I have become acquainted with, I have learned, and [Symbol: therefore] I know; and notice also the important cognates from the √γνο-, γνω-, -gna, -gno, γι-γνώ-σκω = I learn to know, cf. our know, ken, can, con—νό-ος (mind), -gna-rus = know-ing; no-sco (= gno-sco).

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence contains no subordinates; the two finite verbs, nōvit, nescit, are both principal.

Next, the form of the sentence, with the question-mark at the end, shows that mare must be the subject of nōvit, and tellus of nescit. (Ărīŏnă cannot be nominative, for the suffix -a is the usual Greek 3rd decl. Acc. Sing., where Latin has -em.) Also quod and quae are clearly interrogative and adjectival; so translate:—

What sea does not know, what land is ignorant of Arion?

N.B.—Try to render this line a little more poetically.

II. Carmine currentes ille tenēbat aquās.

(i.) Vocabulary.—You will know all these simple words.

(ii.) Translation.—Here again there are no subordinates. The principal verb is tenebat, the subject ille, and the object aquas; so translate:—

He used to stay the running waters by his song.

N.B.—Notice force of Imperfect in tenebat.

III. Saepe, sequens agnam, lupus est a voce retentus;

(i.) Vocabulary.—All you need notice here is the force of re- in retentus = held back, cf. our re-tain.

(ii.) Translation.—Before you translate, notice Ovid’s frequent use of parataxis, i.e. placing one thought side by side with another thought, without any connective, even although one thought is, in sense, clearly subordinate to another. This is one of the ways in which all great poets heighten the effect of what they say, and many examples of it are to be found in Ovid’s best elegiac verse. As you look through this passage you will find:

(a) Lines 1, 2, 3, 4 each form a complete sentence.

(b) In the whole passage there is not one subordinate conjunction.

(c) The only expressed connective is the simplest link-word et.

The principal verb is retentus est, the subject lupus. Sequens agnam describes lupus, and saepe and a voce tell us when and why the wolf was stayed.

Often has the wolf in pursuit of the lamb been stayed at the sound.

(For this use of a or ab to express origin or source cf. Ovid, Fasti, v. 655: Pectora traiectus Lynceo Castor ab ense.)

IV. Saepe avidum fŭgiens restitit agnă lupum.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

Restitit = stood still; re + si-st-o, i.e. from √sta-, strengthened by reduplication; cf. ἵ-στη-μι. Contrast carefully meaning of re-sto, = stand firm or be left.

(ii.) Translation.—Again a very simple sentence. The principal verb is restitit, the subject agnă; fugiens avidum lupum enlarges the subject ăgna, and saepe tells us when the lamb stood still.

Often has the lamb, when fleeing from the hungry wolf, stood still (stopped short in its flight).

N.B.—Notice the parallelism in this couplet, where the parallel lines express the same idea. This is a characteristic feature of Hebrew poetry, e.g.:

and is frequently employed by Ovid.10

V. Saepe cănes lepŏresque umbrā cŭbuēre sub unā.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

Lepŏres = hares. As this is closely connected by -que with cănes, you are not likely to confuse it with lĕpor (lepos; cf. λάμπω) = a charm, grace.

Cubuere = lay down. Cp. -cumbo in composition, and our recumbent, succumb, and cub-icle.

(ii.) Translation.—Another simple sentence about which there can be no doubt. The metre shows that umbrā must be taken with sub unā:—

Often have the dogs and the hares reclined beneath the same shade.

VI. Et stetit in saxo proximă cervă leae.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

Leae = lioness. Lea (poetical form of leaena) suggests leo.

(ii.) Translation.—The metre shows proximă must be taken with cervă. But to translate the nearest stag (hind) makes nonsense, and renders leae untrans­latable, while the hind very close to the lioness makes good sense.

And the hind has stood still on the crag close beside the lioness.

VII. Et sĭne līte lŏquax cum Palladis ālite cornix sēdit.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

Līte = strife. To litigate = contest in law (lit + agere) may help you to the root-meaning.

Loquax = talkative, clearly connected with lŏq-uor, and loq-uacious. Alite = a bird, lit. winged; cf. āl-a, a wing.

Cornix = a crow, probably from √καρ; cf. our croak, and κόραξ, cor-vus, a raven.

Palladis. You have no doubt heard of Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη, the virgin goddess of war and of wisdom.

(ii.) Translation.—The force of the illustration lies in the strong contrast between the chattering, tale-bearing crow and the wise, silent owl sacred to the goddess of wisdom. Two such opposites, under the spell of Arion’s music, forget to quarrel, though for the time in close company.

And the chattering crow has without strife sat in company with the bird of Pallas.

VIII. Et accipitri iunctă cŏlumbă fuit.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

Accipitri = hawk (a general name for birds of prey), probably from √πετ-, pet- = move quickly; cf. πέτ-ομαι = fly about; pĕt-o = fall upon, attack, seek.

So accipiter = ac + pĕt-, swift + flying; cf. ὠκύπτερος = swift-winged.

(ii.) Translation.—The metre shows that columbă and iunctă must be taken together:—

And the dove has-been-joined-to (has consorted with) the hawk.

IX. Cynthia saepe tuis fertur, vōcalis Ărīōn, Tamquam fraternis obstŭpuisse mŏdis.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

Cynthia = Diana (Artemis), so called from Mt. Cynthus, in Delos, where she and Apollo were born.

Fertur = is said, asserted; cf. fĕrunt = they say.

Vōcalis = tuneful, clearly from same root as vox, vŏc-o, &c., of our vocal. For change of quantity cf. rex, rēgis, from rĕgo.

Obstŭpuisse = to have been spell-bound; stŭp-eo, stŭp-idus, and our stupefy, stupid will suggest the root-meaning.11

Mŏdis = measures, especially of verse, or, as here, of music.

(ii.) Translation.—You will remember that Apollo, the god who brings back light and sunshine in spring, is also the god of music and of poetry. Ovid skilfully implies that Arion’s playing was so beautiful that even Diana, Apollo’s own sister, mistakes Arion’s playing for her brother’s.

This sentence takes up a whole couplet, but is in form quite simple. Thus fertur is the incomplete predicate, and obstupuisse saepe tuis modis tamquam fraternis completes the predicate, i.e. tells us all that is said of the subject Cynthia.

Vōcalis Ărīon is clearly vocative, or nominative of address.

O tuneful Arion, often is Cynthia said to have been spell-bound by thy strains, as by those of her brother (Apollo).

Final Suggestions.

You have now learnt how to translate this passage, but you must do more before you can master it. Thus in these simple but beautiful lines notice:—

(i.) Vocabulary.—This is easy and familiar, but even if you know the meaning of the words study their cognates—i.e. related words—as pointed out to you in the vocabulary, e.g. under nōvit, p. 25, sentence I.

(ii.) English Derivatives.—Remember that often, where you cannot think of an English derivative, some very familiar French word will help you to the root-meaning of the Latin. Thus:—

Latin. French. English.

Carmine Charme Charm (Song)

Agnam Agneau Lamb

Lupus Loup Wolf

Cerva Cerf Stag (Hind)

and notice that where the English word, e.g. charm, differs in spelling from the Latin, it is because it comes to us through a French channel. Cf. feat from Fr. fait = L. factum.

(iii.) Allusions and Parallel Passages.—In verse these are often numerous and important. Poetry is naturally full of imagery, and borrows from many sources. Thus, for ll. 1-8, compare Hor. Od. I. xii. 5:

and Verg. G. iv. 510:

Shakesp. Hen. VIII. III. i.:

or read Tennyson’s poem ‘Amphion.’

Lines 5, 6.—Cf. Isaiah xi. 6: ‘The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.’

(iv.) Hints for Verses.—Ovid is the acknowledged master of elegiac verse. Therefore, whenever you have a passage of his elegiacs to translate, you should, if possible, learn it by heart. (The Arion story as told by Ovid is well worth a place in any collection of Ediscenda.) If you cannot do this, notice useful phrases and turns of expression, e.g.:—

Line 1.—A question, instead of a bare statement, where no answer is expected.

(Dido to Aeneas, Ov. Her. vii. 164.)

Lines 3, 4.—Parataxis and repetition of idea.

Line 9.—Vocalis Arion, apostrophe.

Line 2.—Simplicity; alliteration.

(v.) The Poem as Literature.—Ovid here depicts in language purposely exaggerated the power of music over the hearts of men, and even over nature, animate and inanimate. This gives point to the strong contrast in the lines which follow, where greed dominates all the feelings. Shakespeare refers to the love of music as a test of character:—

Demonstration III.

PART I.

A rash promise rashly believed.

Hannibali alia in his locis bene gerendae rei fortuna oblata est. |I| M. Centenius fuit cognomine Paenula, insignis inter primipili centuriones et magnitudine corporis et animo. |II| Is perfunctus militia, per P. Cornelium Sullam praetorem in senatum introductus, petit a Patribus, uti sibi quinque milia militum darentur: |III| se peritum et hostis et regionum, brevi operae pretium facturum et, quibus artibus ad id locorum nostri et duces et exercitus capti forent, iis adversus inventorem usurum. |IV| Id non promissum magis stolide, quam stolide creditum, tamquam eaedem militares et imperatoriae artes essent! |V| Data pro quinque octo milia militum; pars dimidia cives, pars socii. |VI| Et ipse aliquantum voluntariorum in itinere ex agris concivit, ac prope duplicato exercitu in Lucanos pervenit, ubi Hannibal, nequiquam secutus Claudium, substiterat. |VII|

Livy.

A rash promise rashly believed.

Hannibali alia in his locis bene gerendae rei fortuna oblata est. I M. Centenius fuit cognomine Paenula, insignis inter primipili centuriones et magnitudine corporis et animo. II Is perfunctus militia, per P. Cornelium Sullam praetorem in senatum introductus, petit a Patribus, [uti sibi quinque milia militum darentur]. III Centenius dixit se peritum ethostis et regionum, brevi operae pretium facturum: et, [quibus artibus ad id locorum nostri et duces et exercitus capti forent], iis adversus inventorem usurum. IV Id non promissum magis stolide, quam stolide creditum: [tamquam eaedem militares et imperatoriae artes essent!] V Data pro quinque octo milia militum; pars dimidia cives, pars socii. VI Et ipse aliquantum voluntariorum in itinere ex agris concivit, ac prope duplicato exercitu, in Lucanos pervenit, [ubi Hannibal, nequiquam secutus Claudium, substiterat]. VII

Livy.

Demonstration III.

Livy, xxv. 19.

Read the passage through carefully. As you read—

(i.) Make all the use you can of your previous knowledge of History, Geography, and Antiquities.

Thus, Hannibali suggests an episode in the Second Punic War.

M. Centenius is clearly the unfortunate subject of the episode.

in Lucanos . . . substiterat helps to fix the date as later than Cannae, 216 B.C.

(ii.) Observe carefully all phrases that will require special care in translating—e.g. bene gerendae rei—inter primipili centuriones—perfunctus militia—operae pretium—ad id locorum.

You will now have a sufficient general idea of the form and general sense of the passage, and may begin to translate sentence by sentence.

I. Hannibali alia in his locis bene gerendae rei fortuna oblata est.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

oblata, cf. ob-lation = an offering and of-fer.

(ii.) Translation.—

oblata est shows that the subject must be fortuna, with which alia must agree, and gerendae rei is dependent genitive. So you may at once translate literally Another fortune (chance) of carrying-on the matter well in these parts was offered to Hannibal. But you must not be satisfied with this, for though literally correct it is neither good History nor good English. So render: In this district Hannibal had another chance presented to him of achieving a success.

Here notice especially the use of the word res,12 a remarkable example of the tendency of Roman writers to employ the ordinary and simple vocabulary wherever possible instead of inventing a new word. As a writer well says, ‘Res is, so to say, a blank cheque, to be filled up from the context to the requisite amount of meaning.’ Cf. ‘Consilium erat quo fortuna rem daret, eo inclinare vires,’ where res = victory.

II. M. Centenius fuit cognomine Paenula, insignis inter primipili centuriones et magnitudine corporis et animo.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

primipili = the chief centurion of the triarii (the third, veteran line of the legion), the primipilus, or primus pilus. So Livy vii. 41, ‘primus centurio erat, quem nunc (centurionem) primi pili appellant.’

cognomine, i.e. co-nomen, a name added to the nomen, a title, epithet, e.g.:

Publius = the distinctive praenomen. Scipio = nomen, designating his gens. Africanus = cognomen.

(ii.) Translation.—The form of this sentence is quite simple. The subject is M. Centenius, with which insignis agrees. There was a certain M. Centenius, by surname Penula, distinguished among the first-rank (or chief) centurions (of the Triarii) both for his great bodily size and courage.

III. Is perfunctus militia, per P. Cornelium Sullam praetorem in senatum introductus, petit a Patribus, uti sibi quinque milia militum darentur.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

perfunctus, cf. function, and notice force of per = discharge completely.

(ii.) Translation.—The principal verb is clearly petit, and is is the only possible subject (= Centenius), with which introductus agrees. There is one subordinate clause, introduced by ut, telling us the object of his request.

Translate, first literally, He having discharged completely his military service, being introduced into the Senate by P. C. Sulla, the Praetor, asks the Fathers that 5000 soldiers should be given him. Now improve this: get rid at all costs of the having and being, which are not English, and change the asks into the past tense of narration. Thus:—

After he had completed his term of service, and had been introduced to the Senate by P. Corn. Sulla, the Praetor, he petitioned the Fathers that 5000 soldiers should be given him.

IV. Se peritum et hostis et regionum, brevi operae pretium facturum: et, quibus artibus ad id locorum nostri et duces et exercitus capti forent, iis adversus inventorem usurum.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

peritum, cf. ex-peri-enced. √par-, per-, pierce, go through; so, ex-per-ior, per-iculum, in sense of a trial.

operae pretium = lit. ‘what will pay for the trouble,’ i.e. worth while, i.e. worth the time (or labour) spent upon it.

artibus—ars. √ar = fit, join = skill in joining something, skill in producing; so, artist, artisan, artifice, etc.

ad id locorum13 = to that point of time. The ideas of place and time readily interchange; so, in loco = at the right place or time.

(ii.) Translation.—The form of the sentence shows that it is reported speech, and not the actual words of the speaker Centenius, who is still the principal subject, and dixit, understood, the principal verb, and se peritum . . . usurum the object of dixit. You should now be able to translate without any difficulty, and the logical common-sense rules for the conversion of Or. Recta into Or. Obliqua explain the mood of the verb capti forent in the subordinate clause introduced by quibus.

Literally: Centenius said that he, experienced in both the enemy and the districts, would soon make it worth (their) while: and that he would use against their inventor those arts by which up to that time both our leaders and our armies had been overcome. Notice that the long relative clause quibus artibus . . . forent is in Latin placed before the antecedent iis.

You will readily see that this must be improved in several points. Thus:—

(a) Use Oratio Recta—more graphic and better suited to our idiom.

(b) arts. Change this to some more suitable military term—e.g. tactics.

He was well acquainted (he said) both with the enemy and the country, and would shortly make it worth their while, and would employ against their originator those very tactics by which both our leaders and our armies had up to that time been baffled.

V. Id non promissum magis stolide, quam stolide creditum: tamquam eaedem militares et imperatoriae artes essent!

(i.) Vocabulary.—

stolide, cf. stolid = dull, foolish.

(ii.) Translation.—The finite copula est is, as often, omitted; the two principal verbs are promissum (est) and creditum (est) linked by the comparative particles magis—quam, and the subject is id; tamquam—essent! is a subordinate clause modifying the two principal verbs, and expressing contemptuous wonder.

Cf. ‘tamquam clausa sit Asia, sic nihil perfertur ad nos.’

You can now translate

Literally: That was promised not more foolishly than it was foolishly believed, just as if the arts of a soldier and of a general were the same.

Here you can make several improvements; avoid the repetition of foolishly, and use a better term than arts, and perhaps break up the sentence into two short ones. Thus:—

The folly of the promise was not greater than that of the credit it received. Just as though the qualities of a soldier and of a general were the same!

VI. Data pro quinque octo milia militum; pars dimidia cives, pars socii.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

dimidia √med-, mid- = middle, so dimidius = dis + medius.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence is very simple: notice that here, too, sunt and erant are omitted.

Eight thousand soldiers were given him instead of five: half were citizens, half allies.

VII. Et ipse aliquantum voluntariorum in itinere ex agris concivit, ac prope duplicate exercitu, in Lucanos pervenit, ubi Hannibal, nequiquam secutus Claudium, substiterat.

(i.) Vocabulary.—

aliquantum = considerable, used in the neuter as a noun, with a partitive genitive voluntariorum. Cf. use of satis, parum, etc.

concivit = raised, lit. roused, stirred up. Cf. ci-eo, and our ex-cite, in-cite.

substiterat = had halted. si-st-o is only a form of sto strengthened by reduplication (cf. ἵστημι) with a causal force. Cf. restitit, p. 27, sentence iv.

(ii.) Translation.—The principal subject is clearly ipse; there are two principal verbs, concivit and pervenit, coupled by ac, and one subordinate clause, ubi . . . substiterat, introduced by ubi, and modifying pervenit.

The sense is so clear that you may translate at once into good English:—

Moreover he himself raised a considerable number of volunteers in the country during his march; and so, with his numbers nearly doubled, he reached Lucania, where Hannibal, after his fruitless chase of Claudius, had halted.

The following version was shown up by a boy of fifteen in a recent scholarship examination:

‘Hannibal in carrying on his successful campaign met with some different luck in this district. Marcus Centenius, whose cognomen was Penula, was famous among the centurions of the first rank for his huge limbs and great courage. This man, after having accomplished his years of military training, on being introduced into the Senate by the Prætor P. Cornelius Sulla, requested the Patricians to give him 5000 soldiers. He said that he was well acquainted both with the enemy’s tactics and the district round about, and in a short time would convert the engagement into a prize for the State: moreover, he added, I will employ the same tactics against the enemy as those by which our generals and troops have been captured in these parts. This was faithfully believed as it was faithfully promised: the tactics of the soldiers and of the commanders were so much alike! He received 8000 men instead of 5000: half of them were Roman citizens, half allies: moreover he himself got some volunteers while on the march in the country districts and so almost doubled his army: he thus reached the territory of the Lucani, where Hannibal after a fruitless pursuit after Claudius, had taken up his position.’

This version is neither bad nor good. The style is, on the whole fair, knowledge of vocabulary very fair, and the rendering generally accurate. It will, however, be of use to you as an object lesson: so notice carefully the following points:—

I. Style.

Sentence IV.—

(i.) The Oratio Obliqua of the original he renders partly as Reported Speech and partly as Oratio Recta. This is, of course, to be avoided. Contrast the rendering given under Sentence IV.

Sentence III.—

(ii.) Is perfunctus . . . darentur. He uses too many participles. Contrast version under Sentence III.

Sentences VI., VII.—

(iii.) He translates data pro quinque . . . substiterat by one long sentence, instead of breaking it up into two at least.

II. Vocabulary.

Sentence IV.—

Se peritum . . . usurum. He confuses pretium with praemium, operae with rei publicae (?). He should have been familiar with the phrase operae pretium.

inventorem he renders by enemy; perhaps a careless mistake, as if the word were inimicum (which after all does not = hostem).