INTRODUCTION

1. Heading.—The selections in this book are in most cases intelligible apart from their context. In cases where this is not so, you will find it a valuable exercise to endeavour to arrive at the context for yourself. In all cases, however, you should pay attention to the Heading, which will give you a useful clue to the meaning of the passage,

2. Author.—When you see the author’s name, try to remember what you know about him. For example, Livy, the historian of Rome and friend of Augustus, the contemporary of Vergil and Ovid. The short Lives, pp. 293-345, will tell you the chief facts about the authors from whom the selections are taken, and will give you a brief summary of their chief works. Also, if you refer to Appendix VII., pp. 347-363, you will gain some idea of the time in which the authors lived and of their contemporaries.

3. Read the Passage through, carefully.—As you read—

(1) Notice all allusions and key-words that may help you to the sense of the passage.

(2) Pay special attention to the opening sentence. In translating a passage much depends on getting the first sentence right.

(3) Notice especially the connectives which introduce sentences and clauses marked off by commas. In this way you will be able to distinguish between a Principal Sentence and a Subordinate Clause.

(For List of Conjunctions see Appendix I. pp. 274-276.)

HELPS TO VOCABULARY.

4. Through English Derivatives.—English derivatives, if used in the proper way, may give you valuable help in inferring meanings. The reason why you must generally not translate the Latin word by the derived English word is that, as you probably know, many English derivatives have come from Latin words which had wholly or in part lost their earlier classical meaning, or from Latin words not found at all in classical Latin. Yet in such cases the English word may be far from useless. You must take care to let it suggest to you the original or root-meaning, leaving the correct meaning of the Latin, whether the same as the English word or not, to be determined by the context.

For example, sē-cūr-us does not mean secure, but (like secure in Shakespeare and Milton) care-less.

In-crēd-ib-il-is, on the other hand, often cannot be better translated than by incredible, and im-plācā-bilis by implacable.

Notice, too, how often in the case of verbs the supine stem will suggest to you the meaning of the Latin through some English derivative, which the present stem conceals.

For example:—

pingo	pictum	picture	suggests	to paint.
caveo	cautum	caution	„	„ beware.
colo	cultum	culture	„	„ till.
fallo	falsum	false	„	„ deceive.

5. Through French Derivatives.—Sometimes, when you cannot think of an English derivative, a French word that you know will help you to the meaning of the Latin.

For example:—

L.	F.
pontem	pont	suggests	bridge.
gustum	goût	„	taste.
prātum	pré	„	meadow.
tālem	tel	„	such.
bĭbĕre	boire	„	to drink.

But, in order to make French derivatives a real help to you, you must know something of the origin of the French language and of the chief rules that govern the pronunciation (and therefore the spelling) of French. Without going too much into detail, it may help you to remember that—

(1) French has taken many words from colloquial Latin, which in the days of Cicero was very different from classical Latin.

For example:—

Literary Latin.	Popular Latin.	French.
equus	caballus	cheval	horse.
pugna	batalia	bataille	battle.
os	bucca	bouche	mouth.

(2) Unaccented syllables are usually dropped.

For example:—

cérv-um	cerf	stag.
bonitátem	bonté	goodness.

(3) The general tendency of French is towards smoothness and contraction.

For example:—

L.	F.
bestiam	bête	beast.
fact-um	fait	deed.
spiss-um	épais	thick.
coll-um	cou	neck.

In fact, bearing in mind the caution given you, it is an excellent rule to try to think out the meaning of the Latin by the help of English and French derivatives.

6. Compound Words.—When you come to a word which you cannot translate, and in regard to which English and French derivatives do not help you, break up the word, if a compound, into its simple elements of Prefix, Stem, Suffix. Then from the meaning of its root or stem and from the force of the prefix and suffix, and by the help of the context, try to arrive at an English word to suit the sense.

In order to be able to do this you should have some knowledge of—

(1) A few simple rules for the vowel changes of verbs in composition. Thus:

a before two consonants (except ng) often changes to e.

E.g. sacr-o, con-secr-o; damn-o, con-demn-o.

a before one consonant and before ng often changes to i.

E.g. fac-io, ef-fic-io; căd-o, ac-cid-o; tang-o, con-ting-o.

But grăd-ior, ag-grĕd-ior.

a before l and another consonant changes to u.

E.g. salt-are, in-sult-are.

ĕ changes to ĭ (but not e before two consonants) and ae to i.

E.g. ten-ere, ob-tin-ere; quaer-ere, in-quir-ere.

au changes to u.

E.g. claud-ere, in-clud-ere.

(2) Prefixes:—To help you to detach the prefix more readily, notice these simple euphonic changes, all of which result in making the pronunciation smoother and easier. Thus:—

(i.) The last consonant of a Latin prefix is often made the same as, or similar to, the first consonant of the stem.

E.g. ad-fero = affero; ob-pono = op-pono; com(=cum)-tendo = con-tendo.

(ii.) The final consonant of a prefix is often dropped before two consonants.

E.g. ad-scendo = a-scendo.

Notice also that the prepositional prefixes to verbs express different ideas in different combinations.

Thus, sometimes the prefix has a somewhat literal prepositional force.

E.g. per-currere = to run through.

But sometimes an intensive force.

E.g. per-terrere = to thoroughly frighten.

In all such cases you must be partly guided by the context.

(For List of Important Prefixes, see Appendix II. pp. 277—281.)

(3) Suffixes (other than grammatical inflexions).

A knowledge of the most important suffixes will often help you to the correct meaning of a Latin word, the root of which is familiar to you.

Thus from the √ag = drive, move, we have—

by addition of	-tor	(= agent or doer of an action), actor = a doer, agent.
„„„	-men	(= acts or results of acts), agmen = a course, line of march, &c.
„„„	-ilis	(= belonging to, able to), agilis = easily moved, agile.
„„„	-ito	(= forcible or repeated action), agito = put in action, agitate.

(For List of Important Suffixes, see Appendix III. pp. 282—286.)

(4) Cognates, that is, words related in meaning through a common root. You will find it very useful to make for yourself lists of cognate words.

Thus from the √gna, gno = know, we have—

To group together in this manner words of common origin and words closely associated in meaning is one of the best ways in which you can increase your vocabulary.

(For additional Examples of Cognates, see Appendix IV. pp. 287-8.)

HELPS TO TRANSLATION.

You have now read the passage through carefully, and thought out the vocabulary to the best of your ability. Begin then to translate the opening sentence, and pay great attention to these

7. General Rules.—(1) Underline the Principal Verb, Subject (if expressed), and Object (if any).

(2) If the sentence contains only one finite verb, all you have to do is to group round Subject, or Verb, or Object the words and phrases that belong to each of the three.

(3) Translate the sentence literally. Do this mentally, without writing it down.

(4) Then write down the best translation you can.

For example:—

At GERMANI celeriter, consuetudine sua phalange facta, IMPETUS gladiorum EXCEPERUNT.

But the Germans quickly formed into a phalanx, as was their custom, and received the attacks of the swords (i.e. of the Romans with drawn swords).

(5) If the sentence contains one or more subordinate clauses, consider each subordinate clause as if it were bracketed off separately, and then deal with each clause as if it were a principal sentence, finding out its Subject, Verb, Object, and adding to each its enlargements. Then return to the sentence as a whole, and group round its Subject, Predicate, and Object the various subordinate clauses which belong to each.

8. Help through Analysis.—Very often analysis will help you to find out the proper relation of the subordinate clauses to the three parts of the Principal Sentence. You need not always analyse on paper, but do it always in your mind. You will find an example of a simple method of analysis at the close of Demonstrations I and IV, pp. 23, 47.

When analysing, notice carefully that:—

(1) An enlargement of a Noun may be

(a) An adjective	TERTIAM aciem.
(b) A noun in apposition	Publius Crassus ADULESCENS.
(c) A dependent genitive	impetus GLADIORUM.
(d) A participle or participial phrase	nostris LABORANTIBUS.
(e) An adjectival clause	Publius Crassus QUI EQUITATUI PRAEERAT.

(2) An enlargement of a Verb may be

(a) An adverb	CELERITER exceperunt.
(b) A prepositional phrase	EX CONSUETUDINE SUA exceperunt.
(c) An ablative absolute	PHALANGE FACTA exceperunt.
(d) An adverbial clause	ID CUM ANIMADVERTISSET, Publius Crassus misit.

9. Help through Punctuation.—Though only the full-stop was used by the ancients, the punctuation marks which are now used in all printed texts should be carefully noticed, especially in translating long and involved sentences.

Thus in Demonstrations III and IV notice how the subordinate clauses are for the most part enclosed in commas.

10. Help through Scansion and Metre.—A knowledge of this is indispensable in translating verse. To scan the lines will help you to determine the grammatical force of a word, and a knowledge of metre will enable you to grasp the poet’s meaning as conveyed by the position which he assigns to the various words, and the varying emphasis which results from variation of metre. For example:—

(1) A grammatical help.—You know that final -a is short in nom. and voc. sing. 1st Decl., and in neut. plural, and is long in abl. sing. 1st Decl. and 2nd Imperat. 1st Conj.

Thus in Demonstration II (p. 24) you can easily determine the grammatical form of finals in -a.

In Sentence IV agnă, in VI cervă, in VIII iunctă columbă, in IX Cynthiă are all short and nom. sing.

In Sentence V umbrā unā are long and abl. sing. in agreement.

(2) A help to the poet’s meaning.—The more you know of the principles of scansion, the better able you will be to understand and appreciate the skill with which a great poet varies his metre and chooses his words.

11. Help through a Study of the Period in Latin.—One great difference between English and Latin Prose is that, while modern English is to a great extent a language of short, detached sentences, Latin expresses the sense by the passage as a whole, and holds the climax in suspense until the delivery of the last word. ‘This mode of expression is called a PERIOD (a circuĭtus or ambĭtus verborum), because the reader, in order to collect together the words of the Principal Sentence, must make a circuit, so to say, round the inserted clauses,’2 ‘Latin possesses what English does not, a mode of expression by means of which, round one main idea are grouped all its accessory ideas, and there is thus formed a single harmonious whole, called the PERIOD.’3

A PERIOD then is a sentence containing only one main idea (the Principal Sentence) and several Subordinate Clauses. The Periodic style is generally used for History and Description, and is best seen in Cicero and Livy.

The following is a good example of the Period in Latin:—

4VOLSCI exiguam spem in armis, alia undique abscissa, cum tentassent, praeter cetera adversa loco quoque iniquo ad pugnam congressi, iniquiore ad fugam, cum ab omni parte caederentur, ad preces a certamine versi, dedito imperatore traditisque armis, sub iugum missi, cum singulis vestimentis ignominiae cladisque pleni DIMITTUNTUR.

The VOLSCIANS found that now they were severed from every other hope, there was but little in prolonging the conflict. In addition to other disadvantages they had engaged on a spot ill-adapted for fighting and worse for flight. Cut to pieces on every side they abandoned the contest and cried for quarter. After surrendering their commander and delivering up their arms, they passed under the yoke, and with one garment each WERE SENT to their homes covered with disgrace and defeat.

Notice here that

(1) There is only one main idea, that of the ignominious return of the Volscians to their homes.

(2) The rest describes the attendant circumstances of the surrender and of the causes that led to it.

(3) In English we should translate by at least four separate sentences.

(4) The Latin contains only forty-eight words, while the English contains eighty-one.

Professor Postgate (‘Sermo Latinus,’ p. 45) gives the following example of the way in which a Latin PERIOD may be built up:—

BALBUS vir optimus, dux clārissimus et multis mihi beneficiis carus, rogitantibus Arvernis ut populi Romani māiestātem ostentāret suīque simul imperi monumentum eis relinqueret, MŪRUM laterīcium, vīginti pedes lātum, sexāginta altitūdine et ita in immensum porrectum ut vix tuis ipse oculis crēderes tantum esse, nēdum aliis persuāderes, non sine adverso suo rūmore ut qui principātum adfectaret AEDIFICAVIT.

BALBUS, an excellent man and most distinguished commander, who had endeared himself to me by numerous kindnesses, was requested by the Arverni to make a display of the power and greatness of Rome, and at the same time to leave behind him a memorial of his own government. He accordingly BUILT a WALL of bricks, twenty feet wide, sixty high, and extending to such a prodigious length that you could hardly trust your own eyes that it was so large, still less induce others to believe it. But he did not escape the malign rumour that he had designs upon the imperial crown.

Here, as in the previous example,

(1) There is only one main idea,

BALBUS MURUM AEDIFICAVIT.

(2) The rest consists of—

(a) Enlargements of BALBUS—vir optimus . . . carus; placed, therefore, directly after BALBUS.

(b) Enlargements of MURUM—laterīcium . . . persuaderes; placed, therefore, directly after MURUM.

(c) Enlargements of AEDIFICAVIT

rogitantibus . . . relinqueret = the cause of the building of the wall.

(murum) non sine . . . adfectaret = the attendant circumstances of the building of the wall; placed, therefore, before AEDIFICAVIT.

(3) In English we must translate by at least three separate sentences, and, where necessary, translate participles as finite verbs, and change dependent clauses into independent sentences.

It has been well said: ‘An English sentence does not often exhibit the structure of the Period. It was imitated, sometimes with great skill and beauty, by many of the earlier writers of English prose; but its effect is better seen in poetry, as in the following passage:—

12. Help through a Knowledge of the Order of Words in Latin.—If you study the examples already given of the Period you will see that the Order of Words in English differs very much from the Order of Words in Latin.

Dr. Abbott writes as follows: ‘The main difference between English and Latin is that in English the meaning depends mainly on the order of words, and the emphasis mainly on the voice, while in Latin the meaning depends almost entirely on the inflexions, and the emphasis upon the order.’

Thus, if we take the English sentence, Caesar conquered the Gauls, we cannot invert the order of Caesar and Gauls without entirely changing the meaning. In Latin, however, we may write (since each Latin word has its own proper inflexion, serving almost as a label)

Caesar vicit Gallos: Gallos Caesar vicit: Caesar Gallos vicit, without any change of meaning except that of shifting the emphasis from one word to another.

The usual order of words in a Latin Prose Sentence may be said to be

(1) Particles, or phrases of connection (with some exceptions, e.g. vero, autem, quidem, enim, which stand second).

(2) Subject.

(3) Words, phrases, clauses, as enlargements of Subject.

(4) Adverbial enlargements of Predicate (though an Ablative Absolute must generally stand first).

(5) Indirect Object (if any) and its enlargements.

(6) Direct Object (if any) and its enlargements.

(7) The Principal Verb.

To take a simple example:—

5LIVIUS, imperator fortissimus, quamquam adventus hostium non ubi oportuit nuntiatus est, PERICULUM illa sua in rebus dubiis audacia facile EVASIT.

LIVIUS, a most excellent commander, although the enemy’s arrival was not reported when it should have been, easily ESCAPED the DANGER by his well-known daring in perilous positions.

To take another example:—

6Archimedis EGO quaestor ignoratum ab Syracusanis, cum esse omnino negarent, saeptum undique et vestitum vepribus et dumetis, INDAGAVI SEPULCRUM.

When I was Quaestor, I WAS ABLE TO TRACE OUT the TOMB of Archimedes, overgrown and hedged in with brambles and brushwood. The Syracusans knew nothing of it, and denied its existence.

Notice here the following special points of order:—

(1) The two most important positions in the sentence are the beginning and the end.

(2) Special emphasis is expressed by placing a word in an unusual or prominent position.

E.g. here, the unusual position of Archimedis and sepulcrum.

(3) In the middle of the sentence the arrangement is such that the words most closely connected in meaning stand nearest together.

E.g. here, ignoratum . . . dumetis is all logically connected with the object sepulcrum, which for the sake of emphasis is put in an unusual position at the end of the sentence.

13. Additional Hints.—(1) Remember that Latin is often concrete where English is abstract.

E.g.—

ingeniosi (men of genius) = genius.
eruditi   docti	(learned men) = learning.
viri summo ingenio praediti, saepe invidia opprimuntur. The most exalted genius is frequently overborne by envy.
omnes immemorem benefici oderunt. The world regards ingratitude with hatred.

(2) The same Latin word may stand for different English words. Take, for example, the various uses of the word RES in the following passage of Livy, xlv. 19:—

7Ut RES docuit . . . animo gestienti REBUS secundis . . . speculator RERUM quae a fratre agerentur . . . REM prope prolapsam restituit . . . aliis alia regna crevisse REBUS dicendo.

As the FACT showed . . . spirits running riot from PROSPERITY . . . to watch the COURSE pursued by his brother . . . he restored what was almost a lost CAUSE . . . by saying that kingdoms grow by various MEANS.

In translating RES, avoid at all costs the word THING, or THINGS, and let the context guide you to the appropriate English word.

(3) You may often translate a Latin Active by an English Passive. Latin prefers the Active because it is more direct and vivid.

For example:—

Liberas aedes coniurati sumpserunt. An empty house had been occupied by the conspirators.

(4) Use great care in translating Latin Participles, and make clear in your translation the relation of the participial enlargements to the action of the main Verb.

For example:—

concessive:	Romani, non ROGATI, auxilium offerunt. The Romans, though they were not asked, offer help.
final:	Fortuna superbos interdum RUITURA levat. Fortune sometimes raises the proud, only to dash them down.
causal:	S. Ahala Sp. Maelium regnum APPETENTEM interemit. S. Ahala killed Sp. Maelius for aiming at the royal power.

Notice also:—

Pontem captum incendit = He took and burned the bridge.

Nescio quem prope adstantem interrogavi. I questioned someone who was standing by.

Haec dixit moriens = He said this while dying.   Nuntiata clades = The news of the disaster.

(5) In translating, try to bring out the exact force of the Ablative Absolute, by which a Latin writer shows the time or circumstances of the action expressed by the Predicate. The Ablative Absolute is an adverbial enlargement of the Predicate, and is not grammatically dependent on any word in the sentence. It is, therefore, called absolutus (i.e. freed from or unconnected). It should very seldom be translated literally. Your best plan will be to consider carefully what the Ablative Absolute seems to suggest about the action of the Principal Verb.

For example:—

Capta Troia, Graeci domum redierunt. The Greeks returned home after the capture of Troy.

Regnante Romulo, Roma urbs erat parva. When Romulus was reigning, Rome was a small city.

Exercitu collecto in hostes contenderunt. They collected an army and marched against the enemy.

Nondum hieme confecta in fines Nerviorum contendit. Though the winter was not yet over, he hastened to the territory of the Nervii.

Tum salutato hostium duce, ad suos conversus, subditis equo calcaribus, Germanorum ordines praetervectus est, neque expectatis legatis, nec respondente ullo.   Thereupon, after saluting the enemy’s general, he turned to his companions, and setting spurs to his horse, rode past the ranks of the Germans, without either waiting for his staff, or receiving an answer from anyone.

HELPS TO STYLE.

Though Style cannot perhaps be taught, it can certainly be formed and improved. There are several ways of improving your Style. For example:—

14. Through the Best English Literature.—Read good Literature, the best English Authors in prose and verse. You will know something, perhaps, of Shakespeare and Scott, of Macaulay and Tennyson. Though you may not be able to attack the complete works of any great author, you ought not to have any difficulty in finding good books of selections from the English Classics.

15. Through good Translations.—Study a few good English Versions of passages from the best Latin writers. You may often have a good version of the passage you translate read to you in your Division after your mistakes have been pointed out to you, and to this you should pay great attention. You will thus learn eventually to suit your style to the Author you are translating, while at the same time you render the passage closely and accurately.

16. Be Clear.—Remember that the first characteristic of a good style is clearness—that is, to say what you mean and to mean what you say. Quintilian, the great critic, says that the aim of the translator should be, not that the reader may understand if he will, but that he must understand whether he will or not. The more you read the greatest Authors the more you will see that, as Coleridge says, ‘there is a reason assignable not only for every word, but for the position of every word.’

17. Be Simple.—With clearness goes simplicity—that is, use no word you do not understand, avoid fine epithets, and do not choose a phrase for its sound alone, but for its sense.

18. Avoid Paraphrase.—You are asked to translate, not to give a mere general idea of the sense. What you have to do is to think out the exact meaning of every word in the sentence, and to express this in as good and correct English as you can.

19. Pay attention to Metaphors.—The subject of Metaphor is of great importance in good translation. You will find that every language possesses its own special Metaphors in addition to those which are common to most European languages. As you become familiar with Latin Authors you must try to distinguish the Metaphors common to English and Latin and those belonging only to English or to Latin.

For example:—

(1) Metaphors identical in Latin and English—

Progreditur res publica naturali quodam itinere et cursu. The State advances in a natural path and progress.

(2) Metaphors differing in Latin and English—

cedant arma togae	= let the sword yield to the pen.
ardet acerrime coniuratio	= the conspiracy is at its height.
rex factus est	= he ascended the throne.
conticuit	= he held his peace.

20. Careful Translation a Help to Style.—In conclusion. Nothing will help your style more than to do your translations as well as you possibly can, and to avoid repeating the same mistakes. The Latins themselves knew the value of translation as a help to style.

For example, Pliny the Younger says:—

‘As useful as anything is the practice of translating either your Greek into Latin or your Latin into Greek. By practising this you will acquire propriety and dignity of expression, an abundant choice of the beauties of style, power in description, and gain in the imitation of the best models a facility of creating such models for yourself. Besides, what may escape you when you read, cannot escape you when you translate.’