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In the following sentence the Loeb translated it into English as shown:

His diebus locis temperatis et maritimis messis conficitur... ("During these days the harvest finishes in temperate places near the sea...")

Just looking at it naively I would have translated it as "During these days the harvest finishes in temperate and maritime places..." which is obviously a different meaning. Which is correct and why?

Assuming the translators version is correct, then how would you write the way I translated it any different? Would it have to read His diebus locis et temperatis et maritimis messis conficitur... in order to have that meaning?

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    Just as a quick note, it's not that et means "near", it's that temperatis and maritimis both modify locis. It's maritimis that means "near the sea."
    – cmw ♦
    Commented Nov 15, 2023 at 15:14
  • @cmw If that were the case, then it could just read "locis temperatis maritimis" which means "temperate places near the sea". There would be no need for "et" at all. I guess I am completely confused whether it is talking about temperate and maritime places separately or whether maritime is qualifying the temperate places (which is how the Loeb translator has it).
    – Tyler Durden
    Commented Nov 15, 2023 at 15:47
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    @cmw I have changed the title of the question to make the question more clear
    – Tyler Durden
    Commented Nov 15, 2023 at 15:53
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    It's possible, but it would be a stylistic choice. Latin more commonly adds a conjunction between two adjectives that describe the same noun (as does English). Do note though that "near the sea" in English is a prepositional phrase, and so is grammatically different from maritimus, which is an we just don't have a great word that corresponds with maritimus directly (except, of course, for "maritime", which we borrowed from Latin).
    – cmw ♦
    Commented Nov 15, 2023 at 15:54
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    The quotation is from Columella, De re rustica 11.2.54. Please cite sources.
    – cnread
    Commented Nov 15, 2023 at 16:55

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Two adjectives modifying the same noun must usually be joined by et, atque or enclitic -que. (Quo longius huic situi intersum, eo frequentius mihi licet dicere: Vide et priorem responsum meum.) Leaving out the conjunction is usually not correct.

If Columella had written locis temperatis maritimis, then I would assume that loci maritimi form a category to him, and he qualifies them as temperate. The other way around, although suggested by the word order, seems far-fetched to me. But as he wrote it, being temperate and being near the sea appear to be attributes on equal footing to him, presumably both describing the climate in some way.

Now, I might be wrong, but I haven't read anything in a Latin grammar that would explicitly rule out the interpretation that he is referring to places that are temperate or near the sea, but if you want to express that explicitly, you could probably write locis temperatis aut maritimis.

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