CHAPTER V

Quintus amicum rogat: 'cur in agr6 Quintus amicos rogat: 'cur in agr6
laboras?' lab6ratis?'
amicus respondet: 'patrem iuv6.' amici respondent: 'patrem iuvamus.'

mater Quintum rogat: 'cur in via iaces, Quintus puellas rogat: 'cur in horto
Quinte?' sedetis, puellae?'
Quintus respondet: 'in via iace6 quod puellae respondent: 'in horto sedemus,
fessus sum.' quod fessae sumus.'

Quintus matrem rogat: 'quid facis, Quintus puellas rogat: 'quid facitis,
puellae?'
mater?'
mater respondet: 'cenam par6.' puellae respondent: 'ad silvam
ambulamus.'
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 0 Verb: all persons

Latin changes the verb endings to show which person (I, you, he, we,
you, they) is performing the action of the verb.
(English used to do this: I come, thou comest, he cometh; compare
also: I am, thou art, he is.)
There are three persons singular: I, you, he
and three plural: we, you,
they
In Latin the person endings for all verbs are:
singular 1 6 I plural 1 mus we
2 s you 2 tis you
they
I
3 t · he 3-nt
Verbs are divided into four groups called conjugations; the person
endings are the same for all four groups but the vowel before the
ending differs. So

1. First conjugation (-a verbs)

singular plural

am-o I love ami-mus we love

\. ami-s youlove ama-tis youlove
ama-t .he loves ama-nt they love

2. Second conjugation (-=e verbs)

singular plural

mone-6 I warn mone-mus we warn

mone-s you warn mone-tis you warn
mone-t he warns mone-nt they warn

3. Third conjugation (stems end in

consonants)
singular plural

reg-6 I rule· reg-imus we rule

reg-is you rule · reg-itis you rule
reg-it he rules reg-unt they rule

4. Fourth conjugation (-i

verbs) '
plural
. singular

audi-o 32 I hear you·hear he hears

·;_ audi:-s
audi-t
a
u
di
-
m
u
s

w
e
h
e
ar
a
u
di
-
ti
s

Y
O'
-!
he
ar
a
u
di
-
u
n
t

th
e
y
h
e
ar
Notice that in the third conjugation, where the stems end in
consonants, vowels have to be inserted, which give the same endings
as for •i verbs.
As the endings change for each person, there is no need to express the
subject pronouns; for instance, mon mus we warn, regunt they rule,
audls you hear.
The subject of the third person singular can b.e either he, she, or it.

Exercise S.1 Exercise 5.2

Translate the fallowing Translate the fallowing into Latin
1 Flaccum iuvamus. 1 He is helping Flaccus.
2 in agro laborant. 2 We hear Quintus.
3 cenam paras.
3 They see the boy.
4 Quintum videmus.
4 What are you doing?
5 Scintillam audio. 5 I am staying in the house.
6 aquam initis. 6 You are not working, boys.
7 Argum diicimus. r-7 We are waiting for the girls.
8 pueros exspectant. ·8 They are calling Argus.
9 Quintum ad agrum 9 _ They quickly arrive at the field.
mittunt. 10 puellas moneo.
10 She is preparing dinner.
11 Why are you staying in the field?
12 We run to the house. ·

THE SCH.OOLOF FLAVIUS

Quintus ad liidum lente ambulat; in via amicum lente slowly; ambulat is
videt, nomine Gaium; eum vocat. Gaius ad ludum walking
fesfinat sed ubi Quintum audit, manet et eum saliitat. nomine by name, called
'quid facis, Q_uinte?' inquij. 'ciir tam lente ambulas? .ubi when
sero ad liidum venimus. ego fesfino.' Quintus sero late
ego i; erras you're wrong
respondet: 'erras; non sero venimus. exspecta Die!'
exspecti me wait for me!
Gaius anxius est sed Quintum exspectat. itaque duo duo two
amici-lente ad liidum procedunt. procedunt go on
ubi ad lii9um accedunt, alios pueros viderit.lhi
hi these
pueri magni sunt et duri. ubi Gaiuq.i et Quintuw vident, diiri tough
iinus, nomine Decimus, 'ecce!' inquit. 'Quintus et unus one
Gaius accedunt. heus, pueri, quid facitis? ciir tam lente heus hey!
ambulatis? ciir non festinatis? sero ad liidum_venitis.'
Quintus respondet: 'erratis. non sero venimus.
manete! exspectate nos!' Decimus eos exspectat
sed ,ubi ad ianuam accedunt, Quinti capsulam rapit et Quinti capsulam Quintus's
'
in arhorem . iacit. Quintus valde iratus est et clamat:

'ciir satchel; rapit snatches

arborem tree

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0 Adverbs

Adverbs are usually attached to verbs and tell you how the action of
the verb is performed, e.g. _ -
We are walking slowly lente ambulAmus.
Many adverbs are formed by changing the ending of adjectives from
-us to -e.
lentus slow lente slowly mains bad male badly laetus happy laete happily
But there are other types of adverb which have no corresponding
adjectives, e.g. iam now, iterum again; diii for a long time.

Exercise 5.3

Give one English word derived from each of the.following

erro, specto, exspecto, iratus, descendo, doceo, aqua

Exercise 5.4

Analyse and translate (no mark of analysis is needed over adverbs)

S O V

e.g. Quintus Argum ad agrum celeriter ducit.

1 Quin'tus amtcum n via diu e-?sp ctat.
2 amt'c:i ag_1qct lente!mb l nl. v
\._vr) cur non festinas? mag1ster uatus est.
4 mag ister Q u intum la udat. Quintus laetus est.
. . sedemus;
5 .l_,Il.jl,Ul _cvalde
;." fecs:s.. 1- s- u m' - Hu- ss.
©. 6.\:--)i? _s_ "t-
6 q'}Jd facms. am1cos _exspe mu_s. _ -its
7 pu8r ad cas m celenter cur:pt\/sero red1t.
8 quid fifJis? Ar um.doliium dhco. es+"f
9 diii i n l u d o mane+m-"'us; 11· tte:IrI a.us sen-b1· mus.
- ,. . - -

Exercise 5.5.

Translate into Latin

-i What are you doing, girls? We are preparing supper.
2 Why are-we waiting for Quintus? He is coming late.
3 I .run into the wood and look for Argus. ·
4 Argus is naughty ( =bad); I call him but he does not return.
5 We are happy; we run into the wood and play. _ .
6- I do not see the girls. They are sitting in the field, for they are tired:
7 Why are you not hurrying, boy? You are an ass.

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 Exercise S.6
Translate and answer the questions
magister pueros exspectat; iratus est,
nam pueri sero veniunt. tandem ludum
intrant et magistrum salutant. ille, valde
iratus, clamat: 'ciir sero ad liidum
venitis, pueri? ciir non festinatis? diu
vos exspecto. mali pueri estis.' pueri
respondent: 'festinamus, magister. non
sei:o venimus. cur tu iratus es?'
sedent et magistrum spectant. ille
litteras docet; pueri litteras scribunt.
magister Quintum spectat et 'quid facis,
- Quinte?' inquit; 'ciir non laboras?'
Quintus respondet: 'erras, magister. ego
laboro et litteras recte scribo. ecce!'
magister litteras spectat et Quintum
laudat.
EDUCATION
Roman boys and girls were taught at home up to the age of six or seven. At first they were taught by their m
Children from wealthy.families learnt Greek too, since the great works of Greek literature were highly imp
Scenes in a boy's education
1 Give three examples of adverbs
from this passage.
2 Give one English word derived from
each of the following: exspectat (1. 1),
salutant (1.3), respondent (1.7),
laboro ( I .14), scribo (1.14)
3 Give one example each of the
following verb forms in this passage:
1st person singular, 2nd person plural,
3rd person plural.
4 Give one example of a preposition +
accusative.
5 Translate into Latin:
(a) The boys come late to school.
(b) The master is waiting for them.
(c) He is very angry.
37
 When the children were six or seven, parents who had the
money to educate their children had to choose whether to employ a
private tutor and educate them at home or to send them away to
school. Some fathers.tried to get the best of both worlds by starting
their sons' education at home and sending them off to school later.
A wealthy family would appoint a slave, often a Greek, as a kind
of personal tutor who would take a child to and from school. The two
of them would be accompanied by another slave who carried the
child's books. In country towns, schoolchildren went to school on
their own carrying their satchels and taking along the schoolmaster's
pay once a month. But when Horace went to school in Rome, his
father took him there and sat in on his lessons.
A Roman writer called Pliny sums up a good school. It should have
admirable teaching, firm discipline and high standards of behaviour.
The first four or five years of teaching would cover reading and writing
in both Latin and Greek, and elementary arithmetic. .
For the most part, the lessons were boring and unenjoyable.
Pupils sat on uncomfortable benches or chairs, often in noisy
surroundings. They endlessly recited the alphabet both forwards
and backwards, as well as chanting their multiplication tables
again and again Teaching started very early, soon after dawn, and
one Roman poet complained violently at being woken up by the
noise of a schoolmaster shouting at his pupils and beating them.
Probably lessons started up again after a break for lunch. There
would be a holiday every ninth day, short breaks in the winter and
spring, and a very long holiday in the .summer.
Children would move on to another (secondary) school around
the age of eleven or twelve. Here they would learn grammar and
literature. The poetry of Horace became part of the literature
syllabus, as he had feared!
Arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy were studied as
minor subjects. The curriculum was not wide; there were medical
schools in Greece but in Italy there was no scientific edµcation at all.
However, when they were about sixteen·, upper-class Roman boys
went on to a teacher of rhetoric. They received from him a thorough
training in speaking and arguing, and this was a good preparation for a
career in politics.
Girls dropped out of education after the first (primary) school.
They then learnt needlework, dancing, singing and lyre-playing at
home.
f) Imagine that you are going to school with Quintus. Describe your day.
Do you think the te ching·in a om_an scp.ool would have been very
U boring compared with the teaching m your school?

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