Locī Antīquī

We use this exercise to review the grammar you’ve learned and to improve
your reading ability. Please follow the steps given below, and DO NOT
write down in advance the Latin words’ English meanings between lines.

Step 1: Read the whole text ALOUD, even though you don’t understand it yet. Please focus on
each word’s pronunciation. You’re allowed to read the text as a meaningless sequence of
words.

Step 2: Read the text ALOUD again. This time, try to segment it by adding semantic pauses
when you read it. You will, of course, make mistakes, but you will also certainly recognize a
few, some or many constructions by guessing the word-classes of those difficult words, whose
meanings are not clear to you.

Step 3: Read SILENTLY the text. Make sure that you really understand every detail by referring
to the glosses and answering the QUESTIONS given below for each excerpt. This will take time.

Step 4: Read the text ALOUD once more. Since you’ve understood it, be sure to interpret the
author’s logic and emotions vividly with your variable tone, loudness and rhythm.

I. Disillusionment (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., pp. 351-352, adapted from Catullus 8)

Line 1: “Catulle” — Which case? Why in this case?

Line 2: “quod vidēs perīsse” (A) — Is there an indirect statement in this clause? Is this clause
adjectival or nominal in the whole sentence?
“perditum” (B) — Is this a perfect passive participle or a supine?
“dūcās” (C) — What does it mean exactly here?
(A), (B), (C) above — What’s their syntactic relationship?

Line 3: “candidī” — Plural? Which word does it modify?

Line 4: “cum ventitābās …” — Which kind of cum clause? Why?

“quō” — This word is an adverb according to the gloss. But is it relative?
“dūcēbat” — Besides the differences on conjugation, does it mean the same action as
(C) above ?

Line 5: “amāta” — Where is the noun it modifies?

“nōbīs” — Who?
“nūlla” — Is it adjectival or substantival here?
“quantum” — How to translate it idiomatically in this sentence?

Line 7: “nōn vult”, “nōlī” — Pay attention to this pair of verbs.

 “nōlī” — Which mood?

Line 8: “sectāre” — Review the forms of the Deponent Verbs’ present imperative. Compare
them with the Regular ones.
“vīve” — Which mood?
“miser” — Is it an adverb here?

Line 9: “obstinātā mente” — Which kind of ablative?

“perfer” — Which mood?

Line 10: “Valē” — Do you remember how to say “good-bye”, “hello” and “please”?
“iam” — Does it mean “now”, “already” or “soon” here?

Line 11: “requīret”, “rogābit” — Which tense?

“invītam” — Why feminine? Does it refer to something or someone?

Line 12: “cum rogāberis …” — Which kind of cum clause?

“nūlla” — Which case? Why in this case? Are you sure? What’s its pragmatic word-
class here? What does it mean?

Line 13: “vae te!” — See p. 159.

“Quae … vīta!” — See p. 159. What’s the word-class of “quae” here? Which usage?

Line 14: “Cui” — Which kind of dative?

Line 15: “Cuius esse dīcēris?” — Is there an indirect statement here?

II. How Demosthenes Overcame His Handicaps (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., p. 352, adapted from
Cicero, Dē Ōrātōre 1.61.260-61)

In this excerpt, you have only three sentences. How many minutes will it take for you to
understand it? Cicero’s writing is fine for parsing exercises. To help you, here is the syntactic
structure of this excerpt:

Sentence 1:
Ōrātor imitētur illum [cui summa vīs (dīcendī) concēditur], Dēmosthenem, [in quō <tantum>
studium fuisse dīcitur <ut impedīmenta (nātūrae) dīligentiā industriāque superāret>].

Sentence 2:
Nam <cum <ita> balbus esset <ut (illīus ipsīus artis [cui studēret]) prīmam litteram nōn posset
dīcere>>, perfēcit meditandō <ut nēmō plānius loquerētur>.

Sentence 3:
Deinde, <cum spīritus (eius) esset angustior>, spīritū continendō multum perfēcit in dīcendō;
et coniectīs in ōs calculīs, summā vōce versūs multōs ūnō spīritū prōnūntiāre cōnsuēscēbat;
neque id faciēbat stāns ūnō in locō, sed ambulāns.
Legend:
Subject (Subject’s Modifier)
Verb
Object (Object’s Modifier)
[Relative Clause]
<Correlative>… <Conjunction + Clause>

Sentence 1:
“imitētur” — How will you translate this jussive subjunctive?
“illum” — Who is this one?
“dīcendī” — What’s this? A gerund, a supine, a gerundive, some other participle?
“concēditur” — What does it mean exactly?
“quō” — To whom or to what does this word refer?
“in … fuisse dīcitur” — Do you understand what “fuisse” means? Is there an indirect
statement here? What’s the case of “tantum stadium”, accusative or not?
“tantum … ut” — So, which kind of ut clause?
“dīligentiā industriāque” — Which kind of ablative?
“… fuisse dīcitur … ut … superāret” — Here, are you able to explain the Sequence of
Tenses?

Sentence 2:
“Nam cum” — Which one is exactly a functional conjunction for this sentence? What’s
the other one’s word-class?
“cum … esset …, perfēcit …” — So, which kind of cum clause? (It’s quite interesting.)
Could you explain the Sequence of Tenses?
“ita … ut …” — So, which kind of ut clause?
“ipsīus” — Reflective Pronoun or Intensive Pronoun? Or Demonstrative?
“cui” — Why in the dative?
“artis … litteram” — What’s the relationship between these two words?
“menditandō” — What’s this? A gerund? Which kind of ablative?
“ut … loquerētur” — Which kind of ut clause?

Sentence 3:
“Deinde” — How will you translate this word? Temporal or narrative?
“cum … esset …, perfēcit …” — Again, which kind of cum clause?
“angustior” — How will you translate this comparative?
“spīritū continendō” — What’s this construction? Same as “menditandō”?
“multum” — Which word-class?
“in dīcendō” — Which usage of gerund?
“coniectīs in ōs calculīs” — What’s this construction? What’s the case of “ōs”? Why
didn’t Cicero write “in ōre”?
“summā vōce” — Which kind of ablative?
“ūnō spīritū” — Which kind of ablative?
“cōnsuēscēbat” — Which tense? Why?
“neque” — Translation? Find other logic connectives.
“stāns”, “ambulāns” — Very typical usage of the present active participle. Try to
appreciate this construction’s conciseness, in contrast with its English translation.
III. The Tyrant Can Trust No One (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., pp. 352-353, adapted from Cicero,
Tusculānae Disputātiōnēs 5.20.57-58)

Line 1: “multōs annōs” — Which kind of accusative?

Line 2: “servitūte” — Which kind of ablative? To which word is it attached?

“… eum fuisse hominem …” — Is this an indirect statement?

Line 3: “summae temperantiae” — Which kind of genitive?

“rēbus gerendīs” —Without attraction, how will you alter this construction?

Line 4: “tamen” — How to translate it?

“quārē” — Pay attention to this adverb as logic connective.
“quaerentibus” — Which participle? Gerundive?
“omnibus virīs” — Which case? Which kind?

Line 5: “hunc vidērī” — Is this an indirect statement? Which word or phrase governs it?
“vidērī” — What’s the meaning?
“necesse” — “Necessary” or “inevitable”?
“nam” — Here, is it an emphatic particle or a conjunction?
“nēmini” — Why in the dative?

Line 6: “dominātūs” — Which kind of genitive?

“quasi” — What does this word govern? “in carcerem … inclūserat” or just “in
carcerem”?
“ipse sē” — Which one is the subject? And the other?

Line 7: “Quīn etiam” — Pay attention to this phrase’s meaning given in the gloss. Do you
remember each one’s meaning? How can you translate “moreover” in another way?
“nē … committeret” — Which kind of subordinate subjunctive clause? Why imperfect
tense? How to translate it idiomatically?
“tōnsōriam” — Word-class?

Line 8: “tamen” — Pay attention to this logic connective.

“ab” — “From” or “by”?
“hīs” — Masculine or feminine? Who or what in the text?

Line 9: “ferrum” — Semantically speaking, how to use this word?

“eīsque” — Which case?
“ut … adūrerent” — Which kind of subordinate subjunctive clause? Sequence of Tenses?

Line 10: “sibi” — Which kind of dative?

IV. The Sword of Damocles (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., p. 353, adapted from Cicero, Tusculānae
Disputātiōnēs 5.20.61-62)
Line 1: “quam … esset” — Which kind of subordinate subjunctive clause?
“cum … commemorāret … negāretque …” — Which kind of cum clause?
“quīdam” — Pronoun or adjective?

Line 2: “dominātūs” — Which kind of genitive?

Line 3: “quemquam … fuisse” — Indirect Statement?

Line 4: “Vīsne” — What’s the verb?

“inquit” — Attention: this verb is a defective verb.
“ipse” — The “ipse” in line 1 means “himself”, how about this one?
“vītam … experīrī” — Indirect Statement? “Experīrī”: active meaning or passive?

Line 5: “Cum … dīxisset” — Which kind of cum clause?

“ille” — Who?
“sē cupere” — Indirect Statement?
“hominem” — Who?
“hominem … collocārī” — Indirect Statement?

Line 6: “argentō aurōque” — Which kind of ablative?

“puerōs bellōs … īnferre” — Indirect Statement?

Line 7: “sibi” — Which kind of dative?

“vidēbatur” — Active or passive meaning?

Line 8: “gladium … dēmittī” — Indirect Statement?

“saetā equīnā” — Which kind of ablative?

Line 9: “cum … vīdisset” — Which kind of cum clause?

“ut … licēret” — Which kind of subordinate subjunctive clause?
“licēret” — Personal or impersonal?
“quod” — What does this word mean?
“beātus” — What’s this word’s syntactic function?

Line 10: “vidētur” — Active or passive meaning?

“dēmōnstrāvisse” — Which tense?
“nihil esse” — Indirect Statement?
“eī” — Who? Dionysius, Damocles or someone else?
“beātum” — Besides the difference on case, does this word have exactly the same
meaning as the “beātus” in line 9?

Line 11: “impendeat” — Why in the subjunctive?

V. Derivation of “Philosophus” and Subjects of Philosophy (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., p. 354,

adapted from Cicero, Tusculānae Disputātiōnēs 5.3.8-9; 5.4.10)
Line 1: “studia” — Which case? Number? Gender?

Line 2: “aiunt” — Pay attention to this defective verb.

“doctē” — Meaning?

Line 3: “quaedam” — Case, number, gender?

Line 4: “admīrātus esset” — Active or passive meaning?

“ex eō” — Meaning?
“quā arte” — Why in the ablative?
“ūterētur” — Why in the subjunctive?

Line 5: “admīrātus” — Active or passive meaning?

“novum nōnem” — Which case?

Line 6: “glōriae aut pecūniae” — Which case?

Line 7: “cētera” — If it means “the rest” (acc., pl., neuter), what’s the other thing?
“prō” — Meaning here?

Line 8: “hōs sē appellāre” — Which word governs this infinitive phrase? Which word is the
object of “appellāre”? And its subject?

Line 9: “philosophōs” — Why “-ōs” here?

Line 11: “orīrentur”, “discēderent” — Why in the subjunctive?

“autem” — Pay attention to this logic connective.
“prīmus” — Word-class?

Line 13: “eam quaerere” — Indirect Statement?

VI. Cicero on the Value and the Nature of Friendship (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., pp. 354-355,
adapted from Cicero, Dē Amīcitiā 5, 6, 15, 21)

Line 1: “antepōnātis” — Why in the subjunctive?

Line 2: “melius” — Which case?

Line 3: “aliī” — Which case?

Line 4: “posita” — How to translate?

“tam … quam … ” — How to translate?

Line 5: “summum bonum” — Which one is the noun?

Line 6: “nec” — How to translate?

Line 7: “Dēnique” — Pay attention to this logic connective.

Line 8: “ut” — Which kind of ut clause?

Line 9: “rēs” — Case? Number?

Line 11: “amīcitiā” — Is this an Ablative of Comparison?

“secundās” — Meaning?

Line 12: “velit” — Why in the subjunctive?

Line 15: “amīcitiae” — Which kind of genitive?

Line 16: “putet” — Which mood? Why in this mood?

“ut … fit” — Mood of “fit”? Meaning of “ut”?
“quam” — Meaning?

Line 20: “ut …” — Which kind of ut clause?

Line 23: “ita … ut …” — Which kind of ut clause?

Line 24: “loquī” — Active or passive meaning?

“ut” — Meaning?

VII. Cicero on War (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., pp. 355-356, adapted from Cicero, Dē Officiīs 1.11.34-
36 and Dē Rē Pūblicā 3.23.34-35)

The ADAPTED excerpt presents a series of the Passive Periphrastic constructions, which are
not always original from the source text. Do you remember this construction?

Line 1: “sunt servanda” — What’s this?

“etiam” — This simple adverb “even” is, in fact, the key to understand the sentence.
Please try to be as sensible as possible to the seemingly slight but really crucial indeclinable
LOGIC adverbs and conjunctions. This could help you to grasp the structure of a discourse.

Line 2: “Atque” — How to translate?

“cōnservanda sunt” — Again, what’s this?

Line 3: “dēcertandī” — What’s this?

Line 4: “Illud …, hoc …” — What does “illud” refer to? And “hoc”?
“disputātiōne” — Why in the ablative?

Line 5: “Quare” — Meaning?

 “autem” — Meaning?

Line 6: “eī” — Case, number, gender?

“fuērunt” — Which tense? Why in this usage?

Line 7: “in cīvitātem … accēpērunt” — Pay attention to the case of “cīvitātem”.

“At” — Meaning?

Line 8: “quod” — What’s this word? Gender, number, case? What does it refer to?
“eōs … fēcisse” — Indirect Statement? Who are “eōs”?

Line 9: “nē … posset” — Which kind of subordinate subjunctive clause? Fear Clause?
“locus ipse” — To understand the whole clause, you should know where Corinth is.
Where?
“Meā quidem sententiā” — Translation?

Line 10: “īnsidiārum” — Which kind of genitive? Do you remember?

“Ac” — Translation?
“fētiālī” — Case? Which word does this adjective modify? Do you remember in which
situations “-ī” indicates the dative? And the ablative? How about “-e”?

Line 11: “potest intellegī nūllum bellum esse” — Parse and translate this segment.

Line 12: “rēbus repetītīs” — What’s this construction? Meaning?

“dēnūntiātum sit” — Tense, mood, voice?

Line 14: “ulcīscendī” — What’s this? Case?

Line 15: “prōpulsandōrum hostium” — What’s this? Case? How to change it into a gerund
construction?
“causam” — Pay attention that “causam” is postpositive (see p. 334).

Line 16: “sociīs dēfendendīs” — Ablative Absolute or Gerundive Phrase? Why in this case?

VIII. Hannibal; The Second Punic War (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., pp. 356-357, adapted from Nepos,
Hannibal, excerpts)

Line 1: “Carthāgine” — Which case?

“Odium” — Which case?

Line 2: “sīc … ut …” — Which kind of ut clause?

Line 3: “expulsus esset” — Which tense?

“bellī Rōmānīs īnferendī” — Parse this construction.

Line 4: “Antiochō rēgī” — Which case? Why in this usage?

 “haec” — Case, number, gender?

Line 6: “Mē novem annōs nātō” — Explain the case of each word.

Line 7: “Carthāgine” — Which case? Meaning?

“ā” — Meaning?

Line 8: “vellemne … proficīscī” — Which kind of subordinate subjunctive clause?

“ab eō” — Meaning?

Line 9: “nē … dūcere” — Which kind of subordinate subjunctive clause?

“mihi” — Which kind of dative?
“Faciam … sī … dederis” — Tense and mood of “faciam”? Of “dederis”? What if
“dederīs”? Which kind of conditional sentence?

Line 10: “mē iūrāre iussit mē … futūrum esse” — Parse this segment.

Line 11: “ita … ut …” — Which kind of ut clause?

Line 12: “odiī” — Which kind of genitive?

“habeat” — Why in the subjunctive?

Line 13: “Hāc … aetāte” — Which king of ablative?

Line 14: “Hamilcare et Hasdrubale interfectīs” — What’s this construction?

“eī” — Nominative?
“imperium” — Nominative?

Line 15: “Tribus annīs” — Which kind of ablative?

Line 19: “trānsierat” — Which verb?

Line 20: “cōnantēs” — Nominative?

“trānsitū” — Why in the ablative?
“loca” — Gender, case, number?

Line 22: “Hōc in itinere” — Pay attention to this word order.

Line 23: “tam … ut …” — Which kind of ut clause?

“gravī” — Is it in the ablative?
“dextrō oculō” — Which kind of ablative?

Line 25: “longum” — Pay attention that when an infinitive is the subject, it’s considered as
being neuter and singular.

Line 27: “ad patriam dēfendendam” — What’s this?

Line 28: “Zamae” — Which case?
“perīculō” — Which kind of ablative?

IX. Autobiographical Notes by Horace (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., pp. 357-358, adapted from Horace,
Saturae 1.6 and Epistulae 2.2; excerpts in prose form)

Line 1: “tē” — Case?

“Maecēnās” — Case?

Line 2: “quid” — Which word?

“Ut” — Meaning?
“locūtus” — Meaning?

Line 3: “mē” — Case?

“clārō patre” — Which kind of ablative?
“quod” — Which word?

Line 4: “nōnum” — Which kind of numeral?

Line 5: “in amīcōrum numerō” — Pay attention to this expression, which means “among your
friends” here.
“Hoc magnum esse dūcō, quod …” — To present that you’ve understood the structure
of these words, put them in the word order of English.

Line 6: “patre clāro”, “vitā et pectore pūrō” — Which kind of ablative?

Line 7: “vitiīs … paucīs” — Which kind of ablative?

Line 9: “ut …” — Have you seen this usage of ut?

“vīvō cārus” — Where have you seen this construction “vīvere + adj. nominative” in
our reading exercise?

Line 11: “Rōmam” — The preposition “in” is omitted.

“ad artēs discendās” — Rewrite this phrase into a Gerund phrase.

Line 12: “docent” — Pay attention that this verb could take two objects in the accusative
(“teach sb sth”).

Line 13: “laus … dēbētur et grātia magna” — Notice that the number of the verb follows the
principle of proximity here; “grātia magna” is a second subject given at the end of the sentence.

Line 15: “Rōmae” — Case?

“quantum” — Meaning?
“Graecīs” — Which case? Why in this case?

Line 16: “artis” — Which kind of genitive?

 “plūs … ut …” — Which kind of ut clause?

Line 18: “illō locō grātō” — Which kind of ablative.

Line 19: “arma” — Gender, case, number?

Line 20: “versūs” — Case, gender, number?

X. Horace Longs for the Simple, Peaceful Country Life on His Sabine Farm (Wheelock’s, 7th
ed., pp. 358-359, adapted from Horace, Saturae 2.6, excerpts in prose form)

Line 1: “aspiciam” — Tense, mood?

“veterum” — Which word?
“nunc … nunc …” — Meaning?

Line 2: “cēnaeque” — Case, number?

Line 3: “domibus” — Which word?

“aliēnīs” — Last semester, we’ve talked about this adjective “aliēnus, -a, -um”. How to
say “of others” in another way?
“quod magis … pertinet” — What’s this clause? Indirect question?

Line 4: “et nescīre malum est” — How to understand this segment?

“: utrum …; …; et … et … bonum.” — What are these clauses? What’s the semantic and
syntactic relationship indicated by the colon?

Line 5: “an” — Pay attention that this word could be used alone or together with “utrum”.

Line 7: “Mūs” — Case, number, gender? Which declension?

Line 8: “domō” — Meaning?

“ut … vīveret beātus” — Which kind of ut clause?

Line 9: “vīveret beātus” — Cf. L. A. IX, line 9.

“expertus” — Active or passive meaning?

Line 10: “mihi” — Why in the dative?

“silva cavusque … placēbit” — Where is/are the verb’s subject(s)?

XI. Why No Letters? (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., p. 359, adapted from Pliny, Epistulae 1.11)

Line 2: “est” — Meaning?

“scrībam” — Future indicative or present subjunctive?
“ipsum” — Which word does this Intensive Pronoun emphasize?
Line 3: “verba” — Case, number, gender?

Line 4: “Hoc” — Case?

“Mē lūdere” — Indirect Statement?

Line 5: “Fac” — Which mood?

“agās” — Why in the subjunctive?

XII. What Pliny Thinks of the Races (Wheelock’s, 7th ed., p. 359, adapted from Pliny, Epistulae
9.6)

Line 3: “quō genere” — See p. 150.

Line 4: “nē … quidem” — Meaning?

“nihil quod semel … sufficiat” — Is there an indirect statement?

Line 5: “mīror tot mīlia … vidēre” — Is there one or several indirect(s) statement(s)?

Line 6: “currentēs” — Which word does this participle modify?

“currentēs equōs vidēre” — Which word governs this segment?