Vocabulary
armātūra, -ae [1/f]:
armour; equipment
- peditēs levis armātūrae: light armoured infantry
auxilium, -ī [2/n]:
assistance; in the plural, auxilia, may be the only neuter noun in
Latin that describes living things i.e. it refers specifically to
auxiliary troops (but I’m not 100% on that!)
caedō, caedere [3]:
(various meanings) [i] strike [ii] (here) cut down; kill; murder
[iii] defeat decisively
frūstrā: in vain
parēs: equal
praesidium, -ī [2/n]:
garrison; protection
Notes
If you’re new to
learning a language, I’m just giving a little piece of advice from my own
experience. None of us can learn everything at once and so, there are a couple
of points in the notes that refer to big, and time-consuming topics [notes 1
and 2] and a learner can end up going down “side roads” by becoming involved in
aspects of the language which, at this stage, aren’t necessary. Points [1] and
[2] were in the text and so all I’m going to do is refer to them briefly so
that the “flow” of reading isn’t interrupted by going off on a tangent and
explaining them in depth. They will be dealt with in later posts. If you do
want to know more about them now, I’ve given links to reliable Youtube
tutorials that explain them more thoroughly.
[1]
dīvīsus est: was divided
victae sunt: were defeated
frūmentum … coāctum:
grain gathered …
- dīvīsus, -a, -um: divided
- victus, -a, -um: conquered
- coāctus, -a, -um: gathered (together)
These three which have
the same endings as any other 1st / 2nd declension adjective are called participles;
they are formed from verbs and they are the equivalent of, for example:
The letter was written (by
the emperor).
The commander
was killed (by a soldier).
In grammar they’re
called passive participles referring to what has been
done or what was done. The key point to note for now is
the following:
Exercitus Rōmānus…in
trēs partēs dīvīsus est. [Latin uses the present tense
of the verb esse]
- The Roman army was divided into three parts. [English uses the past tense of the same verb]
Omnēs nātiōnēs ab
exercitibus Rōmānīs victae sunt. [Latin uses the
present tense of the verb esse]
- All the nations were conquered by the Roman armies. [English uses the past tense of the same verb]
Sometimes, as in
English, the participle can be used without the verb and it’s acting like an
adjective agreeing with the noun, here frūmentum (neuter):
frūmentum ā
fīnitimīs gentibus coāctum
- Grain, gathered from neighbouring nations, …
If you want to know
more at this stage:
[2]
appropinquantēs:
approaching
fugientēs:
fleeing
These two are also
participles, specifically present participles, and we have, to some
extent, equivalents in English:
We saw the
soldiers who were approaching the city walls.
We can replace that
with:
We saw the
soldiers approaching the city walls, i.e. we can lose the “who
were”.
They’re called present participles
because they refer to an action happening at the same time as the
main action; it has nothing to do with when the action is or was happening.
We saw [action] the
soldiers approaching [action at the same time] the city walls.
From the text:
Mīlitēs prīmī in
hostēs appropinquantēs pīla mittēbant.
- The soldiers first hurled javelins at the approaching enemies [= the enemies who were approaching]
(Exercitus) … in
hostēs fugientēs impetum faciēbat
- (The army) … used to make an attack on the fleeing enemies [= the enemies who were fleeing]
If you want to know
more at this stage:
[3]
potentēs: powerful
potentissimus,
-a, -um: (the) most powerful
maximus, -a, -um:
(the) greatest [… virōs maximae virtūtis (genitive):
men of the greatest courage]
[4]
Eae cōpiae tamen ¦
magnō ūsuī erant
- These troops, however, were of great use [service].
Equitātus ¦ Caesarī et
exercituī ¦ magnōauxiliō erat.
- The cavalry was of great assistance [advantage] ¦ to Caesar and to the cavalry.
Exercitūs Rōmānī ad
multās terrās ¦ sociīs ¦ praesidiō ¦ mittēbantur.
- The Roman armies used to be sent to many lands ¦ as protection ¦ for the allies.
All of the words are
in the dative case. This usage refers to the purpose of the
noun.
“I’m delighted to have
been ¦ of assistance ¦ to you”. It’s formal but it
illustrates the point.
What was my purpose?
> to be of assistance
Who benefitted from
that assistance? > you did
Both of these concepts
are expressed by the dative case in Latin.
Exercitūs Rōmānī ad
multās terrās ¦ sociīs [dative] ¦ praesidiō [dative] ¦ mittēbantur.
What was the purpose
of the Roman army being sent to many lands? > to act as protection
Who benefitted from
that protection? > the allies
[5] mīlitēs Rōmānī
virtūte vīribusque omnēs aliōs superāvērunt
Watch out for the word
in bold! It can easily be misread (as I did when I started). There are two
nouns which look very similar to each other but have completely different
meanings.
vir, -ī [2/m]: man
vīs, vīs [3/f]: force;
power; the plural stem of this is vīr¦ēs (strength) and the presence of the /r/
can lead you to think it’s talking about ‘men’, but it isn’t:
mīlitēs Rōmānī
virtūte vīribusque omnēs aliōs superāvērunt
The Roman soldiers
surpassed all others in courage ¦ and in strength.
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