Take a look at these two English sentences:
Did you buy the book I was telling you about? │ Did you buy
that book I was telling you about?
There’s really no difference between the two i.e. both ‘the’
and ‘that’ are simply referring back to something that was talked about before.
You’re not saying “I’d like to buy that book” and pointing to it on a shelf.
is, ea and id can also be used in this way. This is the
closest we sometimes get in Latin to translating a word as ‘the’:
Tum ad
Sullam iter fēcit et in eō itinere ter hostium exercitūs fūdit. │ He then made
a journey [i.e. marched] to Sulla, and on the way [i.e. on that / the journey]
he defeated the enemy's army three times.
- in eā parte caelī │in that part of the sky (the speaker isn’t pointing to the sky but referring to a part of the sky previously mentioned)
- Post id proelium iterum hūc vēnī … │ After that / the battle, I came here …
- Itaque ad ea moenia cōpiās suās dūxit. │And so, he led his troops to those / the walls …
- Saepe eīs temporibus ubi erant servī, clāmōrēs servōrum vulnerātōrum audīvī. │ Often in those times when there were slaves, they heard the cries of wounded slaves.
- Eīs diēbus barbarī magnā vī impetūs faciēbant … │ In those days the barbarians made attacks with great force.
Below are some examples of is, ea, id being used in
different ways. Note the translations.
Eī quī auxilium rogant nōn validī videntur neque eōs hostēs
timent.
- Those who ask for help do not seem strong, nor do the enemy fear them.
Uxor erat eī Eurydicē nōmine, quam maximē amābat. Cum eā in
prātīs nitidīs lūdere gaudēbat. Prope Thrāciae ōram poēta uxorque eius bene
beātēque vīvēbant.
- He had a wife [i.e. to him was a wife] by the name of Eurydice whom he very much loved. He enjoyed playing with her in the shining meadows. Near the shore of Thrace the poet and his wife lived well and happily.
Eō tempore, Octāvius contrā Mārcum Antōnium bellum gessit.
- At that time Octavius waged war against Mark Anthony.
“Percussit Absalom omnēs fīliōs rēgis, et nōn remānsit ex
eīs saltem ūnus.” (Vulgate)
- “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons; not one of them is left.”
Et nōluit audīre eam: sed vocātō puerō quī ministrābat eī,
dīxit: ēice hanc ā mē forās, et claudē ōstium post eam. (Vulgate)
- And he refused to hear [listen to] her, but he called the boy who attended to him (i.e. was his servant) and said, “Throw this woman out away from me, and bolt the door after her.”
Nēmō eōrum relēgātus in exilium est. (Livy)
- None / not one of them was sent into exile.
