25.07.26; Level 3+; Subjunctive [75] dependent uses [7] cum-clauses (5) concessive (ii) practice

Complete the Latin sentences with the verbs listed below:

[i] Although he is good, he is not wise.

Cum __________ bonus, nōn est sapiēns.

[ii] Although the old man does not have a lot of food, he nevertheless invites friends to dinner.

Cum senex multum cibum __________, amīcōs tamen ad cēnam invītat.

[iii] Although you do not want to come with me, nevertheless you have to do this.

Cum mēcum venīre __________, hoc tamen facere dēbēs.

[iv] Although you did not want to come with me, nevertheless you had to do this.

Cum mēcum venīre __________, hoc tamen facere dēbēbās.

[v] Although he knew about the affair, he nevertheless said nothing.

Cum dē rē __________, nihil tamen dīxit.

[vi] Although the farmer was poor, he was nevertheless pious and happy.

Cum agricola pauper __________, erat pius tamen et contentus.

[vii] He did nothing to help me, although he could / was able to.

Nihil mē adiūvit, cum __________. (Cicero)

[viii] Although the forces of the enemy were greater, the Romans nevertheless overcame them.

Cum cōpiae hostium __________ maiōrēs, Rōmānī tamen eās vīcērunt.

[ix] Turnus, although he was fighting very bravely, was nevertheless defeated.

Turnus, cum fortissimē __________, tamen victus est.

[x] But although I had done everything, I was not able to recover his goodwill.

Sed, cum omnia __________, … eam voluntātem eius … recūperāre nōn potuī. (Cicero)

[xi] Although I had been asked, nevertheless I did not reply.

Cum __________, tamen nōn respondī.

[xii] Cicero, although he was / had been born in a small town, nevertheless lived in Rome.

Cicerō, cum in oppidō parvō __________, Rōmae tamen vīvēbat.

essent; esset; fēcissem; nōn habeat; nātus esset; nōlīs; nōllēs; posset; pugnāret; rogātus essem; scīret; sit

____________________

[i] sit
[ii] nōn habeat
[iii] nōlīs
[iv] nōllēs
[v] scīret
[vi] esset
[vii] posset
[viii] essent
[ix] pugnāret
[x] fēcissem
[xi] rogātus essem
[xii] nātus esset

25.07.26; Level 3+; Subjunctive [74] dependent uses [7] cum-clauses (4) concessive (i)

Look at the following sentence.

[A] He is lazy ¦ but [B] he gets good results.

[A] He is lazy. [B] However / nevertheless / despite that, he gets good results.

There are two opposing ideas. [A] creates the expectation that he would not get good results, but [B] shows that, despite being lazy, this has not prevented him from achieving them.

This same idea can be expressed using what is known in grammar as a concessive construction. In English, concession can be expressed in several ways.

As a concessive clause:

• Although he is lazy, he gets good results.
• Even if he is lazy, he gets good results.
• Despite / in spite of the fact that he is lazy, he gets good results.

As a concessive phrase:

• Despite being lazy, he gets good results.

English may also reinforce concession by adding words such as nevertheless. In this example, the second part of the sentence overrides or qualifies the first.

• While we welcome the Prime Minister’s statement, we nevertheless feel that he has not gone far enough.

“Concession” refers to acceptance / recognition of a fact / admission that something is true:

While we welcome the Prime Minister’s statement …

…but that admission is then set aside in a specific way; here, it does not prevent a criticism from being made:

• … we nevertheless feel …

Latin conveys this idea in a number of ways. In this post we look at one:

Apart from expressing cause and circumstance, cum + subjunctive can also express although.

[a] Frequently this is reinforced with tamen (nevertheless), making the concessive sense clear.

Cum puellam amāret, tamen ex urbe abiit. │ Although he loved the girl, he nevertheless left the city.

Militēs, cum montēs vīdissent, tamen gāvīsī sunt. │ The soldiers, although they had seen the mountains, nevertheless rejoiced.

Cum prīmī ōrdinēs concidissent, tamen ācerrimē reliquī resistēbant. (Caesar) │ Though the first ranks had fallen, still the others resisted vigorously.

[b] However, tamen may not be used in the sentence and so careful reading – and thinking – in context is needed to identify whether the clause is concessive:

Cum hostēs fortēs essent, Rōmānī vīcērunt. │ Although the enemy were brave, the Romans won.

A way of ‘testing’ whether the sentence is expressing a concessive idea is mentally to reword it:

• The enemies were brave, but the Romans won.
• The enemies were brave. However / nevertheless / despite that, the Romans won.

i.e. despite the fact that the enemies were brave, that did not prevent the Romans from winning.

Think about it: “When / since the enemies were brave, the Romans won” does not make sense!

Examples:

[i] Cum multum labōrāverit, parum profēcit.

Think: he has worked hard, ¦ but he has made little progress

> Although he has worked hard, he has made little progress.

[ii] Cum graviter vulnerātus esset, pugnāvit.

Think: he had been seriously wounded. However / nevertheless / despite that, he fought.

> Although he had been seriously wounded, he fought.

Would any other translation of those two examples make sense?

Since he has worked hard, he has made little progress.

Since he had been seriously injured, he fought.

No, they wouldn’t. 

24.07.26; Level 3+; Comenius (1658) CXLIII; the besieging of a city [1] text and translation

Military terminology is a frequent feature of Roman writing, and there is a very wide range of vocabulary associated with it.

Roman writers usually depict what they considered important, and this can skew our perception of ordinary life, which is less frequently described in depth. We might be forgiven for thinking that Romans were perpetually fighting. In fact, although the empire’s population may have reached around 70 million, most inhabitants never directly experienced warfare, which was typically confined to particular regions.

Nevertheless, war — and success in war — was a crucial part of Roman identity, and military campaigns were recorded, from a Roman perspective, by authors such as Caesar, Livy and Tacitus. For that reason, military vocabulary is common in Latin prose.

In this short text, Comenius makes extensive use of such vocabulary and, while some of it refers to weaponry unknown to the Romans, much of what you read here forms an important part of historical writing.

The besieging of a city │ Obsidium Urbis

[1]

A city that is like to [going to / about to] endure a siege, | Urbs passūra obsidiōnem,

is first summoned by a trumpeter | prīmum prōvocātur per tūbicinem (1)

and (is) persuaded to yield. | et invītātur ad dēditiōnem.

Which if it refuseth to do, | Quod sī abnuat facere,

it is assaulted by the besiegers | oppugnātur ab obsidentibus

and (is) taken by storm. | et occupātur.

[2]

Either by climbing over the walls with scaling-ladders (2) | Vel mūrōs per scālās (2) trānscendendō,

or (by) breaking (them) down with battering-engines (3) | aut diruendō arietibus (3),

or (by) demolishing (them) with great guns (4) | aut dēmōliendō tormentīs (4),

or (by) breaking through the gates with a petard (5) | vel dirumpendō portās exōstrā (5),

or (by) casting granadoes [“grenades”; cannonballs] (6) | vel ēiaculandō globōs tormentāriōs (6),

out of mortar-pieces (7) | ē mortāriīs (ballistīs) (7),

into the city, by engineers (8) | in urbem per ballistāriōs (8),

who lye behind leaguer-baskets  (9) | quī latitant post gerrās (9),

or (by) overthrowing (it) with mines by pioneers (10) | vel subvertendō cūniculīs per fossōrēs (10).

[3]

They that are besieged defend themselves from the walls (11) | Obsessī dēfendunt sē dē mūrīs (11),

with fire and stones, &c. | ignibus, lapidibus, etc.,

or break out by force (12) | aut ērumpunt (12).

A city that is taken by storm | Urbs vī expugnāta,

is plundered, | diripitur,

destroyed, | exciditur,

and sometimes laid even with the ground. | interdum aequātur solō.

23.07.26: Level 2; Comenius (1658) CXXII; city [1]

Comenius uses many terms associated with a city’s means of defence, such terms commonly appearing in Roman descriptions of warfare. Complete the Latin text with the words listed below. Check the vocabulary list for more detailed explanations.

[1]

Of many houses is made a village (1) | Ex multīs domibus fit __________ (1)

[Not numbered in the image:

or a town, │ vel __________,]

or a city (2). | vel __________ (2).

That and this are fenced and encircled │ Istud & haec mūniuntur & cinguntur

with walls (a wall) (3) | __________ (__________) (3)

a trench (4) | __________ (4)

bulwarks (5) | __________ (5)

and pallisades (6). | & __________ (6).

Within the walls is the void place [see vocabulary notes] (7) | Intrā mūrōs est __________ (7)

outside, the ditch (8). | extrā, __________ (8).

In the walls are fortresses (9) | In moenibus sunt __________ (9)

and towers (10) | & __________ (10)

[Not numbered in the image:

watch-towers are │ __________ extant]

upon the higher places (11). | in ēditiōribus __________ (11).

aggeribus; fossa; locīs; moenibus; mūrō; oppidum; pāgus; pomoerium; propugnācula; specula; turrēs; urbs; vallīs; vallō

Vocabulary and notes

agger, -is [3/m]: earthwork, bulwark, especially defensive ramparts, dykes, dams, causeways, and piers

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=agger-cn

domus, -ūs [4/f]: house

fossa, -ae [1/f]: ditch; trench; moat

fossam pedum vīgintī dīrēctīs lateribus dūxit (Caesar)

• he dug a trench twenty feet deep, with perpendicular sides

[image: defensive ditch at the Antonine Wall, Scotland]

locus, -ī [2/m]: place

moenia, -um [3/n pl.]: city walls

mūrus, -ī [2/m]: wall

oppidum, -ī [2/n]: town

pāgus, -ī [2/m]: village, district

pōmoerium, -ī (pomērium, -ī) [2/n]: boundary; limits; the open space left free from buildings within and without the walls of a town (Lewis and Short); “sacred space”

aggere et fossīs et mūrō circumdat urbem; ita pōmērium prōfert (Livy)

• He surrounded the City with a rampart, trenches, and a wall, and so extended the “pomerium”.

Livy goes on to explain the meaning of pomerium, the word originally referring to Etruscan religious practices: This space, which the gods forbade men to inhabit or to till, was called “pomerium” by the Romans.

propugnāculum, -ī [2/n]: fortress, battlement

solidātī mūrī, prōpugnācula addita, auctae turrēs (Tacitus)

• The walls (were) strengthened, battlements were added, and the towers were raised in height

specula, -ae [1/f]: watchtower; lookout

in hōc iugō collēs sunt excelsī paucī, in quibus singulae turrēs speculaeque singulae perveterēs erant conlocātae, (Bellum Africum)

• On this ridge there are a few lofty hills, on which single towers and single watchtowers of great antiquity had been placed,

turris, -is [3/f] (acc. -em or -im): tower, especially military either for defence or mobile (turrēs ambulātōriae) for siege purposes

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=turris-cn

[image: Mediaeval siege tower]

urbs, urbis [3/f]: city

vallum, -ī [2/n]: [i] wall; rampart; entrenchment [ii] palisade, a wall of wooden stakes

castra in altitūdinem pedum XII vāllō fossāque duodēvīgintī pedum mūnīrī iubet (Caesar)

• He orders him to fortify a camp with a rampart twelve feet in height, and a trench eighteen feet in breadth.

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=vallum-cn

Modern English: wall < OE: weall (wall; earthwork; rampart; dam) < La: vallum; Modern German: Wall (rampart; parapet; embankment)

[image: reconstruction of a Roman palisade, Lahntal, Germany]

More information on Roman fieldworks is at:

02.01.26: Level 2; Vincent (Latin Reader); XXXVII; a storm [ii] Roman fieldworks

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/10/020126-level-2-vincent-latin-reader_15.html

22.07.26: Level 1; Comenius (1658) CXXIII; the inward parts of a city [1]

Could mid-17^th century kids describe their town in Latin? Yes, they could. Apart from a couple of words that need short explanation, Comenius creates a topical exercise in speaking with visual stimuli 300 years before anybody else thought it was a brilliant idea. And it was relevant to the kids because what they saw in the book, they saw in their everyday lives.

Complete each section with the nouns listed below.

[1]

Within the city are (1) streets paved with stones, │ Intrā urbem sunt (1) __________ lapidus strātae,

(2) market places, in some places with (3) galleries (here: arched walkways) │ (2) __________ , alicubi cum (3) __________

and (4) narrow lanes. │ et (4) __________ .

The public buildings are in the middle of the city, │ Pūblica aedificia sunt in mediā urbe,

(5) the church │ (5) __________

(6) the school │(6) __________

(7) the guild hall (town hall; Comenius uses the Classical Latin senate house) │(7) __________

(8) the exchange. │(8) __________ .

angiportīs; cūria; domus mercātūrae; fora; plāteae; portibus; schola; templum

[2]

[Not numbered in the image:

About the walls and the gates, │ Circā __________ et __________ , ]

(9) the magazine (i.e. the place were weapons / arms are stored) │ (9) __________

(10) the granary│ (10) __________

[Not numbered in the image:

inns │ __________

ale houses │ __________ ]

(11) cook shops│ (11) __________

(12) the Play-house │ (12) __________

(13) and the hospital.│ (13) __________.

armāmentārium; caupōnae; dīversōria; granārium; nosodochium; popīnae; theātrum; moenia; portūs

[3]

In the by-places, │ In recessibus,

(14) the houses of office [note 1] │ (14) __________

And (15) the prison │ et (15) __________

[Not numbered in the image:

In the chief steeple [note 2] │ In __________ prīmāriā]

is (16) the clock │est (16) __________

and the (17) watchmen’s dwelling. │ et habitātiō (17) __________.

carcer; foricae (cloācae); hōrologium; turre; vigilum

[4]

[Not numbered in the image:

In the streets are │ In __________ sunt]

(18) wells. │ (18) __________ .

(19) The river │ (19) __________

[Not numbered in the image:

or beck (small river; stream) │ vel __________ ]

running about the city │ urbem interfluēns

serves to wash away the filth. │ īnservit sordibus eluendīs.

(20) The tower [note 2] │ (20) __________

stands in the highest part of the city. │ exstat in summō urbis.

arx; flūvius; plāteīs; puteī; rīvus

Notes

(1) Here we have the “Old English” tradition of avoiding saying anything that could be deemed offensive and remotely ‘biological’, a tradition continuing all the way to at least the Victorians: they never talked about the ‘legs’ of a chair – but the ‘limbs’, and they never ‘went to bed’ – they ‘retired’.

This one is a tremendous example. Hoole, the schoolmaster, author and translator of Comenius, is unwilling to sully the sensitive ears of mid-17^th century schoolboys.

Back in 1658, if one was ‘caught short’, one did not use ‘public toilets’ or ‘latrines’, rather one went to the Houses of Office!

The Latin, however, is quite happy to call it what it is:

cloāca, -ae [1/f]: underground sewer

forica, -ae [1/f]: public latrine

But even Comenius avoids lātrīna, -ae [1/f]: lavatory

The refusal to mention the unmentionable bodily functions is not confined to Britain. In 1879 the Americans Lewis and Short, compilers of the Latin-English dictionary, described latrīna as ‘water-closet’; ‘privy’. At all costs, don’t actually say what it is – and the US still says “restroom”.

(2)

turris, -is [3/f]: the general word in Classical Latin for a tower, especially in military contexts.

In section [3] Comenius uses turris to refer to a steeple.

arx, arcis [3/f]: citadel; stronghold; castle, but one that is most often located in a high position.

In section [4] the translation as ‘tower’ reflects English usage e.g. The Tower of London, which is not so much a tower, but a collection of fortified buildings originally functioning as a fortress and prison.