Unit 6 Exercises I
Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 3:58 am
12. "Erant novī rūmōrēs corpora mīlitum esse sāna et mīlitēs validīs vīribus pūgnāre."
I have "There were new rumours that the bodies of the soldiers were sound (? i.e., were returned to health) and that the soldiers were fighting strongly with the healthy men", but I'm unsure about "validīs ... pūgnāre". M&F say that pūgnāre cum means to fight against; does pūgnāre with a simple ablative mean fighting on the same side?
16. "Respondistī nova perīcula validīs hominibus oppidī mōnstrāta esse."
I'm unsure about "validīs hominibus". My thinking has been:
* it's not "ab hominibus", so it's not "had been shown by the men of the town"
* perhaps dative plural, so "had been shown to the men of the town"
* is "validīs" an adjective ("had been shown to the strong men of the town") -- but usually the adj. follows the noun
* perhaps "validīs" is a substantive, but then is it dative or ablative.
* perhaps a dative of disadvantage "new dangers for the healthy men" or an ablative of origin "new dangers originating from the healthy men"
There are lots of alternatives but I haven't read enough Latin (only chaps 1-6 of M&F!) to weigh up the probabilities. The ablative/dative plural confusion must be a common problem in translation. Any pointers, please?
I have "There were new rumours that the bodies of the soldiers were sound (? i.e., were returned to health) and that the soldiers were fighting strongly with the healthy men", but I'm unsure about "validīs ... pūgnāre". M&F say that pūgnāre cum means to fight against; does pūgnāre with a simple ablative mean fighting on the same side?
16. "Respondistī nova perīcula validīs hominibus oppidī mōnstrāta esse."
I'm unsure about "validīs hominibus". My thinking has been:
* it's not "ab hominibus", so it's not "had been shown by the men of the town"
* perhaps dative plural, so "had been shown to the men of the town"
* is "validīs" an adjective ("had been shown to the strong men of the town") -- but usually the adj. follows the noun
* perhaps "validīs" is a substantive, but then is it dative or ablative.
* perhaps a dative of disadvantage "new dangers for the healthy men" or an ablative of origin "new dangers originating from the healthy men"
There are lots of alternatives but I haven't read enough Latin (only chaps 1-6 of M&F!) to weigh up the probabilities. The ablative/dative plural confusion must be a common problem in translation. Any pointers, please?