6. A Vatican manuscript of Terence’s comedy The Andria, from the ninth-century CE. The illustrations are sketches of the scene as it would have looked when acted on the scaena or stage. Actors in the ancient world almost always wore persōnae or masks when they performed.
Explōrātiō Tertia (III) Adventure Three
Terence, Andria (The Woman from Andros) Excerpt
Translating from Latin to English
Translating Complementary Infinitive
Translating from English to Latin
E-Verbs (Second Conjugation): Imperfect and Future Tense
Translating Yes/No Question from English to Latin
Translating Imperative Verb Forms
Imperative Verb Forms Used as Greetings
Where and When Are We Today?
Campus Martius, Rōma
Mēnsis Aprilis
Cn. Octaviō T. Manliō Torquātō cōnsulibus
Campus Martius, Rome
April, 165 BCE
Our third visit to ancient Italy took us back to the city of Rome, and to the same muddy field, the Campus Martius, or Field of Mars, where we had been when we watched the Menaechmi. We were even facing a stage again, only this time, no audience sat in the bleachers: this was a rehearsal. The actors on stage were practicing a scene from a play called the Andria, the Woman from Andros. Its storyline, in case you were wondering, revolves around a conflict between a young man named Pamphilus and his father Simo. Pamphilus wants to marry Glycerium, the sister of a sex worker from Andros. His father Simo has arranged for him to be married to a ‘more respectable’ woman, Philumena, daughter of Chremes. Chremes calls off the arrangement after finding out who Pamphilus had been hanging out with. Simo wants to teach his son a lesson by embarrassing him, so he forges ahead with plans for a wedding that will have no bride. Simo’s slave Davus then gets involved, launching an elaborate plot to thwart Simo. To further complicate matters, Pamphilus’ friend Charinus has fallen in love with Philumena, a love he confesses to his slave Byrrhia.
Terence
That at any rate was how the action of the play was supposed to begin. But the rehearsal was a disaster: actors were forgetting their lines, props were blowing away in the wind, stagehands were fighting over who should pay for food. The playwright, Publius Terentius Afer, or Terence, who was also the director, was at the end of his rope and yelling at everybody.
| Latin | English |
|
Vōs, vidēte! Operam dare dēbētis! Verba nōn servās! Verba mūtātis! Verba servāte! Nōn sīc tē docēbam! |
You, look!
You ought to make an effort! You’re not preserving the words! You’re changing the words! Preserve the words! That’s not how I taught you! |
Finally, he took a position center stage and shouted – Satis est! Fiat fīnis! That’s enough! Let that be the end! – before storming off to the city. With the director gone, all the actors and stagehands shrugged their shoulders and walked away.
Latinitas and I climbed onto the stage and picked up the script, looking at the page it was open to. She had me read the characters’ lines and then translated them. Practice reading the lines aloud in Latin yourself; in class, try working with two partners, each of you taking the role of Charinus, Byrrhia, or Pamphilus:
Terence, Andria (The Woman from Andros) Excerpt
| Latin | English |
|
CHARINUS: Quid ais, Byrria? Daturne illa Pamphilō hodiē nuptum? BYRRHIA: Sīc est. CHARINUS: Quō scīs? BYRRHIA: Apud forum modo ē Dāvō audīvī. CHARINUS: Vae miserō mihi! Ut animus in spē atque in timōre usque antehāc attentus fuit, ita, postquam adempta spēs est, lassus cūrā confectus stupet. BYRRHIA: Quaesō edepol, Charīne, quoniam nōn potest id fierī quod vīs, id velīs quod possit. CHARINUS: Nīl volō aliud nisi Philūmenam. |
CHARINUS: What do you say, Byrrhia? Has that woman been given to Pamphilus to marry today? BYRRHIA: It’s so. CHARINUS: How do you know? BYRRHIA: I just heard it in the forum from Davus. CHARINUS: Oh it sucks for poor me! As much as my mind was constantly torn between hope and fear before this, now that its hope is gone, it’s so weary and drained by worry, it’s stunned. BYRRHIA: Please, Charinus, because it’s impossible, this thing you want, wish for what is possible. CHARINUS: I want nothing else except Philumena. |
|
BYRRHIA: Āh, quantō satius est tē id dare operam quō istum amōrem ex animō āmoveās tuō, quam id loquī quō mage libīdō frustrā incendātur tua! CHARINUS: Facile omnēs cum valēmus recta cōnsilia aegrōtīs damus. Tū sī hīc sīs, aliter sentiās. BYRRHIA: Age age, ut lubet. CHARINUS: Sed Pamphilum videō. Omnia experīrī certum est prius quam pereō. BYRRHIA: Quid hic agit? |
BYRRHIA: Ah, how much more satisfying it would be for you to work on removing that crazy love from your mind, rather than say something that makes your desire burn more in frustration. CHARINUS: It’s easy, when we are all healthy, to give the sick correct advice. If you were here in my shoes, you would feel differently. BYRRHIA: Go do as you like. CHARINUS: Wait, I see Pamphilus. My mind’s made up to try everything before I’m done. BYRRHIA: What’s he doing? |
|
CHARINUS: Ipsum hunc ōrābō, huic supplicābō, amōrem huic narrābō meum: crēdō impetrābō ut aliquot saltem nuptiīs prōdat diēs: intereā fiet aliquid, spērō. BYRRHIA: Id ‘aliquid’ nīl est. CHARINUS: Byrrhia, quid tibi vidētur? Adeōn ad eum? BYRRHIA: Quidnī? Sī nīl impetrēs, ut tē arbitrētur sibi parātum moechum, sī illam dūxerit. CHARINUS: Abīn hinc in malam rem cum suspīciōne istāc, scelus? PAMPHILUS: Charīnum videō. Salvē. CHARINUS: Ō salvē, Pamphile: ad tē adveniō spem salūtem auxilium cōnsilium expetēns. PAMPHILUS: Neque pol cōnsilī locum habeō neque ad auxilium cōpiam. |
CHARINUS: I will beg him in person, I will get on my knees for him, I will tell him about my love! I believe I can get him to postpone the wedding at least a few days; meanwhile something will happen, I hope. BYRRHIA: This ‘something’ is nothing. CHARINUS: Byrrhia, What do you think? Should I go to him? BYRRHIA: Sure, why not? If you accomplish nothing else, he’ll probably suspect you’re prepared to seduce her, if he marries her. CHARINUS: Get out of here, to hell with that ‘suspicion’, you jerk. PAMPHILUS: It’s Charinus I see. Hello! CHARINUS: Oh Pamphilus, hello; to you I come seeking hope, security, aid, advice. PAMPHILUS: I have no room for advice, nor any means to help |
Vocabulary
“Here,” she said to me, “are a few common words and expressions from this scene you should write in your notebook:”
|
Latin |
English Meaning |
|
sī fierī potest |
if it is possible |
|
nīl or nihil |
nothing |
|
aliquid |
something |
|
quid |
what? |
Conjunctions
“The following words are called conjunctions. A conjunction is a connecting word like ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘if’, ‘unless’ or ‘when’. It can join two words – ‘wine and cheese’, say – or it can join one clause, meaning a phrase with a subject and verb, to another clause, together making a larger sentence:”
I love the Campus Martius, but you prefer the Tiber.
We will go to the Campus Martius, unless you want to go to the Forum.
Vocabulary
“In addition to the conjunctions you already know, et, sed, cum, sī, and nisi, you should also learn these:”
|
Latin |
English Meaning |
|
nec or neque |
nor |
|
neque… neque |
neither… nor |
|
nec… nec |
neither… nor |
|
et… et |
both… and |
“Here are some examples of their use:”
Vocabulary, Illustrated
nec ego nec tū
neither I nor you
Nōn tē amō neque mē amās.
I do not love you, nor do you love me.
Neque amō neque spērō.
I neither love nor hope.
Et amō et spērō.
I both love and hope.
“All done writing?”
All done.
E-Verbs (Second Conjugation)
“Good. Now to verbs. When Terence was yelling at the actors before, saying things like docēbam, dēbētis, those were verbs – you could tell by the personal endings. Here are some more common verbs. Write them in your vocabulary like this for now, but leave a space big enough for two more words between the Latin and the English, so that we can fill it in later. I’ve translated only the second principal part – the infinitive form – for you. Do you remember how to translate the first principal part?”
‘I verb’, since it is the 1st person singular present tense form, right?
“Right! Here are your new verbs:”
Vocabulary
E-Verbs
|
Latin Verb |
English Meaning |
|
dēbeō, dēb-ēre |
to need (to do something); to owe |
|
doceō, doc-ēre |
to teach |
|
habeō, hab-ēre |
to have; to hold |
|
iaceō, iac-ēre |
to lie “As in: to lie on the ground.” |
|
iubeō, iub-ēre |
to order |
|
maneō, man-ēre |
to remain; to stay; to await |
|
moveō, mov-ēre |
to move |
|
timeō, tim-ēre |
to fear |
|
valeō, val-ēre |
to be strong “You only need one Latin word to translate the two English words ‘be strong’!” |
|
videō, vid-ēre |
to see |
“What do these ten verbs all have in common?”
The first-person singular ends in –ō.
“What else?
Actually, they all end in –eō.
“And what else?
The infinitive, for all of them, ends in –ēre.
“That’s right. This family of verbs, which I call E-verbs – also called the second conjugation – all have a 1st person singular present tense form with the ending –eō, and an infinitive with the ending –ēre. This makes them different from A-verbs, which have a 1st person singular present tense form that ends in –ō, and an infinitive that ends in –āre. Verbs cannot change from A-verbs to E-verbs or the reverse; every verb is stuck in the conjugation that it belongs to.”
“Now tē docēbō, I will teach you, the forms of E-verbs in the three tenses with which you are already familiar. The stem of an E-verb is found in the same way that the stem of A-verb was: you remove the last three letters from the infinitive. For example, the stem of dēbeō, dēbēre is dēb-.”
Drill
“I’ve shown you the stem of one E-Verb; try to identify the stem of the others:
|
Infinitive |
Stem |
|
dēbēre |
dēb– |
|
docēre |
|
|
habēre |
|
|
iacēre |
|
|
iubēre |
|
|
manēre |
|
|
movēre |
|
|
timēre |
|
|
valēre |
|
|
vidēre |
|
E-Verbs: Present Tense
“Do you remember the A-verb present tense endings?”
I do, I said.
“Excellent. The present tense endings for E-verbs are similar, but all have the letter –ē–. The –e– becomes short before –ō, –t, and –nt. We’ll use dēbēo, dēbēre as a model:”
E-Verb Present Tense Forms
|
Ending |
Verb Stem + Ending |
English Meaning |
|||
|
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
|
-e-ō |
-ē-mus |
dēbeō |
dēbēmus |
I need |
we need |
|
-ē-s |
-ē-tis |
dēbēs |
dēbētis |
you need |
you all need |
|
-e-t |
-e-nt |
dēbet |
dēbent |
he, she, it needs |
they need |
Drill
Conjugate the verb habeō, habēre in the present tense. By ‘conjugate’, I mean provide all six forms (1st, 2nd, 3rd person, both singular and plural) of the verb in the present tense. Use the chart above as a guide.”
Today’s RULE
Translating from Latin to English
“Today’s RULE for any Latin sentence is: I. Read aloud, II. Mark any subject, object, or predicate, and the person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), number (sg., pl.), and tense (pres., imperf., fut.) of each verb, and III. Translate, adjusting for English SVO (Subject Verb Object) word order. Put II. and III. in your notebook.”
Today’s RULE, Latin to English, Illustrated
|
I. Vidēmus cum eōs movēs. |
|
II. Vidēmus (1st pl. pres.) cum eōs (obj.) movēs (2nd sg. pres.) |
|
III. We see (1st pl. pres.) when you move (2nd sg. pres.) them (obj.). |
Translating Complementary Infinitive
“The verbs dēbeō, doceō, and iubeō, like cōgitō and amō, can govern a complementary infinitive.”
Complementary Infinitive Example
|
I. Parēns eōs parāre dēbet. |
|
II. Parēns (subj.) eōs (obj.) parāre (inf.) dēbet (3rd sg. pres.). |
|
III. The parent (subj.) needs (3rd sg. pres.) to prepare (inf.) them (obj.). |
Translating from English to Latin
“When translating English into Latin, the RULE is: I. Mark the subject(s), any predicate or object, and the person, number, and tense of each verb, II. Identify the Latin vocabulary you need, and III. Put the Latin words into the forms you identified in the first step; for a nice Latin word order, put the conjugated verb at the end of your sentence or clause.”
Today’s RULE, English to Latin, Illustrated
|
You all prepare him well. |
|
I. You all (subj.) prepare (2nd pl. pres.) him (obj.) well. |
|
II. vōs : parō, parāre : eum bene |
|
III. Vōs eum bene parātis. (Notice how I put the conjugated verb parātis at the end!) |
Exercises 1-12
1. Sī docēmus, valētis.
2. Eum docētis.
3. Nōs docent, sī fierī potest.
4. Et eam et eum vidēs.
5. Nec tē nec mē fīlius videt.
6. Mē is videt et valēmus.
7. Ego, cum iubent, moveō.
8. You see and fear unless they move.
9. Parēns eum docēre dēbet.
10. She needs to teach us.
11. Fīlius tē iacēre iubet.
12. He orders me to move.
E-Verbs (Second Conjugation): Imperfect and Future Tense
E-Verbs: Imperfect Tense
“Next, the imperfect tense forms. These are the same as for A-verbs, except that they have –ē– instead of –ā– between the stem and ending. We’ll use habeō, habēre as a model:”
E-Verb Imperfect Tense Forms
|
Ending |
Verb Stem + Ending |
English Meaning |
|||
|
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
|
-ē-bam |
-ē-bāmus |
habēbam |
habēbāmus |
I was having |
we were having |
|
-ē-bās |
-ē-bātis |
habēbās |
habēbātis |
you were having |
you all were having |
|
-ē-bat |
-ē-bant |
habēbat |
habēbant |
he, she, it was having |
they were having |
Drill
“Conjugate the verb valeō, valēre in the imperfect tense. By ‘conjugate’, I mean provide all six forms (1st, 2nd, 3rd person, both singular and plural) of the verb in the imperfect tense. Use the chart above as a guide.”
Sentence with Imperfect Tense Verb
|
I. Movēbant, et valēbāmus. |
|
II. Movēbant (3rd pl. imperf.), et valēbāmus (1st pl. imperf.). |
|
III. They were moving (3rd pl. imperf.), and we were being strong (1st pl. impef.). |
Exercises 13-18
13. Timēbam cum movēbas.
14. The daughter was fearing when we were moving.
15. Aliquid habēbātis cum is docēbat. “Is aliquid a subject or object here?”
16. You all were fearing nothing when I was teaching.
17. Neque ea valēbat, neque eam movēre docēbant.
18. You were moving, and she was teaching you to be strong.
E-Verbs: Future Tense
“The future tense of E-verbs is the same as for A-verbs, except E-verbs have –ē– instead of –ā– before bo-, bi-, bu– and the personal endings. We’ll use iubeō, iubēre as a model:”
E-Verb Future Tense Forms
|
Ending |
Verb Stem + Ending |
English Meaning |
|||
|
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
|
-ē-bō |
-ē-bimus |
iubēbō |
iubēbimus |
I will order |
we will order |
|
-ē-bis |
-ē-bitis |
iubēbis |
iubēbitis |
you will order |
you all will order |
|
-ē-bit |
-ē-bunt |
iubēbit |
iubēbunt |
he, she, it will order |
they will order |
Drill
“Conjugate the verb moveō, movēre in the future tense. By ‘conjugate’, I mean provide all six forms (1st, 2nd, 3rd person, both singular and plural) of the verb in the future tense. Use the chart above as a guide.”
Sentence with Future Tense Verb
|
I. Timēbō et tē cōgitāre eī iubēbunt. |
|
II. Timēbō (1st sg. fut.) et tē (obj.) cōgitāre (inf.) eī (subj.) iubēbunt (3rd pl. fut.). |
|
III. I will fear (1st sg. fut.) and they (subj.) will order (3rd pl. fut.) you (obj.) to think (inf.). |
Exercises 19-24
19. Valēbimus et cōgitāre dēbēbimus.
20. Timēbis sī ea nōs mūtāre iubēbit.
21. Sī parēns vōs cōgitāre iubēbunt, valēbimus.
22. Fīlia manēbit sī eam manēre iubēbō.
23. You all will move if the young adult will order you all to move.
24. Unless I will teach you to prepare, you will fear and not be strong.
E-Verbs, Reviewed
“So E-verbs have the same endings as A-verbs in all three tenses, except that the letter –ē– replaces the letter –ā–, and in the 1st person singular present, the ending is eō instead ō. Vidēsne, do you see? Answer me in Latin.”
Ego videō. Videō!
Questions
“Bene! By the way, to turn a simple statement into a yes/no question in Latin, add
–ne to the end of the first word (and a question mark to the end of the sentence). When you add –ne, you are asking if the statement is true or not, and the answer could be ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”
Yes/No Questions in Latin, Illustrated
|
I. Tūne parābās? |
|
II.Tūne (subj.) parābās (2nd sg. imperf.)? |
|
III. Were you (subj.) preparing (2nd sg. imperf.)? |
|
I. Vidēsne? |
|
II. Vidēsne (2nd sg. pres.)? |
|
III. Do you see (2nd sg. pres.)? |
Translating Yes/No Question from English to Latin
“English sometimes adds ‘do’, ‘does’, or ‘did’ to yes/no questions. Ignore these words when you translate into Latin.”
Translating Yes/No Question from English to Latin, Illustrated
I. [Does] the young adult (subj.) see (3rd sg. pres.)?
II. adulescēns : -ne : videō, vidēre
III. Videtne adulescēns?
Question Introduced by quid
“Another type of question is introduced by the word quid, which is usually the first word in the question. If your question begins with quid, then –ne is not used.”
Question Introduced by quid, Illustrated
|
I. Quid vidēs? |
|
II. Quid (obj.) vidēs (2nd sg. pres.)? |
|
III. What (obj.) do you see (2nd sg. pres.)? |
Word Order in Questions
“By the way, notice in the previous example how English can sometimes deviate from normal SVO word order: What (object) do you (subject) see (verb)? English, like Latin, tends to put the question word first in a sentence.”
Exercises 25-29
25. Fīliane videt?
26. Do the twins see?
26. Quid tū cōgitābās?
27. What do you all think?
28. What will she think?
29. Do you order me?
Imperative Verb Forms
“Now pay attention. Terence was telling his actors to do things, commanding them: vidēte, servāte. These forms of the verb are for commands; they are called imperatives. Remember that.”
“Commands are a very basic form of language, so their forms are simple. There are singular forms for commanding one person and plural forms for commanding more than one person. The singular form is the verb stem plus the vowel of the verb conjugation (-ā for A-verbs or –ē for E-verbs); the plural is formed by adding –te to the singular form:”
Imperative Verb Forms: A-Verbs and E-Verbs
|
|
Ending |
Verb Stem + Ending |
English Meaning |
|||
|
|
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
|
A-Verbs |
-ā |
-āte |
cōgitā |
cōgitāte |
Think! |
Think, (you all)! |
|
E-Verbs |
-ē |
-ēte |
movē |
movēte |
Move! |
Move, (you all)! |
Translating Imperative Verb Forms
“The English translation requires the verb by itself and, if you like, an exclamation mark. The pronoun ‘you all’ is optional in translation.”
Sentences with Imperative Verb
Cōgitā aliquid!
Plan something!
Spērāte!
Hope, (you all)!
Movē nihil!
Move nothing!
Timēte!
Fear, (you all)!
Imperative Verb Forms Used as Greetings
“Imperative forms of certain verbs are used for greetings.”
Salvē!
Be healthy! “This is how you say ‘hello’ in Latin.”
Salvēte!
Be healthy, (you all)! “This is how you say ‘hello’ to more than one person.”
Valē!
Be strong! “This is how you say ‘goodbye’ in Latin.”
Valēte!
Be strong! “This is how you say ‘goodbye’ to more than one person.”
What is the imperative for sum? I asked.
“That’s an excellent question. The singular imperative of sum is es, and the plural is este, but these forms are not very common. Latin speakers more commonly use sīs ‘may you be’ and sītis ‘may you all be’. In Cato’s book we saw a related form, sit, ‘let it be’, several times. We will study these forms more another day.”
Exercises 30-35
“Now translate these sentences that have some imperative verb forms:”
30. Cōgitā, quisquis es!
31. Sī fierī potest, iubēte eum manēre!
32. Salvēte, geminī!
33. Valē, fīlia!
34. Move! I was moving. You were moving? He was moving.
35. Fear, you all! We were fearing. You all were fearing? They were fearing.
Exercises 36-40
“For the final practice, try these:”
36. We have nothing. What do you have?
37. I too have nothing. It is not good.
38. What do the twins need to give?
39. When they will see neither you nor me, what will they think?
40. If it is possible, the son needs to call both you and me.
Terence’s Life
Afterward, as we walked off to the city, Latinitas shared a little more information about the playwright Terence.
“Terence’s life ran between extremes of good luck and bad luck. According to a later author named Suetonius, Terence’s homeland was north Africa, outside of Carthage. He was enslaved at some point early in his life, but he learned Greek and Latin while young, and ended up in the household of a Roman senator, Publius Terentius Lucanus, who freed him and gave him his Roman name, Terentius. Freed slaves acquired their nōmen gentilicium from their former enslavers; his cognōmen – Afer, African – may reflect his birth in Africa. His plays were such a success that he was reported to have become very wealthy, and to be friends with the most powerful Romans of his day. But he disappeared without a trace while taking a vacation in Greece; people speculated that the ship he was sailing on went down in a storm.”
Did he?
“Sorry, dear, I can’t reveal lost truths like that. But I can tell you that he was said to be only 25 years old when he died.”
“His luck with his audiences was just as mixed. At the debut of the Hecyra, the Mother-in-Law, the entire audience left the stands so they could watch a performance of boxers and tightrope walkers. At the play’s second performance, a crowd leaving a gladiator show rampaged through the theater and caused the production to be shut down. On the other hand, his play the Eunuch proved to be so successful in its debut performance that the audience demanded it be performed again immediately, all the way through.”
“A thousand years later, his plays were among the most popular pieces of Latin literature in European monasteries, where they were studied and performed by monks and nuns. Later they set the pattern for the whole genre of domestic drama and situation comedy. It is, if you think about it, a rather remarkable achievement for someone who was a slave as a teenager and died when he was young.”
And with that Latinitas snapped her fingers (crepitābat digitīs), and I was back in my apartment, with notebook in hand, wondering why I had not heard Terence’s name before.
7. Mosaic showing theatrical masks for a fēmina et vir, a woman and a man. Second-century CE. From the Baths of Decius. Capitoline Museums, Hall of the Doves. Photo by Antmoose. Wikimedia Commons. Mosaic, H. 74.6 cm (29 ¼ in.). Capitoline Museums. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tragic_comic_masks_-_roman_mosaic.jpg.
