Sententiae, Unit 9

  1. Ubi illas nunc videre possum?

illas: accusative, feminine, plural of the demonstrative ille, illa, illud. Here illas functions as a pronoun (sort of like a substantive), and is therefore translated as "those women". Remember that ille, illa, illud can also function as an adjective (in which case it agrees in number, case and gender with a noun).

videre: present active infinitive of the verb video, videre, vidi, visum (to see). This is a complementary infinitive after possum.

possum: 1st person singular, present active indicative of possum, posse, potui. This irregular verb conjugates like sum, except with the prefix pot- added on. Remember that the prefix changes to pos- when the form of sum to which it is being added starts with the letter s. Hence the present active indicative goes: poSsum, potes, potest, poSsumus, potestis, poSsunt (of course, one doesn't ordinarily capitalize ths initial "s"…it's just for show here).

Where can I now see those women?

  1. Hic illam in matrimonium ducet.

Hic: Masculine, singular, nominative demonstative adjective. Demonstative adjectives can function as either pronouns or adjectives.

  • In the example "hic homo," hic would be an adjective: "this man."
  • If hic is standing all by itself, it can be translated either as "this man," or simply "he."

In matrimoniam ducere is an idiom which means "to marry"; this phrase is used only of males. The verb nubere (which also means "to marry") is used only of females.

This man will marry that woman. Or: He will marry her.

In Latin, men marry women (in the active voice), whereas women are married (in the passive voice). In Greek, where there is also a middle voice, the bride's father marries his daughter in the middle (he gets her married by implication for his benefit).

  1. Poena istius unius hunc morbum civitatis relevabit sed periculum semper remanebit.

    The punishment of this single (phah!) one will diminish this (present) illness in the state, but the danger will forever remain.
Istis: is dative, plural, and masculine agreeing with the noun (hominibus) it modifies as a pronomial demonstrative adjective. When translating this particular pronoun, keep in mind the contemptuous force it has. This subtlety of meaning is clear when we compare iste with ille and hic. Wheelock on page 56 gives a fuller translation for these three demonstratives which conveys the point of view of the speaker/writer better.

Hic (this of mine) is closest to the speaker in space, time, or thought. You can visualize the thing denoted by hic as standing right next to the speaker. Because of this closeness, familiarity, and friendliness, grammarians call hic the demonstrative of the 1st person.

Ille (that of his/hers) is viewed from the speaker's and the reader's points of view as being the farthest away from him/them in space, time, or thought. With the separation from the speaker and the reader comes less familiarity and friendliness. This, however, is not perceived as bad; in fact, if thought of in spacial relation as loftier, ille comes to mean that famous one. When ille is coupled with hic we get a former/latter realtionship. Grammarians call ille the demonstrative of the 3rd person. Iste (that of yours) is viewed from the speaker's point of view as being closer in space, time, and thought to the person being addressed. Think of it as a willing act of separation where the speaker is choosing to distance himself from the thing denoted by this pronoun. In spatial terms (as well as in value), iste is below the speaker's viewpoint. Grammarians call iste the demonstrative of the 2nd person.
 
From Cicero's speech against Catilina. Cicero claims here that if he were to act immediately to exile or punish Catilina, he would merely provide a temporary relief. Therefore, he says his policy will be to wait until he can destroy all those who are a threat to the state.
 
  1. Hi enim de exitio huius civitatis et totius orbis terrarum cogitant.

huius: the genitive feminine singular of the demonstrative hic, haec, hoc (this). It functions here as a demonstrative adjective, since it agrees with civitas in number, case and gender (it modifies it). Hic, haec, hoc can also be a demonstrative pronoun (acting rather like a substantive), in which case it has its own number, case and gender depending upon both what its function is in the sentence, as well as to what it refers. Such is the case with hi in this very sentence: the nominative, masculine plural with no accompanying noun (i.e. it's a pronoun), can be translated as "these men".

totius: genitive, masculine, singular (modifying orbis). Totius is the genitive from the adjective totus, tota, totum; this is one of the 9 "-ius" adjectives. Can you remember what the other 8 are?

These men are thinking about the destruction of this state and of the whole world.

Cicero is comparing others who undertook seditious action with the heinous crimes of Catilina, who, he claims, wants to destroy the entire state, nay, the world.

  1. Est nullus locus utri homini in hac terra.

    There is no place for either man men in this land