At the time I mentioned that
Vincent used a number of verbs which, at that stage, should simply be noted
until the appropriate time came to look at those verbs in more depth because
they are all deponent. Now that we have looked in detail at the deponent verbs
we can look again at the text:
fruor, fruī, frūctus sum [3/dep]: enjoy
loquor, loquī, locūtus sum [3/dep]: speak
queror, querī, questus sum [3/dep]: complain
versor, versārī, versātus sum [3/dep]: live; stay;
be somewhere
Vincentius loquor. │ I, Vincent, am talking
= This is Vincentius speaking / talking.
Est diēs calidus. │ It’s a hot day.
Temperātūra est ferē trīgintā quattuor
gradūs celsiī. │ The temperature is about 34⁰C.
Multī nōn crēdunt │ Many (people)
don’t believe (it)
sed hoc mihi placet. │ but [literally] this pleases
me = I like this.
Vērum est. │It’s true.
Ferē numquam queror │ I almost
never complain
dē calōre aestātis │ about the heat
of the summer.
quia mihi placet.
│ because [literally] it is pleasing to me = I like it
In hōc hortō pūblicō │In this park [lit: public
garden]
nōmine ‘Brazos Bend State Park’
│[literally] by the name of = called ‘Brazos Bend State Park’
versantur multī alligātōrēs. │ there
are many alligators.
Venīte mēcum │ Come with me
ad eōs spectandōs. │ to look at them.
Sī eōs vidēbō │ If I see them,
vōbīs ostendam. │ I’ll show you.
Bene, iam nōn multum loquar.
│Well, I’ll not talk much any more [lit: I will no longer talk a lot]
Volō enim multum ambulāre
│ For I want to walk a lot
et fruī deambulātiōne.* │ and enjoy the
walk.
Vīdī nōnnūllōs alligātōrēs │I saw / I
have seen some alligators
fortasse quīnque, sex aut septem
│ perhaps 5, 6 or 7
sed omnēs vidēlicet in aquā natant
… nunc. │ but they’re all evidently swimming in the water … now.
Nūllī versantur in terrā.
│ None are on the land.
*Deponent verbs followed by the ablative case
Volō enim multum ambulāre
│ For I want to walk a lot
et fruī deambulātiōne.* │ and enjoy
the walk.
fruor, fruī,
frūctus sum [3/dep]: enjoy
cibō
fruitur. │ He enjoys food.
Other deponent verbs that are followed by the
ablative case:
ūtor, ūtī, ūsus sum [3/dep]: use
Vincere scīs, Hannibal, victōriāūtī nescīs.
(Livy) │You know how to conquer, Hannibal, but you do not know how to use the
victory.
Miles gladiōūtitur. │ The soldier
uses a sword.
Omnibus
cōpiīsūtuntur. │ They make use of all their forces.
fungor, fungī,
fūnctus sum [3/dep]: perform (a duty / function)
consulatūfungitur. │He performs the office of consul.
pāscor, pāscī,
pāstus sum [3/dep]: feed oneself; (of animals) graze
bovēs … herbāpāscuntur.│ The cattle graze
upon the grass.
vescor, vescī,
-no perfect- [3/dep]: feed upon
Numidae
plērumque carne vēscuntur. │ The Numidians generally eat / feed on meat.
potior, potīrī,
potītus sum [4/dep]: obtain; take possession of
pīrātae nāvīpotiuntur. │The pirates take control of the ship.
Rēx Aegyptī
bellum īnfert quī terrāpotītur atque thēsaurōs templī et rēgiae
aufert. │ The king of Egypt wages war and he takes possession of the land
and steals the treasures of the temple and the palace.
Knowing what the genitive singular of
third declension nouns is not entirely a shot in the dark; there are patterns. Patterns
do not apply to every noun in the declension but there are certain endings to
look out for which will always have the same genitive case. Some examples came
up in the military vocabulary in the previous post:
[i]
imperātor, imperātōris
[3/m]: commander
-(t)or > -ōris
[ii]
legiō, legiōnis
[3/f]: legion
statiō, statiōnis
[3/f]: outpost
-(t)iō > -(t)iōnis
This ending occurs in hundreds of
English derivatives, and the creation of the derivative follows a
pattern:
Latin nominative: statiō
Latin accusative: accusative: statiōn¦em
> Anglo-Norman: estation i.e.
the /n/ of the accusative stem is retained but the accusative ending /em/
itself is lost
> Middle English: stacioun
> Modern English: station
[iii]
certāmen, certāminis [3/n]:
contest
-en > -inis
[2] The nouns above are created with
the use of suffixes:
[i] imperator; also nouns ending
in -sor
[ii] legiō; statiō
[iii] certāmen
Apart from those suffixes always
declining in the same way, they will always have the same gender:
[i]
imperātor, imperātōris
[3/masculine]: commander
Similarly:
senātor, senātōris
[3/masculine]: member of the Roman Senate; senator
lūsor, lūsōris [3/masculine]:
player
[ii]
statiō, statiōnis
[3/feminine]: outpost
Similarly:
nātiō, nātiōnis
[3/feminine]: birth; nation
[iii]
certāmen, certāminis [3/neuter]:
contest
Similarly:
carmen, carminis [3/neuter]:
song
Exercise
What is [i] the genitive singular and
[ii] the gender of the following nouns?
agmen, __________ [3/__]: column of
soldiers
ambitiō, __________ [3/__]: excessive
desire to please; desire for honour
Review [i] meaning and [ii] genitive
case endings of these third declension nouns; while all third declension nouns
have a genitive singular in -is, the stem to which that ending is attached
often differs from the nominative
Decius Mus reporting his dream on the battlefield, in a
painting by Jacob Matthias Schmutzer (1733–1811)
The Death of Decius Mus in Battle (1618) by Rubens
The impact of these figures in Roman
history is less, in my view, concerning whether or not they existed or if their
actions have been exaggerated / manipulated / fabricated (delete as applicable),
but rather their symbolic significance. I give a link to an article:
I make no political comment but
cite it merely to show that an individual who has featured in Roman history
since the 4th century BC still has influence today:
The enigmatic writer's real name is
Michael Anton, and he's a fast-talking 47-year-old intellectual who, unlike
most of his colleagues, can readily quote Roman histories and Renaissance
thinkers. But readers knew him throughout 2016 as Publius Decius Mus.
____________________
*[1] [iv]: [i] The gods had advised /
warned ¦ [ii] the consuls ¦ [iii] through a dream ¦ [iv] in this way: ¦ [v] “If
the army wins (La. future perfect: vīcerit; literally: will have won), ¦ [vi]
the commander will be killed: ¦ [vii] if the commander survives (La. future
perfect: superfuerit; literally: will
have survived) ¦ [viii] the army will be conquered.”
**[3]
devotion to
Rome in its entirety and its allies │ Prō rēpūblicā Rōmānā … prō populī Rōmānī
exercitū, legiōnibus, sociīs
selflessness:
prepared to sacrifice his own life, and belief in the gods: dedicates
his life to the Gods of the Underworld │ Deciī vītam … dīs Mānibus
dēvoveō
bravery:
rides alone into the battle-line │ sōlus in Latīnōrum aciem invāsit
energy:
kills a huge number of the enemy before dying in battle │ ingentem numerum
hostium occīdit
