73 Explōrātiō Sexta Decima (XVI) Adventure Sixteen
Vergil, Aeneid
The Demonstrative hic, haec, hoc
Ablative Uses
Mōns Palatīnus, Rōma Mēnsis Iunius
Ser. Corneliō Cethēgō L. Viselliō Varrōne cōnsulibus
Palatine Hill, Rome June, 24 B.C.E.
“T
oday, while we’re visiting, you’re going to be on your own, sine mē.”
I tensed up at the news and shouted Quid? She put both hands on my cheeks, looked me in the eye, and said, “You’ll be fine.”
How do you know? I asked, forgetting the premise of our time traveling for a moment.
“Because the place we are visiting is the past, where everything has already happened and nothing can be changed.”
As we left the Forum behind us Latinitas directed me: hīc verte, turn here. We were headed uphill along a tree-lined road paved in stone, straight into the rays of the setting sun. “Hic est collis Palatīnus, this is the Palatine Hill,” she gestured. “Domum Octaviānī petimus, we are heading for the home of Octavian.” Ubi est? I asked, where is it? “Mox cernēs, you will notice it soon.”
At the top of the hill the road offered us a picturesque view. Immediately below stretched the Circus Maximus, the largest racecourse in Rome and the place where chariot races were held. To our right we could see the Campus Martius, dominated by the Theater of Pompey. On the far side of a bend in the Tiber river ran the ridge of the Janiculum Hill, the sun on the verge of going down behind its trees. There were no races in the Circus this evening, but the atmosphere was festive as people milled about and enjoyed the spontaneous entertainments: musicians, magicians, tightrope walkers, and cockfights. An amateur boxing match drew a large crowd that had gathered near a tall, odd-looking cone in the middle of the racetrack. Latinitas told me that this cone was called a mēta, or racing post, and marked the end of the race. Everywhere we looked, people appeared to be having a good time.
“Haec eius domus, this is his house.” Octavian’s residence was a large structure, but not ostentatiously so – no larger than Atticus’, with two floors and a three-storey tower on one corner. But a beautiful temple attached to it by a portico made it more impressive; dedicated to the god Apollo, it looked like an inspired addition. Latinitas had me sit on the temple steps, and we watched a couple playing fetch with a canis, a stray dog, and a pīla, a ball. She was a pretty breed of hound, with some wolf in her. Pete! Pete pīlam! Quam bona canis! Fetch, fetch the ball! What a good dog!
As the couple left and the dog scampered away, Latinitas mused aloud: “There’s a legend that the founder of the city of Rome, Romulus, was raised along with his brother Remus by a lupa, a she-wolf. It was in a cave at the base of this hill, in a place called the Lupercal. Maybe her descendants still haunt this area? She was a wolf but she was a good mother: her adopted son went on to found this great city, and gave its residents their name, Romans, Rōmānī.”
Did Romulus speak Latin?
“He certainly did, though that was 700 years ago, and the language was different then.” So did he invent Latin?
“No; no single person or small group of persons can create a living language. Languages evolve, like species of animals, from older ones. Latin was already spoken by the mother of Romulus and Remus. Their mother, Ilia, was a priestess and a member of the royal family of Alba Longa, a city on the volcanic mountain you saw from Cicero’s villa; that’s the center of the land of the Latin-speaking peoples. Rome lies on the edge of Latin territory. Back in those days, once you crossed the Tiber river, you would be in the territory of the Etruscans, a people who spoke a very different language. Hic est ager Latīnus, this is Latin land, et ibi habitābant Etruscī, and there dwelt the Etruscans,” she said, gesturing far away towards the sunset and the Janiculum.
- The Demonstrative hic, haec, hoc
“Hic ager, haec domus, this land, this house. The word I am using is the Demonstrative hic, haec, hoc. It is related to the pronoun hīc, ‘here’ and means ‘this’ or, when plural, ‘these’; it refers to something close by. It is like is, ea, id, but it is more emphatic, like you are pointing your finger.”
“There are two uses of this word. When it modifies a noun in the same gender, case, and number, it is a Demonstrative Adjective, and the translation is ‘this’ or, when plural, ‘these’. When it stands in place of a noun, it is a Demonstrative Pronoun. The translation is ‘this’ or ‘these’, followed by ‘man’, ‘woman’, ‘thing’, or whatever noun it is standing in place of (which you
determine based on the context).”
The Forms of hic haec hoc (A)
SingularPlural
MFNMFN
Nom. hichaechochīhaehaec Gen.huiushuiushuiushōrumhārumhōrum Dat.huichuichuichīshīshīs Acc.hunchanchochōshāshaec Abl.hōchāchōchīshīshīs
“Practice saying these, first the singulars, then the plurals, several times. After that, add these other words to your vocabulary. You will hear them being used a little later.”
hic, haec, hocthis; these First Conjugation (A-Verbs)
iūvō, iūvāre, iūvīto help “This often governs an infinitive, as in,
dīcere eius nōmen mē iuvat, it helps me to say his name.”
stō, stare, stetīto stand
Third Conjugation (I-Verbs)
cadō, cadere, cecidīto fall
cernō, cernere, crēvīto notice
condō, condere, condidīto found; to store
gerō, gerere, gessīto wear, to carry out
bellum gerōto wage war
rem gerōto carry out a task
parcō, parcere, pepercīto spare, to save “The object of this verb will be in the dative.”
Second Declension Neuter Nouns rēgnum, rēgn-īn.kingdom caelum, cael-īn.sky, heaven
arma, arm-ōrumn.arms, weapons “Only used in the plural”
Third Declension Nouns
sēdes, sēd-isf.seat, abode
ōs, ōr-isn.face, mouth
First and Second Declension (US-A-UM) Adjectives pulcher, pulchr-a, pulchrumattractive immōtus, immōt-a, immōtumunmoved
Conjunction
quandōsince; when
Adverbs
etiam or eteven“Notice how ‘et’ could be an adverb or the conjunction meaning ‘and’.”
moxsoon
This is the city.Haec est urbs.
I will drive these soldiers from this territory.Hōs mīlitēs hīs ex fīnibus agam.
“TODAY, IDENTIFY ANY DEMONSTRATIVES, SAY WHETHER THEY ARE PRONOUNS OR ADJECTIVES, AND GIVE THEIR GENDER, CASE, AND NUMBER.”
Mox in hāc terrā hoc bellum hī gerent. (1)
Haec ōra cernō. (2)
Hī cōnsulēs bene dīcere sciunt. (3) Hic ad hanc sēdem suōrum ībit. (4) Haec dīcam sī īram suam ponent. (5) Hī sunt geminī. (6)
It helps to call the gods, even in these times. (7)
Here, since, where there was a city, nothing now stands, our hope will soon fall. (8)
Spare these miserable (women). (9)
To these (men) I speak a harsh decision. (10)
Quid hic agit? Quid aget? (11)
Senātus etiam haec videt. (12)
Nōnne vōs hārum vultūs movērunt? (13)
Inde ferēs ad caelum līberum tuum dīvīnum. (14)
Et dux moenia pōnit. (15)
Rōmulus populum ‘Rōmānōs’ ab nōmine suō dīcet. (16)
Hīs ego nec mētās rērum nec tempora pōnō; namque hīs imperium sine fīne dō.(17) “The meaning of mēta was explained at the very beginning of today’s
adventure.”