Dear all,
Livy's Ab urbe condita I:1 starts "Iam primum omnium satis constat Troia capta in ceteros saevitum esse Troianos,..."
The sense is clear, something like "To begin with, it is well known that, after Troy was captured, the other Trojans were massacred..."
What puzzles me is the -tum in saevitum. It is not grammatically congruent with the Trojans who are massacred, that would presumably be saevitos. This seems to be a neuter form of the perfect participle, but why neuter? Is this some kind of impersonal construction?
I hope there are some Latin buffs out there who can enlighten me on this!
Thanks!
Saevitum?
- IreneY
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Masculine plural, but then a genitive. I think it is a accusative neutral here, belongs with 'esse', perhaps a accusativus cum infinitivo: 'that there was raged' and that 'in ceteros Troianos' defines what that rage was directed against. So, 'that there was raged against the other Trojans'.
Does that make sense?
Does that make sense?
- IreneY
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