Text (Cato continues his speech:) "Postquam copiae nostrae secundo bello Punico ad Cannas superatae sunt, populus Romanus non desperavit. Paucis annis non solum novae copiae a nobis paratae, sed etiam Poeni ex Italia fugati et in Africa superati sunt. Carthago nondum deleta est, sed delebitur sine dubio brevique interibit. Quis enim ignorat socios nostros a Poenis lacessi, quem fallit eos a nobis auxilium petere? Apparet divitias Poenorum rursus crescere, quamquam a nobis tantae pecuniae requisitae sunt. Et Hannibal non solum Carthagine, sed tota Africa multum valet. Suo loco de eo dicam; numquam quietus ero, dum vivet! Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam!" --------------------------- Reading vocabulary you needn't learn: Carthagine: (here:) in Carthago Carthaginem esse delendam (AcI): that Carthago has to be destroyed Vocabulary
| desperare | to despair, be without hope, give up | despair |
| censêre | to suggest, advise, argue | |
| crescere (crevi, cretum) | to grow, increase | crescent |
| fallere | to deceive, dupe | |
| fallit | it escapes (a person's notice) | |
| requirere (requisivi, requisitum) | to seek, ask; demand | require |
interire |
to perish, go to ruin, decay |
L19: ire |
| locus, -i | place, location, situation, spot | local |
| socius, -i | partner, ally, associate | social |
| pauci, -ae, -a | few | |
| secundus, -a, -um | the second, the following |
second |
| totus, -a, -um | whole | total |
| ceterum | besides, otherwise, moreover | |
| postquam | after, when | |
| rursus | again | |
| suo loco | at a fitting place, at its proper place |
Practise the vocabulary of this lesson by matching it.
Grammar
This lesson introduces another use for the PPP and another use
for the Ablative.
First, the PPP: When the PPP is combined with a form of the verb
esse, it becomes the passive form of the perfect tense. You don't need
the special passive personal endings (-or, -ris, -tur and so on) for the
perfect tense. Let's have an example:
1) "Puer laudavit" -> "The boy has praised" or "The boy praised".
2) "Puer laudatus est" -> "The boy has been praised" or "The boy was praised".
In the first sentence, the active one, "laudavit" gave you information
1) on the subject: the personal ending -it tells you that the subject was either
he, she or it.
2) on the action: the stem lauda- tells you that the action is "to praise".
3) on the time: the inserted -v- tells you that the grammatical tense is perfect,
that means that the action happened in the past.
In the second sentence, these tasks were split between the PPP and the
form of esse:
1) "est" contains the personal ending -t
2) "laudatus" contains the verb stem lauda-
3) the two words together tell you that the tense is perfect and passive
Additionally, there's one more hint at the subject: the ending of the PPP has
to fit to the subject like an adjective. In this example, the ending is -us, which
tells you not only that the subject must be singular (you already know that
because of the personal ending -t), but also that it must be masculine.
Now, the other use of the Ablative, which I promised to explain:
The Ablative can be used to express a time or a place.
For example:
"Copiae Romanorum bello Punico superatae sunt."
-> "The Roman troops were beaten in/during the Punic war."
"Novae copiae tota Italia paratae sunt."
-> "New troops were prepared in all of Italy."
Exercise Add the right endings to the PPP. Remember it has to fit to the subject: 1. Tyranni tota Graecia fugat_ sunt. 2. Saepe oppida Romanorum a Poenis occupat_ sunt. 3. Cuius filius hodie e summo periculo servat_ est? 4. Quid tibi ab amicis de patria nostra narrat_ est?
Information on Cato Information on the Punic Wars Exercise answers: 1) fugati (tyranni) 2) occupata (oppida) 3) servatus (filius) 4) narratum (quid)