25.01.25: level 2; topic; crime and punishment [7]: reading [2]

[1] occīdō, -ere, occīdī, occīsus [3]: kill

nōn occidēs (Vulgate) │ Thou shalt not kill

sexāgintā mīlia hominum ūnō diē volāticōrum manibus occīdī meīs. (Plautus) │ with my own hands, in one day, I slew sixty thousand flying men.

[i] active and [ii] passive forms of the same verb

[i] magnum numerum eōrum occīdērunt (Caesar) │ they killed a great number of them

[ii] magnusque eōrum numerus est occīsus (Bellum Africum) │ and a great number of them were killed [literally: was killed agreeing with numerus (singular)

trucīdō, -ārē, -āvī, -ātus [1]: slaughter; massacre

caedō, -ere, cecīdī, caesus [3]: kill; murder; (mil.) defeat (incurring heavy losses)

[2] venēnō, -āre, -avī, -ātus [1]: poison

[i] active and [ii] passive forms of the same verb

[i] serpentem in aquam mīsit quī eam venēnāvit (Hyginus) │ the sent a serpent into the water which poisoned it

[ii] imperāvit quam plūrimās [a] venēnātās serpentēs vīvās [b] colligī eāsque in vāsa fictilia [b] conicī (Nepos) │ He gave orders for the greatest possible number of venomous snakes to be collected and to be thrown together into earthenware jars.

[a] the past passive participle is often used as an adjective i.e. literally poisoned, but it would be translated as poisonous (venomous)

[b] note the use of the passive infinitives of

colligō, -ere, collēgī, collēctus [3]: gather together > colligī: to be gathered together

coniciō, -ere, coniēcī, coniectus [3-iō]: throw together > conicī: to be thrown together

[3] iugulō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1] < iugulum, -ī [2/n] (physical) throat; (figurative) murder; the verb, apart from meaning ‘slay’ or ‘kill’, may also translate as ‘slit the throat’ and ‘strangle’ (strangulation was a common form of execution)

[i] active and [ii] passive forms of the same verb

illum miserum ¦ fugientem ¦ iugulāvit (Cicero) │ he slew that miserable man ¦ as he was fleeing

īnsciente Antigonō ¦ iugulātus est ¦ ā cūstōdibus (Nepos) │ he was strangled ¦ by his guards ¦ without the knowledge of Antigonus

[4] coniūrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1] │ [i] swear together by oath [ii] conspire

[i] PASICOMPSA: et inter nōs coniūrāvimus, ego cum illō et ille mēcum: ego cum virō et ille cum muliere, nisi cum illō aut ille mēcum, neuter stuprī causā caput līmāret. (Plautus)│ and we swore on oath between ourselves, I with him and he with me: neither I with a man nor he with a woman would besmirch our head for the reason of [= because of] sexual intercourse unless it was I with him or he with me

[ii] circumspicite paulisper mentibus vestrīs … hōsce ipsōs hominēs quī huic adfīnēs scelerī fuērunt. Catilīna contrā rem pūblicam coniūrāvit. cuius aurēs umquam haec respuērunt cōnātum esse audācter hominem ā pueritiā nōn sōlum intemperantiā et scelere sed etiam cōnsuētūdine et studiō in omnī flāgitiō, stuprō, caede versātum? (Cicero) │ Survey for a moment in your mind's eye … these very men who were implicated in this wickedness. Catiline conspired against the republic. Whose ears were ever unwilling to believe in this attempt on the part of a man who had spent his whole life, from his boyhood upwards, not only in intemperance and debauchery, but who had devoted all his energies and all his zeal to every sort of enormity, and lust, and bloodshed?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catilinarian_conspiracy

adfīnis, alternative to affīnis, -e: (here) associated with; taking part in

huic adfīnēs scelerī [dative] fuērunt │ they were party to this crime / wicked deed

This extract contains numerous words referring to immorality i.e. not necessarily crimes but terms used to besmirch a person’s character:

caedēs, -is [3/f]: see previous post; bloodshed

flāgitium, -ī [2/n]: disgraceful / shameful action or crime; scandal

intemperantia, -ae [1/f]: lack of moderation; extravagance; excessive behaviour

stuprum, -ī [2/n]: see previous post; note that, both in the Cicero and the Plautus texts, the noun again refers to sexual impropriety i.e. sexual intercourse (outside marriage); lust

In the same “area” of vocabulary is: libīdō, libīdinis [3/f]: desire; lust; wantonness; sensuality

[5] interficiō, -ere, interfēcī, interfectus [3-iō]: kill

Salvē, quī mē interfēcistī paene vītā et lūmine (Plautus) │ Welcome to you, you who have almost deprived me of life and light [= you who have almost killed me …]

atque eōs ¦ convulnerātōs ¦ usque in castra rēgia reppulērunt multōsque ex hīs interfēcērunt. │and he drove them ¦ [who had been / having been] severely wounded ¦ to the king's camp, and slew many of them

[6] The last extract makes extensive use of the passive and is a good illustration of why it is important to be very familiar with it; in particular note how Latin can express the idea concisely with a single word whereas the translation most often requires several. There are seven passive forms used here which allow for a flowing and fast-moving narrative not weighed down by clauses.

quōs … [i] corripī atque [ii] interficī iussit; quōrum alter ¦ [iv] acceptō vulnere [iii] occupātus ¦  per suōs prō [vi] occīsō [v] sublātus, ¦ alter [vii] interfectus est. (Caesar)

quōs … [i] corripī atque [ii] interficī iussit: passive infinitives │ He ordered them … [i] to be seized and [ii] put to death, one of whom

quōrum alter ¦ [iv] acceptō vulnere [iii] occupātus │ one of whom [iv] (literally) having been seized by a wound [iii] which had been received = having received a dangerous wound

per suōs prō [vi] occīsō [v] sublātus [est]: the verb ‘esse’ is often omitted │ [v] he was carried off [vi] for dead [= like a person who had been killed i.e. the participle is acting like a noun]