24.01.26: Level 3; indirect statement; the accusative-infinitive [13]; the perfect passive infinitive [i]

Indirect statement very frequently involves the perfect passive e.g. reporting that somebody has been killed or that a city has been captured.

The same principle applies: we need an infinitive to convey this idea but all we do is take the fourth principal part of the verb, the perfect passive participle:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/10/130125-level-2-passive-voice-20-perfect.html

amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus

amātus, -a, -um: perfect passive participle │ having been loved

to this we add esse: amātus, -a, -um esse │ to have been loved

The ‘formula’ for creating the indirect statement remains the same i.e. [1] the subject of the indirect statement is in the accusative case [2] the verb becomes a perfect passive infinitive agreeing with the noun in the accusative case:

[1] Urbs dēlēta est │ The city was / has been destroyed.

> Cōnsul dīcit ¦ [i] urbem [ii] dēlētam esse.

[literally: the consul says [i] the city [ii] to have been destroyed.

> The consul says ¦ that [i] the city [ii] was / has been destroyed.

[2] Omnēs nāvēs tempestāte dēlētae sunt. │ All the ships have been destroyed by the storm.

> Nautae  audīvērunt  ¦ [i] omnēs  nāvēs [accusative plural feminine]  tempestāte  [ii] dēlētās [accusative plural feminine]  esse.

> The sailors heard ¦ that [i] all the ships [ii] had been destroyed by the storm.

[3] Epistula optimē scrīpta est. │ The letter was / has been very well written.

Quid dīcit pater tuus dē illā epistulā? │ What does your father say about that letter?

> Ait [i] eam optimē [ii] scrīptam esse.

> He says ¦ that [i] it [ii] was / has been very well written.

[4] Liber tuus surreptus est. │ Your book was / has been stolen.

> Scīsne [i] librum tuum [ii] surreptum esse?

> Do you know ¦ that [i] your book [ii] has been stolen?

[5] Capti sunt. │ They have been captured.

> Putāmus [i] eōs [ii] captōs esse.

> We think ¦ that [i] they [ii] have been captured.

[6] Hostēs superātī sunt. │ The enemy have been overcome.

> Dīcit [i] hostēs [ii] superātōs esse.

> He says ¦ [i] the enemy [ii] have been overcome.

[7] Note, as always, that the English translation may use different tenses in the indirect statement depending upon the tense of the verb used to introduce it:

Dīcit [i] librum [ii] missum esse. │ He says ¦ that [i] the book [ii] has been sent.

Dīxit [i] librum [ii] missum esse. │ He said ¦ that [i] the book [ii] had been sent.

Crēdit [i] filiās [ii] amātās esse ā patre. │ He believes ¦ that [i] the daughters [ii] were loved by their father.

Crēdidit [i] filiās [ii] amātās esse ā patre. │ He believed ¦ that [i] the daughters [ii] had been loved by their father.

Here is a tremendous example from the work of Adler:

Cum maiōre meā calamitāte ego nunc [ii] patruum meum, virum optimum ā mē tantopere amātum, apoplēxiā [iii] correptum esse [i] cognōscō.

And to my still greater ill-luck [i] I hear ¦ that [ii] my uncle, a very good man, whom I love so much, [iii] has been struck with apoplexy.

To avoid being struck by apoplexy, it’s a good plan to deal with indirect statements slowly!

Examples:

[1] [i] Tē ex conchā [ii] nātam esse autumant* (Plautus) │ they state ¦ that [i] you [ii] were born from a shell

*autumō

[2] Ipsus* illī dīxit ¦ [ii] conductam esse [i] eam (Plautus) │ he himself told her ¦ that [i] she [ii] had been hired

* = ipse

[3] [i] Omnīs rēs [ii] gestās esse Athēnīs autumant (Plautus) │ they say ¦ that [i] all these things [ii] were done in Athens

[4] Ex hominum mīlibus LX vix ad D … [i] sēsē [ii] redāctōs esse ¦ dīxērunt (Caesar) │ they said ¦ that from 60,000 men [i] they [ii] had been reduced to scarcely 500 (Caesar)

If you did anything wrong in Ancient Rome, you would have hoped that Cicero wasn’t prosecuting you …

[5] Et audēs, Sex. Naevī, negāre ¦ absentem [ii] dēfēnsum esse [i] Quīnctium? (Cicero) │ And do you, Sextus Naevius, dare to deny that [i] Quinctius [ii] was defended in his absence?

[6] illud dīcō, [i] dominum [ii] expulsum esse dē praediō, dominō ā familiā suā [i] manūs [ii] adlātās esse ante suōs Larēs familiārīs (Cicero) │ I say this, ¦ that [i] the owner [ii] was expelled from his farm; [i] that hands [ii] were laid on their master by his own slaves, before his own household gods

[7] [i] īnsidiās [i] factās esse cōnstat (Cicero) │ It is agreed (cōnstat) ¦ that [i] an ambush (pl. in Latin) [ii] was made

[8] Note the use of two different infinitives in indirect statements:

Ego ad forum illum conveniam atque illī hunc ānulum dabō, atque praedicābō ā tuā uxōre mihi [1] datum esse ¦ [2] eamque illum dēperīre. (Plautus)

I'll meet him at the Forum, and give him this ring, and will tell him ¦ that it [1] has been delivered to me from your wife, and ¦ that [2] she is dying for him.

24.01.26: Level 3; language review; Labours of Hercules [12] Cerberus

Hīs labōribus perāctīs, opus difficillimum Herculī imperātur. Erat in Tartarīs cānis triceps, nōmine Cerberus. Hic aditum in Tartara cūstōdiēbat. Hunc in terram ferre iussus est. In Tartara profectus est cum Hermā et Athēnā. Tum summō labōre Cerberum manibus captum in terram sēcum portāvit. Hīs labōribus fūnctus Herculēs servitūte ab Eurystheō līberātus est.

Tartarus, -ī [2/n]: Tartarus; hell (part of the underworld); (here in the plural) infernal regions

Translate the phrases and explain the form and use of the words in bold:

[i] opus difficillimum

[ii] In Tartara profectus est

[iii] summō labōre

[iv] Cerberum … sēcum portāvit

[v] Herculēs servitūte … līberātus est

____________________

[i] opus difficillimum │ a very difficult work; superlative adjective (neuter singular) < difficilis, -e

[ii] In Tartara profectus est │ he set out for the infernal regions; perfect tense < proficīscor, -ī, profectus sum [3/dep]

[iii] summō labōre │ with the greatest difficulty; ablative of manner

21.05.25: Level 3; summary of of the uses of the ablative case [6]: [i] the ablative of accompaniment; [ii] the ablative of manner

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/02/210525-level-3-summary-of-of-uses-of_37.html

[iv] Cerberum … sēcum portāvit │ he carried Cerberus with him; sēcum: ablative of reflexive pronoun sē (him/her/itself; themselves) + cum; the pronoun refers back to the subject i.e. literally: with himself

[iv] Hīs labōribus fūnctus │ literally: with these labours having been performed; ablative absolute with perfect active participle of fungor, -ī, fūnctus sum [3/dep]: perform; the verb is regularly followed by the ablative case

[v] Herculēs servitūte … līberātus est │ Hercules was freed from slavery; ablative of separation

17.06.25: Level 3; summary of of the uses of the ablative case [15]: the ablative of separation

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/03/170625-level-3-summary-of-of-uses-of.html

Having finished these labours, a very difficult work is appointed for Hercules. There was in the infernal regions a dog with three heads, Cerberus by name. He used to guard the approach to the infernal regions. He was ordered to bring him to earth. He set out for the infernal regions with Hermes and Athene. Then, with the greatest effort, Cerberus, (who had been) seized with his hands, he carried back to the earth with him. Having performed these labours, Hercules was freed from slavery by Eurystheus.

Engraving by Sebald Beham, 1540

23.01.26: Comenius CVI; the Celestial Sphere [1]; text

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/How_many_stars_are_there_in_the_Universe

According to the European Space Agency: “… there are something like 10¹¹ to 10¹² stars in our galaxy, and there are perhaps something like 10¹¹ or 10¹² galaxies.” Therefore, in my completely non-mathematical mind, those equations = a lot! Apart from the vocabulary that this text provides, it’s interesting to go back to 1658 to find out how many stars they thought there were. The text also contains my favourite phrase in Latin: stēllae errantēs │ ‘wandering stars’ i.e. planets.

And, if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, you can look up on a clear night and see what Comenius, and Galileo, and the Romans, and the Egyptians saw.

Below is the entire text (which is lengthy). Vocabulary and notes will be given in a series of posts afterwards. Following this, there will be more advanced (Level 3) texts from different authors who use the vocabulary discussed.

The Celestial Sphere │ Sphera cælestis

[1] Astronomy considereth the motion of the stars, astrology the effects of them. │ Astronomia cōnsīderat mōtūs astrōrum, astrologia eōrum effectūs.

[2] The globe of heaven is turned about upon an axle-tree, about the globe of the earth, in the space of XXIV hours. │ Globus cælī volvitur super axem, circā globum terræ, spaciō XXIV hōrārum.

[3] The Pole-stars, or Pole, the Arctick, the Antarctick, conclude the axle-tree at both ends. │ Stēllæ polārēs, Arcticus, Antarcticus, fīniunt Axem utrinque.

[4] The Heaven is full of stars every where. │ Cælum est stēllātum undique.

[5] There are reckoned above a thousand fixed stars; but of constellations towards the North: XXI, towards the South: XVI │ Stēllārum fīxārum numerantur plūs mīlle; sīderum vērō Septentriōnārium: XXI, Merīdiōnālium: XVI.

[6] Add (to these) the XII signs of the Zodiaque, every one XXX degrees … │ Adde Signa XII Zōdiacī, quodlibet graduum XXX …… whose names are … │ … quōrum nōmina sunt …

♈ Aries, ♉ Taurus, ♊ Gemini,  ♋ Cancer, ♌ Leo, ♍ Virgo, ♎ Libra, ♏ Scorpius (Scorpio), ♐ Sagittarius, ♑ Capricorn(us), ♒ Aquarius, ♓ Pisces.

[7] Under this move the seven wandring-stars which they call planets, whose way is a circle in the middle of the Zodiack, called the ecliptick │ Sub hōc cursitant stēllæ errantēs VII quās vocant planētās, quōrum via est circulus, in mediō zōdiacī, dictus eclīptica.

[8] Other Circles are the Horizon, │ Aliī Circulī sunt Horīzōn

the Meridian, │ Meridiānus (see previous post)

the Æquator, │ Æquātor,

the two Colures, │ duo Colūrī,

the one of the Equinocts, │ alter Æquinoxiōrum,

(of the Spring │ (Vernī,
when the ☉ entreth into ♈; │ quando ☉ ingreditur ♈;
Autumnal │ Autumnālis,
when it entreth in ♎) │ quando ingreditur ♎)

the other of the Solstices, │ alter Solsticiōrum (solstitiōrum)
(of the Summer, │ (Æstīvī,
when the ☉ entreth into ♋ │quando ☉ ingreditur ♋
of the Winter │ Hybernī (hībernī),
when it entreth into ♑) │ quando ingreditur ♑)

the Tropicks, │ duo Tropicī
the Tropick of Cancer, │ Tr. Cancrī,
the Tropick of Capricorn, │ Tr. Capricornī,
and the two │ & duo
Polar Circles, │ Polārēs