16
votes
Accepted
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen...": A Translation Problem from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"
It seems to me that Quirites stands for “Romans” here, and cives for “countrymen” (i.e., fellow citizens).
There is not really a succint Latin term for “countryman,” but civis is suggested by Smith &...
- 29.3k
14
votes
"Solvitas perambulum": Is this real Latin?
This seems to be a distortion of the phrase solvitur ambulando "it is solved by walking". As fdb says, neither word is correct Latin.
- 30.4k
11
votes
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen...": A Translation Problem from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"
Adding on to Sebastian Koppehel's answer:
The tricolon*, a statement with three parallel sections, was a famous and much-vaunted device in Classical rhetoric (compare Caesar's legendary vēnī, vīdī, ...
- 59.9k
11
votes
Accepted
Can "to him(self)" be an implied phrase for dative or ablative case? E.g., Acts 20:1
I think you're overthinking this.
It sounds pretty reasonable to me to translate vocare as "to call to oneself".
It depends on context whether it makes sense to add a prepositional phrase in ...
- 109k
10
votes
"Solvitas perambulum": Is this real Latin?
This is fake Latin, but formed from two genuine words: solvo means “to release, set free, solve” and perambulo means “to walk through”; but neither “solvitas” nor “perambulum” means anything in Latin. ...
- 16.9k
9
votes
Does "acceptam" have any inherent special meaning related to sacredness or consecration?
acceptus, -a, -um means "welcome, agreeable" and is often used with the dative, e.g. senatui, plebi, populo Romano, but also diis et hominibus, deo, etc. It is similar in meaning to gratus ...
- 29.3k
7
votes
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen...": A Translation Problem from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"
I'd like to add on to these answers by showing the facts of the matter.
First, Quirites isn't an alternative to cives. Whereas any citizen of any oppidum or urbs or empire could be called a civis of ...
cmw♦
- 47.8k
6
votes
Accepted
What does ("in" + Accusative) mean in this Quote from Horace's Satire 4 (Persius)?
This is a variation on the phrase mihi in mentem venit, "it comes to my mind" or "it occurs to me".
In this satire the thought comes not to one's mind but to one's penis, but the ...
- 109k
6
votes
Meaning of 'illesas' in Magna Carta
Having found the Italian word illeso, we searched for etymology of that word and found an Italian etymology entry, which said that the word was from Latin illaesus (and referenced laesus and ledere).
...
- 353
6
votes
Accepted
Seneca, Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales - Translation Explanation
I think the key here is first to match the participle (really verb in deponent) rati to its subject.
rati cannot be related to humanae (which is also an adjective) as the case and/or the number/gender ...
- 9,085
6
votes
Accepted
Proclus' Elements of Theology - Syntax Question
Here is a more literal translation (elements not found in Greek but needed in English are in square brackets):
ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐξηρτημένων = but from the beings dependent [upon them]
αὐτῶν αἱ ἰδιότητες = ...
- 3,235
5
votes
Accepted
Position of the adjective of a genitive
The difference isn't one of meaning, but emphasis. As a rule of thumb, whichever word you put first is getting the most emphasis in the sentence. But Latin word order is extremely free, and altōrum ...
- 59.9k
5
votes
How do I best say “choose love” in Latin?
Elige ergo vitam is a quote from the Vulgate (Deut 30:19) and it means, "therefore choose life". If you change vitam to amorem you'd have "therefore choose love".
There are other ...
- 3,898
4
votes
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen...": A Translation Problem from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"
One of the English finest Latin prose compositors, J.A Nairn, translates this passage thus:-
Populus Romanus Quiritum, amicique et cives mei, benigne me attenteque audiatis. Nam sepeliendi Caesaris, ...
- 1,404
4
votes
Accepted
How to understand the phrase "Διὸς μεγάλου διὰ βουλάς" from Hesiod's Theogony?
I don't think there's a real reason to think that Zeus "willed this before he was born." The word βουλή doesn't indicate any pre-existing connotations. It's not that Zeus has pre-ordained ...
cmw♦
- 47.8k
3
votes
Accepted
Translation check: "prō amōre signī"
I would take it to mean "for love of the signum", but I would need some context to guess which of signum's many meanings is meant.
- 3,898
3
votes
The Meaning of "Prosta Ac Vince"?
It's prosta ac vince. As you can see from that link, there was (or still is, if it's the same paper?) a paper that used that motto. It's not really "step forth", though, but "stand ...
cmw♦
- 47.8k
1
vote
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen...": A Translation Problem from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"
Yet another suggestion. While looking at all possibilities for Mark Antony’s speech, I have just come across this translation:-
Amici et Quirites prolesque Iuli, aures praebete;/
Veni ad Caesarem ...
- 1,404
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