Latin course for the Virtual School of Languages

Lesson 35: "Don't bury me in Rome!"

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Text
Scipio, cuius iuventus victoriis et thriumphis clara erat, in senectute
acerbo dolore vexatus est. Multi enim huic viro magnae virtutis
invidebant, quod in civitate tanta erat auctoritate. Imprimis Marcus
Porcius Cato non desiit eum accusare, quamquam civitatem e 
summis calamitatibus et difficultatibus et paene e servitute 
servaverat Romanisque post bella periculosa pacem paraverat.
Nonnulli tribuni, homines summae audaciae, non dubitaverunt
Scipionem in ius vocare et rationem postulare earum pecuniarum,
quas e bello reportaverat. Quibus Scipio respondet, ut est dignum
viro tanti animi.
Postea maestus Roma abiit et vetuit se in patria ingrata humari.
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Reading vocabulary you needn't learn:
reportare: to gain, bring along (as booty)
Roma: (here:) from Rome
humare: to bury


Vocabulary
postulare to demand, require
postulate
vetare (vetui, vetitum) to forbid
veto
invidêre (+ Dative) to envy (somebody)
L5: vidêre
tribunus, -i tribune (job in Ancient Rome)
tribune
triumphus, -i triumph, triumphal procession
triumph
dolor, -oris m pain, grief, misery
L1: dolêre
ratio, -onis f
reason, judgement; account; manner, method
rational
ius, iuris n justice, law
jurisdiction (ius + dicere); D: Jura
pax, pacis f peace
pacifist; EO: paco; I: pace
auctoritas, -atis f authority, power
authority
calamitas, -atis f

calamity, misfortune, disaster

calamity
difficultas, - atis f difficulty
difficulty
iuventus, -utis f youth
Iuventus Turin
senectus, -utis f (old) age, dotage
L33: senex
servitus, -utis f slavery
L10: servus
virtus, -utis f manliness, excellence, bravery, courage, moral virtue, virtuousness, power
virtue; L13: vir
ingratus, -a, -um ungrateful, unpleasant; not welcome
L6: gratus
paene almost
in ius vocare to bring to court, accuse
rationem postulare to demand account (for sth.)
Practise the vocabulary of this lesson by matching it.	

Grammar
Again, we continue practising the Consonantic Declension. This lesson features words that
go -as -> -atis and -us -> utis. Both of them are usually feminine words. There is nothing
new to be learned about them, starting from the Genitive, they behave just like every
masculine or feminine Consonantic noun.

Let me use this lesson for a very small chapter on a special usage of the Genitive / Ablative.
Look how the Genitive is used in these sentences: 
"Aeneas vir magnae virtutis erat."
"Legio viam multarum horarum explevit." 
In both cases, the Genitive is translated using the preposition "of". If that sounds too obsolete,
you have to use "with" or improvise. You are free to do so as long as the resulting sentence
has the same meaning as the Latin one.
The Ablative can be used in almost the same way, see for example:
"Consules in civitate Romanorum magna auctoritate erant."
"Si bono animo erimus, cunctas difficultates superabimus." 


Exercise
Determine the following forms. There can be several possibilities:
patri, pueri, ei, dono, tribunis, militis, ii, bellum, matrum, causae, quae

Information on Scipio
Information on Cato


Exercise answers:
patri = Dative Singular of pater (Gen: patris)
pueri = Genitive Singular of puer (Gen.: pueri)
ei = Dative Singular of is, ea or id (Gen.: eius)
dono = Dative or Ablative Singular of donum (Gen.: doni)
tribunis = Dative or Ablative Plural of tribunus (Gen: tribuni)
militis = Genitive Singular of miles (Gen.: militis)
ii = Nominative Plural of is (Gen.: eius) 
      OR 1st person Singular Perfect tense of "ire"
bellum = Nominative or Accusative Singular of bellum (Gen.: belli)
matrum = Genitive Plural of mater (Gen.: matris)
causae = Genitive Singular, Dative Singular or Nominative Plural of causa (Gen.: causae)
quae = Nominative Singular or Nominative Plural of quae (Gen.: cuius)
           OR Nominative Plural or Accusative Plural of quod (Gen.: cuius)