06.08.25: Level 3; Kings of Rome [2]; the new city; the omens; the slaying of Remus

Mox Rōmulus Remusque volēbant in [1] iīs locīs, ubi ēducātī erant, urbem condere. Hinc foedum certāmen ā mītī prīncipiō ortum est. Namque, quoniam geminī erant, aetās discrīmen inter eōs facere nōn poterat. [2] “Uter”, inquiunt, “nomēn novae urbī dabit? [2] Uter [3] conditam imperiō reget?”.

Deōs igitur auguriō cōnsulunt. [4] Cuius causā templa capiunt, Palātium Rōmulus, Remus Aventīnum. Priōrī Remō signum venit; [4] cui sex vulturēs cito appārent. [5] Hōc nūntiātiō, duodecim Rōmulō sēsē ostendunt. [6] [a] Utrumque rēgem [6] [b] suī comitēs salūtāvērunt. Tempore enim [7] illī, hī numerō avium rēgnum sibi vindicābant.

Inde cum magnīs clāmōribus [8] congressī, ad caedem vertuntur. [9] Lūdibriō frātris Remus novōs trānsiluit mūrōs. Statim ab īrātō Rōmulō ictus cecidit. Tunc ille, “Sīc”, inquit, “[10] pereat, quīcumque alius trānsiliet moenia mea”. Ita sōlus potītus est imperiō Rōmulus; condita urbs conditōris nōmine appellāta est.

Vocabulary

augurium, -ī [2/n]: augury, divination, omen

īcō, -ere, īcī, ictus [3]: hit, strike stab

lūdibrium, -ī [2/n]: mockery

mītis, -e: gentle, mild, peaceful

potior, -īrī, potītus sum [4/deponent]: take possession (of + ablative); potītus est imperiō

quīcumque, quaecumque, quodcumque: who(so)ever; what(so)ever

trānsiliō, -īre, -uī [4]: jump across

vindicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1] (often with sibi): lay claim

templum, -ī [2/n]: the most common meaning is ‘temple’ but, here, it refers to districts, the literal meaning of templum being  a ‘space marked off' i.e. by the augur's staff, for the purpose of taking omens. Hence it means 'sacred enclosure’ and then ' temple.'

Palātium: the Palatine; Aventīnum: the Aventine, two  of the seven hills on which Rome stood when complete.

Notes

[1] iīs = eīs

[2] uter: which (of two)?

“Uter … nomēn … dabit? │ Which (of the two) … will give the name?

“Uter … reget?”. │ Which (of the two) … will rule?

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/04/250725-level-3-pronominal-adjectives-6.html

[3] Uter conditam … reget? │ Which (of the two) will rule (the city) when / after it has been built?

condō, -ere, condidī, conditus [3]: establish, form, construct

The perfect passive participle conditam (having been constructed) refers to urbs in the previous sentence.

[4]

cuius causā │ and for this reason / because of this

cui sex vulturēs … appārent │ and two vultures … appear to him

connecting relatives

[5] hōc nūntiātiō │ with this having been announced = after this had been announced; ablative absolute

[6] [a] Utrumque rēgem [b] suī comitēs salūtāvērunt.

[a] uterque: both; each (of two)

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/04/250725-level-3-pronominal-adjectives-61.html

[b] suī: the reflexive possessive adjective suus, -a, -um (his, her etc. own) is used to refer back to the subject in order to differentiate his (own) etc. as belonging to the subject as opposed to his i.e. somebody else’s.

Vir suōs servōs vocat │ The man calls his (own) slaves.

Vir servōs eius vocat │ The man calls his (somebody else’s) slaves.

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/08/090924-level-1-ora-maritima-103-notes.html

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/03/280525-level-1-readings-12-15-review-3.html

In this sentence, however, suī comitēs is in the nominative case i.e. the subject, in order to emphasise that each king had his own group of comrades.

Example:

Sōcratem cīvēs suī interfēcērunt. │ Literally: His own fellow citizens put Socrates to death. > Socrates was put to death by his own fellow citizens.

Therefore:

Utrumque rēgem suī comitēs salūtāvērunt. │ Literally: His own comrades hailed each (of the two) as king. > Each of them was hailed as king by his own comrades.

[7] ille and hic and can be used to distinguish between two (groups of) people in a similar way to English ‘the former’ and ‘the latter’ i.e. the sentence refers to the two groups of supporters of Remus and Romulus respectively.

Six vultures appeared first to Remus. Twelve vultures then appeared to Romulus.

Tempore enim [7] illī, hī numerō avium rēgnum sibi vindicābant. │The former (i.e. the supporters of Remus) laid claim to the kingdom [claimed the kingdom for themselves] based upon (priority of) time, the latter (i.e. the supporters of Romulus) on the number of birds.  

[8] congressī │ having come together

congredior, congredī, congressus sum [3-iō / deponent]: come together, meet; deponent verbs have passive forms but active meanings

[9]  Lūdibriō frātris │ in mockery of (his) brother

The phrase ‘the love of a father’ – out of context – can have two meanings:

[i] a father’s love / the love felt by a father i.e. the father is the ‘possessor’ of the love

[ii] love for a father i.e. the father is the object of the love

English does not distinguish them, and neither does Latin, but [i] and [ii] have different grammatical names:

[i] amor patris: a father’s love / the love felt by a father = subjective genitive i.e. it is the father who loves

[ii] amor patris: the love for a father = objective genitive i.e. it is the father who is being loved

Despite the differences in terms, the meaning is generally clear in context:

Lūdibriō frātris [objective genitive] │ in mockery of (his) brother i.e. it is Remus who is mocking, and Romulus who is the object of that mockery

[10] Sīc … pereat, quīcumque alius trānsiliet … │ May he perish in this way, whoever else will jump (jumps) across …

The subjunctive is soon to be discussed in detail. For now, simply note this example of its many uses: the jussive subjunctive from the verb iubeō, -ēre, iussī, iussus [2]: command; the jussive subjunctive is similar to the imperative (command) form of the verb. However, whereas the imperative is only giving a command directly to one or more people, the jussive subjunctive can refer to any person or number, often translated into English as ‘may / let somebody (do something)’

vivat rēx! │ long live the king! [literally: may the king live]

vīvant professōrēs! │ long live the professors! [ = may the professors live]

Tū quoque salvus sīs, Bernarde. │ May you also be well, Bernard.

[11] condita urbs conditōris nōmine appellāta est; these texts are adaptations from the work of Livy. However, the origin of the city’s name is unclear. The proper noun Romulus is in itself formed from Rōma + ulus i.e. the proper noun is derived from the name of the city, not vice-versa.

See ‘etymology’ at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome