The short Latin text involves considerable study, but it is useful since it incorporates a wide range of military vocabulary.
We will clarify,
when necessary, how Charles Hoole, the translator of Comenius’ work expressed
the terms in 1658 – including the use of Neo-Latin – and compare them with Roman understanding.
This provides a
way into exploring extracts from the Roman authors. You will notice in the
quotations that descriptions of military action can be densely packed with specialist
terms and so, as we progress, we will add important vocabulary.
Vocabulary
discussed in this section is marked in bold.
Obsidium Urbis
Urbs passūra obsidiōnem
prīmum prōvocātur per tūbicinem et invītātur ad dēditiōnem. Quod
sī abnuat facere, oppugnātur ab obsidentibus et occupātur. Vel mūrōs
per scālās trānscendendō, aut diruendō arietibus, aut dēmoliendō
tormentīs, vel dirumpendō portās exōstrā, vel ēiaculandō globōs
tormentāriōs ē mortāriīs (ballistīs) in urbem per ballistāriōs, quī latitant
post gerrās, vel subvertendō cūniculīs per fossōrēs. Obsessī dēfendunt
sē dē mūrīs ignibus, lapidibus, etc., aut ērumpunt. Urbs vī
expugnāta diripitur, exciditur, interdum aequātur solō.
[1] vīs, vīs
[3/f]: force; power; violence; (plural) strength
Nōn vī, sed
verbō. │ Not by violence, but by the word.
The plural stem of
this is vīr- (strength); the presence of the /r/ can be misread as vir,
-ī [2/m]: man, but the meanings are completely different
mīlitēs Rōmānī
virtūte vīribusque omnēs aliōs superāvērunt │ The Roman soldiers
surpassed all others in courage and strength.
vīs is also an example of a defective noun which refers to a noun where not all the case endings are attested in Classical Latin (the genitive and dative singular are lacking in normal usage); the English verb “can” is defective since there is no infinitive “to can”
[2]
porta, -ae [1/f]:
gate
scāla, -ae [1/f]:
ladder
mūrus, -ī [2/m]:
wall
tūbicen, -inis
[3/m]: trumpeter
dēditiō, -ōnis
[3/f]: surrender, capitulation
ignis, -is [3/m]:
fire
lapis, lapidis
[3/m]: stone
[2]
[i]
obsidium, -ī [2/n],
or obsidiō, -ōnis [3/f]: siege
obses, obsidis [3
m/f]: hostage
Nouns derived from
the verb: obsideō, -ēre, obsēdī, obsessus [2]: besiege
(1) obsidēns,
-ntis: present active participle i.e. ‘besieging’ > obsidēns, -entis
[3/m]: besieger, i.e. the one who is besieging
(2) obsessus: perfect passive participle i.e. ‘having been besieged’ > obsessī, those who are besieged
____________________
Mnesilochust Alexander, quī erit exitiō reī patriae
suae; is Helenam āvēxit, cuiā causā nunc faciō obsidium Īliō
(Plautus)
- Mnesilochus is Alexander, who will be the destruction of his native city; he is the one that carried off Helen, on account of whom I am now laying siege to Ilium (Troy)
Obsidiō inde urbis et mūnītiōnēs; et interdum
per occāsiōnem impetus oppidānōrum in Rōmānās statiōnēs proeliaque
parva fieri (Livy)
- Then came the blockade of the town and the construction of siegeworks; and sometimes when the occasion allowed an attack by the townsfolk on the Roman outposts and skirmishes [literally: small battles] would take place.
exitium, -ī [2/n]: destruction
mūnītiō, mūnītiōnis [3/f]: [i] defending, fortifying;
[ii] defence, fortification
impetus, -ūs [4/m]: attack; impetus + in + acc: an
attack on …
statiō, statiōnis [3/f]: (Military) post; outpost;
station
proelium, -ī [2/n]: battle
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