Lectio Quinta

De ablativo plurali

Summary: The Romans make two consuls instead of the kings. But there is strife between the two classes in the state: Patricians and plebeians. The plebeians walk out to the Sacred Mount. But they come back when the patricians create a new office: the tribunes of the people, to protect them.

Romani expulĂ©runt EtrĂșscos. Nunc EtrĂșsci non sunt reges in terra RomĂĄna. RomĂĄni non sunt reges in terra RomĂĄna, sed RomĂĄni fecĂ©runt consules duos (two). CĂłnsules fuĂ©runt viri boni. Reges EtrĂșsci fuĂ©runt mali. Sed consules non sunt mali—viri magni sunt. CĂłnsules habuĂ©runt magnam potestatem. In urbe Romana cives pugnavĂ©runt cum cĂ­vibus. RomĂĄni patrĂ­cii fuĂ©runt dĂ­vites: magnam pecuniam habuĂ©runt. PatrĂ­cii etiam magnam potestatem habuerunt. Sed plebs RomĂĄna fuerunt pĂĄuperes. Plebs non habuerunt pecuniam. Plebs non habuerunt potestĂĄtem in urbe. Plebs voluerunt potestatem. Plebs voluerunt pecuniam. PatrĂ­cii non dederunt pecuniam. PatrĂ­cii non dederunt potestatem in urbe. Ergo plebs pugnaverunt cum patriciis. Plebs non remansĂ©runt in urbe. Plebs venĂ©runt in Sacrum Montem. Patricii exclamaverunt: Venite in urbem! Sed plebs remansit in Monte Sacro. Magni patricii venerunt ad plebem. DixĂ©runt: venĂ­te! venĂ­te in urbem Romanam! Sed plebs remansit in Monte Sacro. Ergo patrĂ­cii creavĂ©runt offĂ­cium novum. Creaverunt tribunos plebis (of the plebs). Fuerunt duo (two) tribuni plebis. Ergo plebs non remĂĄnsit in Monte Sacro. Plebs venit in urbem. Plebs venit cum tribĂșnis. TribĂșni magnam potestatem habuĂ©runt. CĂłnsules habuĂ©runt magnam potestĂĄtem. Sed tribĂșni Ă©tiam habuĂ©runt magnam potestĂĄtem.

Vocabularium

Cogitemus Nunc

Nouns in Vocabulary: Thus far we have been learning the nominative singular in vocabularies. Now that we have the ablative, we shall learn both the nominative and the ablative singular. We can tell what family the noun belongs to by the ablative singular.

Therefore, the ablative singular does two things for us:

  1. It shows which declension a noun belongs to (and so we know which set of endings to use).
  2. It shows the base on which we build the endings (ablative singular minus ending).

Now, to help you bring your vocabulary notebook up to date, here are the ablatives of all the nouns we have learned so far:

  • agnus, o
  • annus, o
  • aqua, a
  • bellum, o
  • civis, i
  • forum, o
  • ignis, i
  • mundus, o
  • nauta, a
  • navis, i
  • pecunia, a
  • pons, ponte
  • potestas, potestate
  • puella, a
  • pugna, a
  • regna, a
  • rex, rege
  • terra, a
  • urbs, urbe
  • veritas, veritate
  • vir, viro

(Exercitus is fourth declension, which we shall see later. Ablative is: exercitu).

Ablative Plurals: The ablative plural endings for the three families are: 1 . -is (e.g., nautis) 2. -is (e.g., agnis) 3. -ibus (e.g., cĂ­vibus). If we add it all up we get both the singular and the plural of the ablative thus:

1.2.3.
Sing, -aSing, -oSing, -i or -e
Pl. -isPl. -isPl. -ibus

Notice that some third declension nouns have -i, while some have -e. We shall see more about that fact later on. It makes little difference to us.

Expletive “There”: an introductory word: Notice this sentence: Non sunt reges in terra Romána. We could translate it in two ways. 1. Kings are not in the Roman land. 2. There are not kings in the Roman land.

The word there in the second sentence is an expletive (a “filler”). Latin does very well without it. It is used in English sometimes to start a sentence which has the verb to be (any form) in it. This use of the word there is different from the use in which it means “in that place.” Latin does have a word that means there in the sense of “in the place.” But Latin has no expletive there. So we will fill it in in English whenever we need it.

Plebs: This word is collective: the form is singular, but the sense is plural—so—we can use either a singular or a plural verb with it. Find examples in the story above.

Exerceamus Nos

(Let us exercise ourselves)

Ubi sunt RomĂĄni? RomĂĄni sunt in urbe RomĂĄna. Suntne plebs in urbe RomĂĄna? Non. Plebs non est in urbe RomĂĄna. Plebs est in Monte Sacro. Plebs venerunt ex urbe (out of the city). VenĂ©runt in Montem Sacrum. Non remansĂ©runt in urbe. Estne ColĂșmbus in Monte Sacro? Non. ColĂșmbus non est in Monte Sacro. ColĂșmbus non est in urbe. ColĂșmbus est in navi. Navis est in aqua. Ubi est agnus? Agnus non est in Monte Sacro. Agnus est in schola. Marcus non vĂłluit agnum in schola. Sed Marcus vĂłluit MarĂ­am. Marcus dixit: O! MarĂ­a est agna parva! Marcus amavit Mariam. Maria amĂĄvit Marcum. MarĂ­a Ă©tiam dixit: O! Marcus est agnus parvus. Estne Columbus agnus parvus? Non. ColĂșmbus habuit uxorem (wife). Uxor non dixit: ColĂșmbus est agnus parvus. Uxor dixit quod ColĂșmbus fuit porcus magnus. Sed uxor amĂĄvit ColĂșmbum. Et ColĂșmbus amĂĄvit uxĂłrem. ColĂșmbus non fuit porcus magnus. Columbus non fuit porcus parvus. ColĂșmbus non fuit porcus. Sed ColĂșmbus fuit rotĂșndus. Mundus Ă©tiam est rotĂșndus. Agnus Ă©tiam est rotĂșndus. Mundus non est planus. PecĂșnia est rotĂșnda. Ergo: mundus est rotĂșndus—et pecĂșnia est rotĂșnda: estne mundus pecĂșnia? Non. Mundus non est pecĂșnia. Sed viri mali dixĂ©runt quod pecĂșnia est rex in mundo. HorĂĄtius hĂĄbuit pecĂșniam. HorĂĄtius Ă©tiam stetit in ponte. Sed pons cĂ©cidit in aquam. Ignis cĂ©cidit in pontem. RomĂĄni pugnavĂ©runt cum EtrĂșscis. Sed patrĂ­cii etiam pugnavĂ©runt cum plebe. Cives pugnavĂ©runt cum EtrĂșscis. Sed patrĂ­cii etiam pugnavĂ©runt cum plebe. Cives pugnavĂ©runt cum cĂ­vibus.

Tapescript Puzzles

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Vocabulary Revision of Everything So Far:

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