18.04.24: Schoolbook sentences; 5th declension.

They’re simple little sentences from 1880. Complete each sentence with the words from the list. The answers are at the end. I haven’t used all the sentences since some of them didn’t practise this declension. The numbers match the answers.

aciē; diēī; fidem (x 2); perniciem (x2); plānitiē; rērum; spē; spem; spēs

[1] He has great hope of victory.

Magnam victōriae __________ habet.

[2] The sun is the king of the day.

Sōl est __________ rēx.

[3] The commander sees the enemy on the plain.

Dux hostēs in __________ videt.

[4] The army fears disaster.

Exercitus __________ timet.

[5] They fight in hope of great victory.

Magnae victōriae __________ pugnant.

[6] The infantry are on the battle-line.

Peditātus in __________ est.

[9] The master praises the loyalty of the slave.

Dominus servī __________ laudat.

[10] They see the destruction of the enemy.

Hostium __________ vident.

[12] The king’s son is the hope of the kingdom.

Fīlius rēgis est rēgnī __________.

[13] There are a great number of matters.

Magnus est __________ numerus.

[14] The senate praises the loyalty of the commander.

Senātus dūcis __________ laudat.

____________________

17.04.24: practice reading the fifth declension

Below is a text that gives further practice in the fifth declension in context. In the posts I use many texts from Helen Chesnutt’s schoolbook. As a former teacher, I have to take my hat off to her. Both here, and in previous texts, it must have taken her a long time to think up passages that gave practice in a specific feature of grammar to help her pupils, and, in this example, to include every case ending of the singular 5th. And she did that in the early 1930s with no Google, no Wiktionary, no laptop, nothing.

Dē aciē triplicī (Chesnutt: Road to Latin [extract])

Exercitus Rōmānus ad proelium īnstrūctus aciēs appellābātur. Aciēs Caesaris aciēs triplex appellābātur. Aciēs triplex complūrēs legiōnēs habēbat. Omnis legiō in decem cohortēs dīvīdēbātur. Eae cohortēs ad proelium parātae hōc modō īnstruēbantur. Prīma aciēs quattuor cohortēs habēbat. Mīlitēs prīmae aciēī gerēbant pīla quae prīmō impetū in hostēs mittēbant. Secunda aciēs trēs cohortēs habēbat. Eae cohortēs saepe prīmae aciēī auxiliō mittēbantur. Tertia aciēs quoque trēs cohortēs habēbat. Tertia aciēs vel prīmam aciem vel secundam aciem magnō in perīculō iuvāre poterat. Mīlitēs quī proximē cōnscrīptī erant reī mīlitāris perītī nōn erant in tertiā aciē conlocābantur. Interdum aciēs triplex circiter octingentōs pedēs pertinēbat. Interdum aciēs legiōnum sex veterānārum quam Caesar in rīpīs Axonae īnstrūxerat [had drawn up] circiter mīlle passūs pertinuit [stretched out].

Vocabulary

A good way of learning vocabulary is to group the words into topics; although many of these words have appeared in previous posts, they are all connected with the military and since the military features a lot in Roman writing, they continually appear:

Military vocabulary

aciēs, -ēī [5/f]: battle-line

auxilium, -ī [2/n]: help; assistance

cohors, cohortis [3/f]: cohort; a military unit of 500 men

cōnscrīptus, -a, -um: conscripted

impetus, -ūs [4/m]: attack

īnstrūctus, -a, -um: this word occurs a lot when referring to the battle-lines; it comes from the verb īnstruō, īnstruere [3] meaning, in this context, to arrange the soldiers in battle formation:

• Exercitus Rōmānus ad proelium īnstrūctus … ¦ The Roman army drawn up / set in order for battle …
• Eae cohortēs ad proelium parātae hōc modō īnstruēbantur ¦ These cohorts, ready for battle, were drawn up in this way

legiō, legiōnis [3/f]: legion

mīles, mīlitis [3/m]: soldier

pīlum, -ī [2/n]: javelin; throwing spear

proelium, -ī [2/n]: battle

veterānus, -a, -um: veteran

Other vocabulary

Axona [m]: a river in Gallia (Belgium), now called the Aisne

complūrēs: several

pertineō, pertinēre [2]: (here) extend; stretch

proximē: most recently

Notes

Examples of fifth declension in different cases; note, again, the passive marker -ur

[1] Tertia aciēs [nominative] vel prīmam aciem [accusative] vel secundam aciem [accusative] magnō in perīculō iuvāre poterat.

• The third battle-line was able to help either the first battle-line or the second battle-line in great danger.

[2] Mīlitēs prīmae aciēī [genitive]

• the soldiers ¦ of the first battle-line

[3] reī [genitive] mīlitāris ¦ perītī nōn erant

• … were not skilled ¦ in military matters

[4] Eae cohortēs saepe ¦ prīmae aciēī [dative] ¦ auxiliō [dative] ¦ mittēbantur.

• These cohorts were often sent ¦ as assistance ¦ to the first battle-line

[5]

dē aciē [ablative] triplicī

• about the acies triplex

in tertiā aciē [ablative] ¦ conlocābantur

• were positioned ¦ in the third battle-line

17.04.24: rēspūblica

A very common word when reading Latin is rēspūblica which we tend to translate as ‘republic.’ The term ‘Roman Republic’ refers to the period in Roman history from the overthrow of the Roman kingdom (traditionally dated to 509BC) and ending in 27AD with the establishment of the Roman Empire, but it has other meanings such as ‘the state’, ‘the nation’ or ‘civil affairs’. Politics figure highly in Roman writing and so you’re bound to come across it. The word is actually a combination of the 5th declension noun rēs (matter) and the 1st declension adjective publica i.e. rēspūblica literally means ‘a public matter’. Although usually written as one word, both parts decline.

17.04.24: A few examples of the fifth declension from the authors

[1] summa igitur āmentia est in eōrum fide ¦ spem habēre, (Cicero) │ It is, therefore, the greatest folly to have hope in their loyalty

[2] hostium aciēs cernēbātur (Caesar) │ and the enemy’s battle-line was in sight

[3] diēbus XXX (Caesar) │ within thirty days

[4] hanc regiōnem diērum plūs trīgintā iter in longitūdinem (Livy) │ This region, extending in length more than thirty days' march

[5] Carmina Burana:

Egestātem │ poverty

Potestātem │ power

Dissolvit ut glaciem. │ it melts (them) like ice.

17.04.24: fifth declension; case endings

Posted are the case endings for the 5th declension using two nouns as examples: diēs (day) and rēs (thing; matter; issue) and below are some phrases that might help you to remember them. Note that, in the genitive and dative singular, if the stem ends in a consonant, the –e is short [-C|eī]; if the stem ends in a vowel, the –e is long [-V|ēī]. This is not evident in written Classical Latin, but the distinction was made in pronunciation.

r¦ēs > rEī

di¦ēs > diĒī

[1] nominative singular, nominative and accusative plural: -ēs

The ending is in the English derivatives: species, rabies although the Latin pronunciation, of course, is different:

spe-ci-ēs [spé-ki-ēs]; ra-bi-ēs; di-ēs

• diēs Īrae: the day of Wrath

[2] The accusative singular has the same distinctive -em as all other declensions in the accusative:

First: puellam

Second: hortum

Third: mīlitem

Fourth: exercitum

Fifth: diem

• Remember: carpe diem (Horace): Seize the day

[3] the genitive singular and the dative singular share the same ending: -eī

• Example in the genitive: prīma ¦ diēī ¦ hōra: the first hour ¦ of the day

[4] the ablative singular: -ē

• bonā fidē
• prīmā faciē
• quārē: for what reason?

[4] genitive plural: -ērum

• There is a famous book by the Roman author Lucretius entitled: dē ¦ rērum ¦ nātūra: on the nature ¦ of things

[5] dative and ablative plural: -ēbus

• Example in the ablative: Dā pācem, Domine ¦ in diēbus nostrīs: Give peace, Lord ¦ in our days

16.04.24: weather; vocabulary [3]; the fifth – and last - declension

arcus, -ūs [4/m] pluvius: rainbow

tonitrus, -ūs [4/m]: thunder

The first thing to note is that, in “percentage” terms, there are far fewer nouns in the 4th and 5th declension than in the other three; you can see that just by looking at the weather vocabulary in the two previous posts.

The fourth declension was covered in detail in recent posts, and so now we come to a milestone: the fifth declension - and the last one.

glaciēs, -ēī [5/f]: ice

Also:

dīluviēs, -ēī [5/f]: flood; deluge; English derivative: ante-diluvian (Biblical) before the (Genesis) flood; also used to describe extremely old-fashioned ideas

intemperiēs, -ēī [5/f]: immoderate rains; tempest; storm; English derivative: intemperate language i.e. language that lacks moderation; intemperate weather i.e. severe

temperiēs, -ēī [5/f]: moderate temperature; English derivative: temperate climate i.e. one without extremes

There are very few 5th declension nouns. I’ve listed the ones that I think are most common. All 5th declension nouns are feminine apart from [i] diēs (day) which, depending on context, may also be masculine, and [ii] meridiēs [masculine]

diēs, -ēi [5/m or f]: day

mēridiēs, -ēi [5/m]: midday; noon; south

aciēs, -ēī [5/f]: keenness; edge; line of battle

faciēs, -ēī [5/f]: shape; form; figure; face

effigiēs, -ēī [5/f]: image; likeness; effigy

glaciēs, -ēī [5/f]: ice

perniciēs, -ēī [5/f]: disaster; ruin

plānitiēs, -ēī [5/f]: plain; plateau

rabiēs, -ēī [5/f]: rage; madness

speciēs, -ēī [5/f]: sight; look(s); appearance

superficiēs, -ēī [5/f]: surface

fidēs, -eī [5/f]: pledge; trust; faith

rēs, -eī [5/f]: thing; matter; event

spēs, -eī [5/f]: hope

bona fide: genuine, without deception < Latin bonā fidē: in good faith

prima facie: (Law) enough to establish a fact unless disproved < Latin prīmā faciē: at first sight

The images posted show the common feature of derivatives; the original Latin words can have a range of related meanings whereas the derivatives tend to be very specific.

PS: I just realised that one of the images posted looks a bit like Meghan Markle: it isn't