17.04.24: practice reading the fifth declension

Below is a text that gives further practice in the fifth declension in context. In the posts I use many texts from Helen Chesnutt’s schoolbook. As a former teacher, I have to take my hat off to her. Both here, and in previous texts, it must have taken her a long time to think up passages that gave practice in a specific feature of grammar to help her pupils, and, in this example, to include every case ending of the singular 5th. And she did that in the early 1930s with no Google, no Wiktionary, no laptop, nothing.

Dē aciē triplicī

(Chesnutt: Road to Latin [extract])

Exercitus Rōmānus ad proelium īnstrūctus aciēs appellābātur. Aciēs Caesaris aciēs triplex appellābātur. Aciēs triplex complūrēs legiōnēs habēbat. Omnis legiō in decem cohortēs dīvīdēbātur. Eae cohortēs ad proelium parātae hōc modō īnstruēbantur. Prīma aciēs quattuor cohortēs habēbat. Mīlitēs prīmae aciēī gerēbant pīla quae prīmō impetū in hostēs mittēbant. Secunda aciēs trēs cohortēs habēbat. Eae cohortēs saepe prīmae aciēī auxiliō mittēbantur. Tertia aciēs quoque trēs cohortēs habēbat. Tertia aciēs vel prīmam aciem vel secundam aciem magnō in perīculō iuvāre poterat. Mīlitēs quī proximē cōnscrīptī erant reī mīlitāris perītī nōn erant in tertiā aciē conlocābantur. Interdum aciēs triplex circiter octingentōs pedēs pertinēbat. Interdum aciēs legiōnum sex veterānārum quam Caesar in rīpīs Axonae īnstrūxerat [had drawn up] circiter mīlle passūs pertinuit [stretched out].

Vocabulary

A good way of learning vocabulary is to group the words into topics; although many of these words have appeared in previous posts, they are all connected with the military and since the military features a lot in Roman writing, they continually appear:

Military vocabulary

aciēs, -ēī [5/f]: battle-line

auxilium, -ī [2/n]: help; assistance

cohors, cohortis [3/f]: cohort; a military unit of 500 men

cōnscrīptus, -a, -um: conscripted

impetus, -ūs [4/m]: attack

īnstrūctus, -a, -um: this word occurs a lot when referring to the battle-lines; it comes from the verb īnstruō, īnstruere [3] meaning, in this context, to arrange the soldiers in battle formation:

• Exercitus Rōmānus ad proelium īnstrūctus … ¦ The Roman army drawn up / set in order for battle …
• Eae cohortēs ad proelium parātae hōc modō īnstruēbantur ¦ These cohorts, ready for battle, were drawn up in this way

legiō, legiōnis [3/f]: legion

mīles, mīlitis [3/m]: soldier

pīlum, -ī [2/n]: javelin; throwing spear

proelium, -ī [2/n]: battle

veterānus, -a, -um: veteran

Other vocabulary

Axona [m]: a river in Gallia (Belgium), now called the Aisne

complūrēs: several

pertineō, pertinēre [2]: (here) extend; stretch

proximē: most recently

Notes

Examples of fifth declension in different cases; note, again, the passive marker -ur

[1] Tertia aciēs [nominative] vel prīmam aciem [accusative] vel secundam aciem [accusative] magnō in perīculō iuvāre poterat.

• The third battle-line was able to help either the first battle-line or the second battle-line in great danger.

[2] Mīlitēs prīmae aciēī [genitive]

• the soldiers ¦ of the first battle-line

[3] reī [genitive] mīlitāris ¦ perītī nōn erant

• … were not skilled ¦ in military matters

[4] Eae cohortēs saepe ¦ prīmae aciēī [dative] ¦ auxiliō [dative] ¦ mittēbantur.

• These cohorts were often sent ¦ as assistance ¦ to the first battle-line

[5]

dē aciē [ablative] triplicī

• about the acies triplex

in tertiā aciē [ablative] ¦ conlocābantur

• were postioned ¦ in the third battle-line