Imperium Latin Book 1

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Imperium
Book 1
Graeculus
Julian Morgan
i
Copyright © 2013 Julian Morgan
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1484969065
ISBN-13: 978-1484969069
Edition 1.1.9
All photographs used in this book were taken by the Author,

with the sanction of the institutions involved.
Any errors and omissions in this book are the fault of the Author.
They will be rectified as soon as he becomes aware of them.
ii
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated with much love to my wife Joka.
iii
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The boy from Spain 1
Chapter 2 At home with Hadrian 7
Chapter 3 A visit to Cadiz 11
Chapter 4 The children alone 17
Chapter 5 At home with Trajan 24
Chapter 6 A trip to the Amphitheatre 33
Chapter 7 Hadrian's first horse 40
Chapter 8 The Hunt 47
Chapter 9 In school 53
Chapter 10 Girls and horses 59
Latin to English Vocabulary 66
English to Latin Vocabulary 70
Also available 75
About the Author 77
v
PREFACE
The Imperium Latin course was written as a personal challenge, as I had wanted for a
long time to create an all-new set of resources for twenty-first century students, using
state of the art systems and materials. The printed book is part of the whole project and I
hope that both the student and the teacher will also want to look at the other materials
which are available. In particular, making use of the Imperium Word Tools App could lift
the quality of the experience. Please visit www.imperiumlatin.com for further information.
In learning Latin, it is important to master systems of vocabulary and grammar.

Each chapter of this book starts with an exercise (numbered x.1) in which you can meet
new material. Then you will get to see other exercises and read about the language.
A background section is attached to each chapter, so you can learn interesting things
about the Romans as you go. Finally, each chapter concludes with a section called sine
qua non, including things you really should learn and know (literally, sine qua non means
without which not). If you are being taught in class, you will be tested on these sections
regularly - be warned!
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The first version of this course was developed for use by students in the European School
of Karlsruhe in Germany. These students played an essential role, contributing practical
help and advice in the construction of the original Graeculus course and extension
materials. I am most grateful to them and to those others whose ideas have fed into this
course, who have not had to endure the pains of being in my classroom. Their names
appear in the list below.
This is a living course, which can still be corrected and added to by others: this is
something which digital publishing allows very easily. I very much hope that as students
and teachers think of ways to improve Imperium, they will not hold back from making
contact with me, so that the materials will continue to evolve through the years.
Thanks to:
Sagnik Aich, James Arvidsson, Edward Barber, Bob Bass, Joshua Bayless, Josie Bayless,
Kriti Bhatia, Afonso Botelho, Jonathan Carbol, Stephen Carver, Meghan Dickson, Marla
Geesing, Camilla Giachero, Valentina Haitz, Janine Harrison, Jessica Hood, HP Herrmann,
Ashley Huffer, Fiona Hunter, Oleg Kaikov, Tugana Koc, Joshua Köhler, Mary Kuznetsova,
Ines Ladehof, Rob Latousek, John McRae, Joka Morgan, Chiara Nicholl, Disha Panchal,
Johanna Prior, Ben Ruckpaul, Marianne Schädler, Felicitas Schierle, Alexandre Schneider,
Dylan Schulz, Eleanor Scott-Stewart, George Sharpley, Paolo Siciliano, Julia Silva, Victoria
Steckhan, Adriano Suckow, Lisa Tolmie, Brian Turner, Gabriel Van Brocklin, Bob Van Den
Brink, David Vargas-Aguilo, Stéphanie Villette, Anna-Lena Voss, Christopher Weir,
Christina West, Alicia Yngstrand, Emelie Yngstrand
A special acknowledgement should go to the late Professor David West, whose perceptive
wisdom, minuscule handwriting and kind words of encouragement helped me greatly
during the early stages of writing these materials.
vii
Chapter 1 The boy from Spain
Foreword to Chapter 1
Graeculus was the name which his friends gave to the emperor Hadrian. It means 'Little
Greek', reflecting the fact that Hadrian had a lifelong fascination with Greece and the
Greeks. Hadrian was one of the most interesting of all the Roman emperors and it
certainly seems time that somebody used his life story as the basis for a new Latin
language course.
So here goes...
Ex. 1.1 Translate the following sentences into English.

familia est in Hispania.
Hadrianus est puer
Romanus.
Paulina est mater Hadriani.
Afer est pater Hadriani.
Domitia Paulina est soror
Hadriani.
Hadrianus in Hispania
habitat.
Hispania est provincia
Romana.
Afer est senator Romae.
Hadrianus est filius Afri et
Paulinae.
Paulina est uxor Afri.

Basic Vocabulary
These words are given here to get you started for now.
After this, you will need to look up all words in the back of this book.
Afer - Afer Paulina - Paulina

est - is provincia - province
et - and puer - boy
familia - family Roma - Rome
filius - son Romana - Roman (feminine)
habitat - lives Romanus - Roman (masculine)
Hadrianus - Hadrian senator - senator
Hispania - Spain soror - sister
mater - mother uxor – wife
pater - father

1
Nouns and endings
You should already know that a noun is a word used as a name of a person or thing and a
verb is a word of doing or being. There are nouns in more or less every Latin sentence.
Latin nouns make use of different endings, which tell us how their meanings change in
different sentences.
For example, Hadrianus is used where Hadrian is the subject of the verb, going in front of
the verb in English, whereas Hadriani means of Hadrian. Hadriani is actually in a case
called the Genitive, while Hadrianus is in a case called the Nominative. We will do more
work on this later.
Ex. 1.2 Write a letter N or G beside the nouns below, to show if they are Nominative
or Genitive. It may help to look back at Ex. 1.1 to see what the words meant when they
were in a sentence. The first one has been done for you.
familia N
familiae
senator
Romae
Paulinae
uxor
Hispaniae
mater
filius
pater
Hadrianus

Complements and compliments
When you say that someone is something, as in the statement Hadrian is a boy, the
something – in this case, the word boy - is called a complement, which really just means
a completing word. Don't confuse the word complement with the word compliment!
A compliment is when somebody says you look nice, are generally quite wonderful, or
something particularly special!
Moral message
Always try to pay somebody a compliment at least once a day.
Articles
A Latin word can mean different things at different times. In the sentence Afer est pater,
pater can mean “father”, “a father”, or “the father”. The words a and the are called
articles - and basically not used in Latin. You may want to remember this later on...
2
Ex. 1.3 Translate the following sentences into Latin.
Paulina is a Roman wife.

Hadrian is the son of
Paulina.
The mother of Hadrian lives
in Spain.
The father of Hadrian is a
senator.
Afer's family lives in the
province of Spain.*

*
In Latin, you would normally say, 'in the province Spain'. Don't put the word Spain into the
Genitive case, because in this sentence Spain is the province and the province is Spain.
The name for this is apposition.
Declensions
The word declension just refers to a group of nouns, which follow a similar pattern of
endings. There are five declensions of nouns in Latin. In the fullness of time, you will meet
numbers four and five but control your excitement if you can for now with just the first
three.
Words in the first declension usually end in -a, when they appear in the Nominative case.
These include Paulina, Hispania and Roma. Most of the nouns in the first declension are
feminine.
Words in the second declension often end in -us or -er, when they appear in the
Nominative case. Most of these nouns are masculine, such as Hadrianus, puer and filius.
Words in the third declension end in -er or -or, or just about any other letters imaginable,
when they appear in the Nominative case. It is often quite hard to know when a word
comes from the third declension, if you just look at its first part in a dictionary listing.
The second word which appears when you look at a noun from the third declension gives
you the stem of the word, eg, mater, matris, f, where the stem of the word mater is
actually matr-.
So this means that when you look at pater, mater and puer, they could come from
declensions 2 or 3 and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
There has to be a better way than this.
There is...
3
When we look up a noun in a dictionary or word listing, it always appears with four pieces
of information given, as in: puer, pueri, m - boy
1. The first form of the noun is the Nominative form.

2. The second form is the Genitive.
3. The third thing is a letter, m for masculine, f for feminine, or n for neuter. Once in a
while you may also see c, meaning common. This can be used when something,
e.g. a human being, can be masculine or feminine.
4. The fourth thing to appear is the meaning of the noun in English.
In order to know what declension a noun comes from, you should look at the Genitive
endings, not the Nominative. The table below may help.
1st declension 2nd declension 3rd declension

Nominative familia Hadrianus pater
Singular Afer uxor
Genitive familiae Hadriani patris
Singular Afri uxoris

Rules to help
All first declension nouns have a genitive singular ending in -ae.

All second declension nouns have a genitive singular ending in -i.
All third declension nouns have a genitive singular ending in -is.
To identify the stem of a noun, remove -ae, -i, or -is, depending on the declension.
These rules never ever change in Latin!
Ex. 1.4 Using the words as listed below, mark down which declension each one
belongs to. Your answer should be a number between 1 and 3. The first one has been
done for you.
Afer, Afri, m - Afer 2

familia, familiae, f - family
filius, filii, m - son
Hadrianus, Hadriani, m - Hadrian
pater, patris, m - father
Paulina, Paulinae, f - Paulina
provincia, provinciae, f - province
puer, pueri, m - boy
Roma, Romae, f - Rome
senator, senatoris, m - senator
uxor, uxoris, f - wife

4
Background Hadrian's childhood
The future Roman emperor Hadrian

was born on January 24th, AD 76, in
Rome, or perhaps in Spain: we don't
know this for sure. We know that his
father, Aelius Hadrianus Afer was a
Roman senator, who owned land in
Spain, in the area of Italica, near
modern day Seville. Italica was a
wealthy and important town: if you go
there today, you will see it has a
theatre, an amphitheatre and several
large houses with mosaics.
Afer was successful in politics and

eventually became a praetor in Rome.
This is more or less equivalent to
being a government minister today.
Hadrian's mother was called Paulina,

who came from the coastal town of
Cadiz, called Gades in Roman times.
They had had a daughter about one
year before Hadrian was born, called
Domitia Paulina.
Hadrian grew up in the area of Italica, where he showed a keen ability and a real passion
for study. He was a clever boy, who quickly learned Latin and Greek, as did most children
of wealthy Roman families. He became interested in philosophy and architecture at an
early age.
Hadrian's grandmother on his father's side (Afer's mother) was a member of the Ulpius
family, whom we will simply call Ulpia. She was the sister of Marcus Ulpius Traianus,
whose son was Traianus, the man who became emperor of Rome in AD 98. So Hadrianus
Afer and Traianus were cousins. This family connection explains a lot about how Hadrian
got promoted to such high authority so young.
Our more normal name for

Traianus is Trajan, whose
wife, Plotina, was always
very fond of Hadrian: as
long as she lived, she
always tried to help him.
Sometimes, some people
thought, she tried a little
too hard.
5
sine qua non
(In vocabulary listings, verbs such as habito appear with multiple endings. Don’t worry
about this for now: it will all be explained later in the course. Just learn what appears in
the lists.)
familia, familiae, f family

filius, filii, m son
habito, habitare, habitavi, habitatum I live
mater, matris, f mother
pater, patris, m father
provincia, provinciae, f province
puer, pueri, m boy
senator, senatoris, m senator
soror, sororis, f sister
uxor, uxoris, f wife
Declension is the name given to a group of nouns.

Nominative is the name of a case, used for the subject of a verb.
Genitive is the name of a case, used to express “of”.
A case is something which changes in a noun, affecting how the noun should be
translated into another language.
A complement is a word which completes the sense where the verb to be is used.
Genitive endings in vocabulary listings:

1st declension -ae
2nd declension -i
3rd declension -is
Hispania est provincia

Romana.
6
Chapter 2 At home with Hadrian
Afer est in casa.

Afer et Paulina sunt in
casa.
Domitia Paulina est filia
Afri et Paulinae.
Domitia Paulina et feles
sunt in agro.
Domitia Paulina et
Hadrianus sunt in
Italica.
Hadrianus est puer.
Domitia Paulina est
puella.
Domitia Paulina et
Hadrianus sunt liberi
Afri.
feles Domitiae Paulinae
est in culina. feles est
Horatia.
asini sunt in agro.

Vocabulary to help: these words may not appear in the same forms as the ones given
here at the back of the book. This doesn't mean they are not there - just that words
change their forms in Latin, which is why they have been shown here, to make your life
easier. Every little helps.
sunt - they are

in casa - in the house
in culina - in the kitchen
in agro - in the field
asini – donkeys
Moral message
A little help goes a long way and often rebounds to the good of the helper. In this life, it is
the helpful donkey which enjoys the most carrots.
feles est Horatia.
7
Singulars and Plurals
In Latin, all verbs and nouns can be made singular or plural, or at least, most of them
can. So, whereas est means is, sunt means are. And whereas asinus means donkey, asini
means donkeys. Study these sentences:
The donkey is in the field = asinus est in agro.

The donkeys are in the fields = asini sunt in agris.
You will see that all the endings of the words have changed, because all the words (except
the word in) have become plural. Now study the table below.

Nominative puella asinus pater
Singular puer uxor
Genitive puellae asini patris
Singular pueri uxoris
Nominative puellae asini patres

Plural pueri uxores
Genitive puellarum asinorum patrum
Plural puerorum uxorum

This is all pretty confusing and you may feel that it looks a bit scary. Don't worry – things
will get much worse before they get any better.
For the moment, and without trying to learn any of the table, see if you can complete the
exercises on the next page.
Have a look at this map

while you’re at it.
8
Ex. 2.2 Put the nouns into the cases required, in singular or plural, as requested.
Also, write in the box the declension of each noun. The first one has been filled in for you,
so you can see what to do. If you do not know which declension a noun comes from and
have already forgotten what you have just read in Chapter 1, you can look the noun up in
the vocabulary lists at the back of the book, where it gives you this information.
puella - nominative plural puellae – 1st declension

puer - nominative singular
asinus - genitive singular
asinus - nominative plural
familia - genitive singular
mater - genitive plural
pater - nominative plural
puella - genitive singular
asinus - genitive plural
Paulina - genitive singular
soror - genitive plural

The donkey of Afer is in

the house.
The mother of Hadrian
is Paulina.
Afer and the donkey are
in the field.
Domitia Paulina is the
sister of Hadrian.
The mothers of the
families are in the
kitchen.
The fathers are in
Spain.

9
Background Women in Hadrian's life
When Hadrian was born, his sister Domitia Paulina was already about one year old.
The children may have been quite close early on but in those days, girls only received a
very basic education in their primary years, whereas boys were taught much more
carefully, going on to receive secondary education as a matter of course. After this,
members of upper class families like Hadrian's were encouraged to learn the art of public
speaking and their education usually continued to about the age of twenty. So it is likely
that children started to go their separate ways as they became older and that when they
became adults, their relationship would have been less close than might be normal today.
Certainly, Hadrian did not have a close relationship with his sister's husband when she got
married, as we will see later on in this course.
Hadrian's mother Paulina came from a town on the Atlantic

coast called Gades, which we know as Cadiz today. In truth,
that is pretty much all we know about her, but in our story she
died when he was about nine years old. After this, in our
version of events, Hadrian was brought up by Plotina, the wife
of Trajan, seen on the left here.
Plotina’s niece Matidia, seen on the right,

also lived in the household and had a big
influence on young Hadrian.
Even more of an influence perhaps, was Sabina, the daughter of

Matidia, whom he first met when he was about ten years old and she
had just been born. She became his wife eventually – and that was a real problem for
him! More of this later. To clarify some of the relationships referred to above, you could
look again at the family tree in the previous chapter.
A challenge
Looking at the coin of Plotina above, you might be able to make out the words PLOTINA
AUG IMP TRAIANI. What do these mean in English? What do the words AUG and IMP
stand for in Latin? (The exact words are printed below, upside down.)
Congratulations! You have just translated your first bit of real, Roman Latin.
sine qua non
ager, agri, m field

asinus, asini, m donkey
casa, casae, f house
culina, culinae, f kitchen
feles, felis, f cat
filia, filiae, f daughter
Italica, Italicae, f Italica, a town in Spain
liber, liberi, m child
puella, puellae, f girl
sunt they are

10
Chapter 3 A visit to Cadiz
Paulina Gades desiderat.

Paulina et familia Gades
visitant.
Hadrianus clamat, “Gades
visito!”
Hadrianus et Domitia
Paulina vocant, “Gades
visitamus!”
Paulina rogat, “cur ridetis,
liberi?”
Hadrianus clamat, “rideo
quod laetus sum, quod
Gades* sunt optimae!”
Domitia Paulina stat in
mari et vocat, “mater, sto
in mari!”
Paulina fessa in umbra
sedet. Afer urget, “liberi,
mater est aegra.”
Afer tristis est quod
Paulina aegra est.
Afer flet. Hadrianus rogat,
“pater, cur fles? cur non
rides?” Afer diu tacet.

*
Gades is a plural noun in Latin, which is why the verb is plural in this sentence. In English, Cadiz
is always singular.
The town of Cadiz faces onto the Atlantic

Ocean and can be found at the end of a long
causeway, with magnificent beaches along its
entire length.
11
Verbs and their endings
In Latin, verbs have six different person endings, which determine who is the subject of
the verb. Latin verbs can have separate subjects, like Afer, Paulina, or words meaning we
or you, but they can also have subjects embedded in them. Think for a moment of other
languages.
I speak (English) parlo (Italian)

je parle (French) Ich spreche (German)

Notice that Italian normally doesn't have an external subject for I. Italian, like Latin, can
either have a separate subject or the verb can contain the subject within itself. This gets
even more obvious when the person is a person. For example, vocat means “he or she
calls” but Paulina vocat means “Paulina calls”. So if there is no external subject in Latin,
you need to use a pronoun such as he or she in English.
Question: what's a subject?

Answer: the person or thing doing the action of the verb; the thing which in English
normally goes directly in front of the verb.
Moral message
Don't subject yourself overly to the subject of what a subject is. Subjectively speaking,
it doesn't much matter.
Formation of verbs
For the moment, we are concerned with the verbs whose stems end in -a and in -e.
The ones whose stems contain -a are said to belong to the first conjugation, whereas the
ones whose stems have an -e are said to belong to the second conjugation.
Easy - the first and second vowels of the alphabet. Now study the table below.
Subject of First conjugation Second conjugation

verb voco = I call habeo = I have
I voco habeo
you (singular) vocas habes
he/she/it vocat habet
we vocamus habemus
you (plural) vocatis habetis
they vocant habent

From this, you should see quite easily that habemus means we have, and that vocant
means they call. Now learn this table off by heart, before completing any more exercises.
You should be able to recite voco and habeo in less than 20 seconds! You may be asked to
do this in class - be warned.

12
Ex. 3.2 Complete the table below, by translating each Latin verb form in full into
English. When you see the third person singular ending, you can translate it as he, she, or
it. When you think the answer includes you, you must indicate if you is singular or plural,
as shown below.
habetis you (plural) have

stant
vocamus
flet
rides
sedetis
flemus
rideo
urgent
desiderat
vocas

Ex. 3.3 Translate the following phrases into Latin.
Each answer should consist of just one word.
We weep.
They stand.
I sit.
You (plural) shout.
You (singular) call.
We smile.
He sees.
We long for.
You (plural) call.
She stands.

13
Background Roman Spain
The Roman Empire grew very big in time but Spain was one of the first areas added to it
as a province, during the early part of its history. You have probably heard of Hannibal
and his attacks on Italy? Well, it's all connected - let's try to explain.
The earliest time at which Rome started to add new territories to its empire was in 241
BC, when they created their first province in Sicily. If you look at the map in chapter 2,
you will see that Sicily commands the space between Rome and Carthage, which was its
main rival at the time. There had been tremendous friction between the cities, both of
which were pursuing an expansionist policy. In fact, the acquisition of Sicily came as a
direct result of the First Punic War, the first major hostilities between the warring
partners. Within ten years, Rome had added Sardinia and Corsica to its list of provinces
and after this, the focus came on Spain.
This was a result of the Second Punic War, from 218 to 201 BC, when Hannibal brought
the elephants to Italy and subsequently grew fat in Capua. You have probably heard of
this and if you haven't, you can read about it in Livy's History of Rome, the original and
main account of the events. The war resulted in a Roman victory: part of this came about
because the Romans took the war to Spain, where the Carthaginians had colonies and
trading connections, such as New Carthage, founded by Hasdrubal. Parts of Spain became
a Roman province by the time the war ended, though the whole Iberian peninsula was not
to become fully Roman for quite a few more years.
In this picture you can see the harbour

from where the Carthaginian warships
once set out to control much of the
Western Mediterranean.
Famous Romans from Spain included the

emperors Trajan and Hadrian. The poet
Martial came from a hill town called
Bilbilis, seen here.
14
By the time Hadrian was born, much of the province had been Roman for more than two
hundred and fifty years, so in many senses, being Spanish was just as Roman a
qualification as being from Rome itself. There were many extremely wealthy Romans
living here and valuable trade from commodities such as timber, minerals, pottery, wine
and olive oil.
If you go to Spain today, you will be

able to see some of the best Roman
remains in the world, of which many
date from the period of Trajan and
Hadrian. Among the finest is the
bridge at Alcantara, seen here,
which was built in AD 105-6 across
the River Tagus. The bridge is 204
metres in length and about 80
metres high. It was dedicated to the
Emperor by the local people who
built it. Most impressive, perhaps, is
the fact that it is still used by traffic
today, as it stands high and proud
above the waters below.

In the centre is an arch with an
inscription on it, as follows:
IMP CAESARI DIVI NERVAE F NERV
TRAIANO AUG GERM DACICO

PONTIF MAX
Like many Roman inscriptions, this one has abbreviations in it, including the letter F,
meaning son. Do not be misled by this: Nerva was Trajan's father only in the sense that
he had adopted him as his heir. In full, the text should read:
IMPERATORI CAESARI DIVI NERVAE FILIO NERVAE

TRAIANO AUGUSTO GERMANICO DACICO PONTIFICI MAXIMO
What do you think any of this means? (Answer below)
15
sine qua non
aeger, aegra, aegrum ill

clamo, clamare, clamavi, clamatum I shout
cur? why?
desidero, desiderare, desideravi, desideratum I miss, long for
fessus, fessa, fessum tired
fleo, flere, flevi, fletum I weep
laetus, laeta, laetum happy
mare, maris, n sea
non not
quod because
rideo, ridere, risi, risum I smile, laugh
rogo, rogare, rogavi, rogatum I ask
sedeo, sedere, sedi, sessum I sit
sto, stare, steti, statum I stand
taceo, tacere, tacui, tacitum I am silent
tristis, tristis, triste sad
umbra, umbrae, f shade, shadow
urgeo, urgere, ursi I urge
visito, visitare, visitavi, visitatum I visit
voco, vocare, vocavi, vocatum I call
Endings of verbs
Most verbs in Latin, except the verb to be, follow the pattern:
-o I
-s you (singular)
-t he, she or it
-mus we
-tis you (plural)
-nt they
Subjects are the persons or things which do the action of the verb. Subjects go before
verbs in English and are always in the Nominative case in Latin.
Conjugation refers to a group of verbs.
Recite in class, in less than 20 seconds:
voco habeo
vocas habes
vocat habet
vocamus habemus
vocatis habetis
vocant habent
16
Chapter 4 The children alone
Paulina est mortua.

Hadrianus matrem
mortuam videt et flet.
Domitia Paulina
Hadrianum tenet. puer est
commotus.
Hadrianus patrem rogat,
“cur mater mortua est?”
Afer uxorem Paulinam
desiderat et nihil
respondet.
Afer liberos videt et flet.
filiam et filium tenet.
liberi patrem tenent.
omnes tristes sunt, quod
matrem et uxorem
desiderant.
liberi et pater corpus
Paulinae in sepulcrum
locant. liberi patrem
iuvant. omnes flent;
nemo ridet.
Afer prope sepulcrum
uxorem laudat. diu manet
et tacet.
pater filiam et filium
spectat. miseros liberos
videt. clamat, “Paulina,
cara Paulina, mortua es,*
et nihil habemus.”
cor Afri est fractum. aeger
est. in casa Hadrianus et
Domitia Paulina timent.
Afer febrem habet et
uxorem vocat. febris
liberos terret. clamant,
“quid habemus, si pater
mortuus est?”
Afer mortuus est. liberi in
casa soli sunt. miseri
terram spectant.

*
you are
17
Objects and the Accusative Case
In the last chapter, we looked at subjects and it was suggested that the importance of
these can be overplayed. The same thing may be true of objects. However, we should
look at the evidence first, before rushing to a decision.
Question: what's an object?

Answer: the person or thing affected by the action of the verb. So if you have Paulina
biting Hadrian, Hadrian is an object of the verb to bite. If Hadrian bites Paulina, the object
is Paulina. You could think in terms of the fact that you might object to being bitten.
In Latin, the word mordet means he or she bites.
Moral message
Don't object to objects until you have had an objective look first at whether they could be
useful. Looking at it objectively, it's possible they may be.
The problem explained
It may not be useful to use terms like subjects and objects but it could be very helpful
indeed at least to check out how the English language addresses them in everyday usage.
You see, English doesn't work like Latin.
In English, the order of words in sentences determines who is doing the doing of the
verb (subject) and the person to whom the doing is done (object). In English, the subject
goes before the verb and the object goes after it.
Paulina (subject - before verb) bites (verb) Hadrian (object - after verb).
In Latin, the order of the words is unimportant. The sentences below all mean the same
thing and there is no difference between them in what is conveyed. What Latin can do by
changing the order of words in sentences is to emphasise things, but you don't need to
worry about this right now.
Paulina Hadrianum mordet. Hadrianum mordet Paulina.

Paulina mordet Hadrianum. mordet Hadrianum Paulina.
Hadrianum Paulina mordet. mordet Paulina Hadrianum.

So how do you work out what things mean, when they appear in a Latin sentence?
Well, it's back to cases of nouns - if you have forgotten, see the paragraph on Nouns and
Endings in Chapter 1, where we spoke of the Genitive and the Nominative. The splendid
news for you now is that we have another case added, called the Accusative. This is used
for an object, whereas the Nominative case is used for a subject in Latin.
To remember this easily, learn these formulae:
NB - Nominatives go Before the verb in English (as in Dutch and French too).
AA - Accusatives go After the verb in English (as in Spanish and Italian too).
18
There is more of this to come in the next few chapters, so for the moment, don't worry
about learning it. That will come in time. However, you may find this table helpful. It adds
to what you were told in Chapters 1 and 2.

Singular puer uxor
Accusative puellam asinum patrem
Singular puerum uxorem

Plural pueri uxores
Accusative puellas asinos patres
Plural pueros uxores

Rules to help and problems to obfuscate
Most accusative singulars end in -m.

Most accusative plurals end in -s.
If something appears twice in a table, just be glad for now that you don't have to cope
with the full horror. Twice is less than three, four or even five times, which is what you'll
have to cope with as you continue with Latin.
On a serious note, however, there will be times when you will have to make decisions
about words in sentences, based on what is in front of you. The word puellae can mean
“of a girl”, or “girls” (subject of verb). You will need to decide which is the right one each
time, according to what you think the sentence means.
(If you are using the Imperium Word Tools App,

it will identify all possible analyses of words from
the boxes, when you go to the second screen. You
will still need to make your own choices, however,
before you translate something.)
asini sunt in agro.
19
Ex. 4.2 Complete the table below, by filling in Nom, Acc or Gen, followed by Sing or Pl.
Then add in the declension number in the form 1st, 2nd or 3rd. The first example has
been done for you. If there are more possibilities than one, give all possibilities. See page
4 if you have forgotten how to identify the declension of a noun in a vocabulary listing.
puerorum Gen Pl, 2nd

liberos
uxorem
filias
terrae
Paulinam
patres
corporis
matrum
liberi
Hadriani

Hadrian bites the

donkey.
The donkey bites
Paulina.
The father sees the son
and the daughter: they
are children.
Mother is dead.* The
children are silent and
stand near the tomb.
Afer misses (his) dear*
wife. He praises Paulina.
The children are sad**
because father is ill.

*
Make sure you use the feminine form of the adjective, which follows first declension endings in
the feminine form.
**
Make sure you use a plural form of the adjective: miser follows second declension endings in the
masculine form, or tristis follows third declension endings in the masculine form.
20
Background The business of death
Death was part of life, then as now.

When a Roman died, the general belief
was that there was somewhere where he
or she went, which was part of a spiritual
continuation. Some people believed in an
Underworld, where Pluto ruled the Dead
with his wife Proserpina. She had been a
young girl growing up in Sicily, when her
uncle had seen her picking flowers by the
lake, seen here. Then he took her with
him to be his queen.
As a consequence, her mother, Ceres, went into mourning

and the crops on earth stopped growing. In order to save
the situation, an arrangement was made that Proserpina
(seen here) would live half the year in the Underworld and
the other half with her mother on earth: this was seen as
an explanation for the growing seasons and for the
existence of Summer and Winter.
For many Romans, stories like these may have been part of
a general awareness, which they may or may not have
believed in with conviction. Myths gave explanations of
natural events but nobody could really understand death, so
it didn't much matter whether you believed in Pluto or not.
Stories of the Underworld were told on a take-it-or-leave-it basis, including

those of a three-headed dog called Cerberus who stood guard at the main
entrance, the River Styx, Elysium and Tartarus, where good and bad people
were rewarded or tortured.
In human terms, however, when a close relative dies, you often want to keep some
memory of that person nearby, so many Romans kept death masks in their house, to
remind them of how people looked and who they had been. The Latin name for one of
these was imago and these masks were carried in funeral processions before being placed
in the home. The dead could be either buried or cremated, just as now. Coffins could be
intricate and ornate, made of stone which was decorated, or just simple wooden
constructions.
The name for a stone coffin is a sarcophagus, which

comes from two Greek words meaning flesh-eating. A
sarcophagus which was highly ornate would have been
expensive to make and it is difficult to think that poor
people would ever have been able to afford this luxury.
Even more luxurious would be a large tomb, which
Roman families liked to have along the roads which led
into their towns or cities.
21
If you visit Rome today, try to take a
walk along the so-called Via Appia, the
Appian Way. This paved Roman road,
seen here, was one of the first major
Roman roads ever built. It is still lined
with the tombs of the very wealthy,
which stand as monuments to the
great families which maintained them.
Sometimes a tomb marks the resting
place of one person, or sometimes, a
place where a whole family might
eventually come and reside together in
death.
Poorer people had to be content with

less, as is the case in most societies
today. A so-called columbarium was
where small urns were housed in
niches, as in the one seen here, from
Ostia, near Rome. The name comes
from a word which originally meant
dovecot, as columba is the Latin word
for dove.
Each urn contained the ashes of the

cremated remains, which stood
surrounded by other urns in silent
chambers. It can be very evocative to
visit these places today. In the picture
you can see a columbarium in Carmona,
in Spain, where the urns are clearly
visible.
22
sine qua non
carus, cara, carum dear

diu for a long time
habeo, habere, habui, habitum I have
iuvo, iuvare, iuvi, iutum I help
laudo, laudare, laudavi, laudatum I praise
maneo, manere, mansi, mansum I remain, stay
mortuus, mortua, mortuum dead
nemo, neminis, c nobody
nihil nothing
quis, quis, quid who, what
specto, spectare, spectavi, spectatum I look at, watch
teneo, tenere, tenui, tentum I hold
terra, terrae, f earth, land
terreo, terrere, terrui, territum I terrify
timeo, timere, timui I fear, am afraid
video, videre, vidi, visum I see
Objects are the persons or things which are affected by the action of the verb. Objects go
after verbs in English and are always in the Accusative case in Latin.
NB - Nominatives go Before the verb in English.

AA - Accusatives go After the verb in English.
23
Chapter 5 At home with Trajan
femina ad ianuam casae

venit. dicit, “Anna sum.
sum ancilla Traiani.
dominus me huc venire
iubet.”
Hadrianus tacet. Domitia
Paulina rogat, “quis est
Traianus, et cur te huc
mittit?”
“Traianus est filius
fratris matris Afri. Afer
et Traianus sunt
consobrini.”
“cur te huc mittit? quid
reperire cupit?”
“me liberos consobrini
ducere ad villam et
curare iubet. venite
mecum! nolite timere!”
Hadrianus ancillam audit
et intellegit. non diutius
timet. Domitia Paulina
quoque ridet.
Anna liberos ad villam
Traiani ducit. Traianus in
ianua stat. dicit, “avete,
liberi. quid agitis?”
Hadrianus et Domitia
Paulina dicunt, “ave,
domine.” deinde tacent.
Traianum et villam
magnificam timent.
deinde uxor Traiani
venit.
Plotina liberos videt et
ridet. “intra Hadriane,
intra Domitia Paulina,”
inquit, “et sedete.”
Plotina est femina
benigna. liberi non
diutius timent.
24
Verb forms - infinitives and imperatives
When you look at a verb in a dictionary listing, you will often see four entries there, such
as rideo, ridere, risi, risum. These four entries are:
1) rideo – first person singular, present tense, I laugh

2) ridere – the infinitive, to laugh
3) risi – first person singular, perfect tense, I have laughed
4) risum – the supine, in order to laugh
In Latin, a verb has many different endings. You may actually reach a point where you
could want to be paid a gold coin for every ending a verb has. In fact, you'd get more than
a hundred coins - and then some more - for pretty much every verb you meet in Latin. Until
now, we have looked at six endings from each verb, but in this chapter, we add on three
new ones.
Imperatives come in two flavours in Latin: singular and plural. An imperative is used to
instruct someone (singular) or some people (plural) to do something. This can be called
Direct Command. Sentences with imperatives often end with an exclamation mark - ! - as
this is a normal way of writing orders in English. All imperatives end in -te in the plural
but then the singulars end according to the conjugation of the verb involved. In most
cases you get the vowel you'd most expect to get, so this isn't as bad as it may seem.
Study the table below and you'll see what is meant.
Infinitives are the basic verb forms, which mean to call, to have, to rule or to hear. Most
infinitives - but not all - end in the letters -re. In these cases, the letters -re can be added
to the singular imperative - and hey ho! - you get a perfectly formed infinitive. The crucial
exception to this is the verb to be, of which the infinitive is esse.
However, some bad news. You are now going to have to learn the verbs in the table below
- and two new conjugations have been added! And the verb to be!
O yes, that's right - and this is now on a need-to-know basis.
Form of verb First Second Third Fourth Verb

conjugation conjugation conjugation conjugation to be
voco habeo rego audio sum
I call I have I rule I hear I am
I voco habeo rego audio sum
you (s) vocas habes regis audis es
he/she/it vocat habet regit audit est

we vocamus habemus regimus audimus sumus
you (pl) vocatis habetis regitis auditis estis

they vocant habent regunt audiunt sunt
Imperative (s) voca habe rege audi esto
Imperative (pl) vocate habete regite audite este
Infinitive vocare habere regere audire esse
25
How to identify the conjugation of a verb
! If the first form (I) ends in -o and the infinitive ends in -are, then it's from the first
conjugation.
! If the first form (I) ends in -eo and the infinitive ends in -ere, then it's from the
second conjugation.
! If the first form (I) ends in -o (NOT -eo – BEWARE!) and the infinitive ends in -ere,
then it's from the third conjugation.
! If the first form (I) ends in -io and the infinitive ends in -ire, then it's from the fourth
conjugation.
Ex. 5.2 Complete the table below, by filling in some details about the verb forms
given. Use the verbs chart on the previous page to help. You should fill in the original verb
in its I form (first person singular form) and a translation for each one.
estis sum, you (pl) are

regunt
audis
habemus
esto
habere
audi
vocate
vocat
regitis
voco

Ex. 5.3 Translate the following phrases into Latin.
they rule
to be
we hear
she is
we call
you (pl) have
call! (pl)
I have
they are
I am
26
The Vocative Case
Latin needs a case for nouns, when the person or thing in question is called upon. As you
have just read, the verb voco means I call, so it is this verb which gives its name to the
Vocative case. Basically, whenever somebody is addressed directly, in whatever sense, the
Vocative must be used.
Formation of Vocative Case
This is easy. In all situations bar one, the Vocative case looks the same as the Nominative.
Look at the table below and see if you can identify the odd one out.

Singular puer uxor
Vocative puella asine pater
Singular puer uxor

Plural pueri uxores
Vocative puellae asini patres
Plural pueri uxores

The odd one out is: ...........................................................................................
The change in question is: ..................................................................................
Use of the Vocative with the Imperative or Prohibition
In most cases where a normal imperative is used, somebody is being told what to do. This
can also happen with a prohibition, where noli (singular) and nolite (plural) are used with
an infinitive, to tell somebody not to do something, e.g, don't walk there! In these uses of
direct command or prohibition, the noun in question usually needs to be put into the
Vocative case. You can practise this in the next two exercises.

27
Words in green are in the Vocative case.
audite matrem, liberi!

voca patrem, Hadriane!
videte senatorem, Romani!
noli clamare, puella!
tace, puer!
spectate sepulcrum, senatores!
audi asinos in agro, pater!
voca liberos, uxor!
nolite timere, pueri!
laudate mortuos, asini!

Words in green should go in the Vocative case.
Call father, Hadrian!

Hear me,* Paulina!
Help mother, children!
Be silent, Afer!
Sit down** and shut up,** father!

*
For me, just write me in Latin. It's the same word.
**
No word needed for down; for shut up, use the verb which means to be silent.
specta sepulcrum!
28
Alphabet and Pronunciation
The Latin alphabet is more or less the same as ours, though ours has acquired some new
characters along the way. In fact, not all modern languages even use the same alphabet,
so we shouldn't be surprised to find that there are differences in the letters used across a
gap of two thousand years or so. Study the following chart, where the English letters
appear above the Latin ones.
English a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Latin a b c d e f g h i l m n o p q r s t u v x z

This is made more confusing by the fact that different people write Latin in different ways
and different printers in different countries make whole texts unrecognisable to people
from other countries. Some notes follow, which may or may not help you see through the
mist.
The letter i can appear as j in some Latin texts and as i in others. The main point is that in
Latin, i can be a vowel, as in the word audio, or a consonant, as in the word Ianus. This
second word gives us the name of the two-headed god of the doorway, Janus. In English,
it may be easier to think of the consonantal i letter as a sort of y. Or indeed, this may
make things no easier at all for you.
The letter k only exists in Latin in a tiny number of words and it is easier to forget about it
for the most part. If you want the sound of a k, you just use a c, which is always a hard-
sounding consonant in Latin. For example, in the word provincia, c is always pronounced
like a k in English. In the same way, the letter g in Latin is always pronounced hard, never
soft. So age is pronounced a - ge.
The letter u in Latin can be printed the same as v! Make sense of this if you will. As far as
this book is concerned, an i will be used for a j, and a v will be used to distinguish a
consonantal sounding u from a genuine vowel u. But in original Latin, u and v were the
same letter. An example? The word iuvo means I help. The first u to appear is clearly a
vowel, but the v (pronounced w - are you keeping up?) is the same letter, expressed as a
consonant. So some people might print this word as IVVO, or even JVVO. Hmm.
The English letter w doesn't exist in Latin, but the letter v is pronounced like a w when
you read the Latin aloud.
All of this stuff is largely of interest to people who can be quite geeky. On the other hand,
if you had never been told about it, you would never have had the chance to find out
whether or not you'd like to become one of those self-same geeky people. So it's a job
which needs to be done - box ticked.
Moral message
It would have been very hard to have been a jaywalker or a web-junky in Roman times.
29
Background Trajan
In our story, the boy Hadrian lost his mother at an

early age. In truth, this is not known for sure, but it is
a fact that the major influences on Hadrian came from
those who adopted him. A lot of women died in
childbirth in Roman times, so let us suppose that
something similar may have happened. The women of
Roman times attract little interest from contemporary
historians and it is seldom, if ever, that Roman ladies
get much more than a mention in history books
written by the rich white men of the times.
Similarly, we do not know much about Afer's death,

though it is historical fact. In our story here, he dies of
a broken heart, which may seem excessively romantic
to some readers.
Lighten up, I say. The world is full of lovers and many

of them end up broken-hearted. Just hope it doesn't
happen to you.
The boy Hadrian, probably about nine or ten years old at the time of his father's death,
was then brought up in the house of Trajan. Trajan's wife was Plotina, as we saw in
Chapter 1, and she was always a major influence on the future emperor, whom her
husband adopted as his heir. Marcus Ulpius Traianus (Trajan) was at this time, in AD 86, a
rising star in the Roman world. He was in his thirties and had served in the Danube region
and in Syria, in the eastern part of the Roman empire, far away from the oppressive rule
of Domitian in Rome. He must have given his approval to the adoption of Hadrian, so we
have him making an appearance at home in Spain in our story. It is probable that he was
away from home for much of the time that Hadrian was growing up, thus allowing the
relationship to develop between the young man and his step-mother, to which we have
already referred.
Trajan's campaigns eventually took him to the Rhine in Germany,

where he received the news that he was to become the next
emperor of Rome after the death of Nerva, in AD 97. But that is
years away from our account and we will come to that part of the
story (in which Hadrian played a vital part) at a later stage of this
course. Trajan increased the empire to its largest-ever size,
leading campaigns in modern-day Romania, as well as in the
eastern empire.
The monument which records many of his victories is the so-called

Trajan's Column, which you can still see in Rome today. It was
built in around AD 113 and stands 125 feet (about 40 metres) tall.
It is made of 17 drums, fitted together to form a continuous set of
carvings all the way up its length.
30
On the column, we can make out the battles, the camps, the formations, the surrenders,
the campaign meetings and all the paraphernalia of Trajan's two successful expeditions
against King Decebalus of the Dacians, in Romania.
Here you can see the soldiers preparing

to cross the river Danube, to go and fight
the enemy. A pontoon bridge of ships is
strung across the river, as Neptune, god
of the sea and of waterways, can be seen
looking out on the departing armies.
This reminds us that the gods could ruin
the enterprise if they did not approve of
Trajan's plans. Above this, a wall is being
built by the soldiers, working as a well-
organised team.

In the panel on the right, you can
see how the Roman soldiers used to
make the famous testudo (tortoise)
formation, when going into battle.
The column gives us some of the
most important evidence we have
today of how the Romans actually
worked in their campaigns: it is like
a film without a soundtrack and we
must work out for ourselves exactly
what is going on in the continuous
carvings.
The column was erected as one of the

commemorative victory monuments in
Rome, after the wars were over. Vast
sums of money taken in the Dacian
campaigns also paid for the building of
Trajan's Forum, which still stands to a
huge height in the city today.
31
sine qua non
ago, agere, egi, actum I do, act

audio, audire, audivi, auditum I hear
cupio, cupere, cupivi, cupitum I desire
curo, curare, curavi, curatum I look after
deinde then
dico, dicere, dixi, dictum I say
dominus, domini, m master
duco, ducere, duxi, ductum I lead, bring
femina, feminae, f woman
frater, fratris, m brother
ianua, ianuae, f door
intro, intrare, intravi, intratum I enter
iubeo, iubere, iussi, iussum I order
mitto, mittere, misi, missum I send
noli/nolite + infinitive don't
quoque also
rego, regere, rexi, rectum I rule
venio, venire, veni, ventum I come
villa, villae, f house
Form of verb First Second Third Fourth Verb

conjugation conjugation conjugation conjugation to be
voco habeo rego audio sum
I call I have I rule I hear I am
I voco habeo rego audio sum
you (s) vocas habes regis audis es
he/she/it vocat habet regit audit est
we vocamus habemus regimus audimus sumus
you (pl) vocatis habetis regitis auditis estis
they vocant habent regunt audiunt sunt
Imperative (s) voca habe rege audi esto

Imperative (pl) vocate habete regite audite este
Infinitive vocare habere regere audire esse

Pronounce: g and c hard
Pronounce: v as w
32
Chapter 6 A trip to the Amphitheatre
Anna fratrem Hadriano

ostendit. “Hannibal”
inquit, “est frater meus.”
Hadrianus Domitiae
Paulinae dicit, “imperator
Carthaginis est! Hannibal
adest!”
Domitia Paulina fratri
dicit, “tace! noli tam
stultus esse! Hannibal est
servus Traiani et
Plotinae!”
Hannibal liberis cibum
dat. panem et aquam
Domitiae Paulinae et
fratri fert.
“gratias tibi ago.”
Hadrianus dicit. “cibus
mihi* placet. nonne tibi*
placet, Domitia Paulina?”
Traianus intrat et dicit,
“in memoriam Afri ludos
in amphitheatro dare
cupio.”
liberi gratias avunculo
agunt. Plotina quoque
gratias marito agit.
Traianus clamat,
“gladiatores habere
debemus! ursas, apros,
tauros populo ostendere
cupio!”
Traianus ludos aperit. in
sella praetoris ludorum
sedet. ludi civibus Italicae
placent. cives Traiano
gratias agunt.
Hadriano somnium
aprorum et ursarum est.
in somnio venator est.

*
mihi = to me, tibi = to you (both of these words are datives)
33
The Dative case
The verb do, dare, dedi, datum means I give. It lends its name to the Dative case, which
is used when you give something to somebody or do something for them. So in English,
the two main meanings applicable are to or for. Once again, let's add this stuff onto the
noun table, which we last visited in chapter 5. Be glad – very glad, because you still don't
need to know all of this and you have two more chapters to go before it will be added to
your list of required knowledge. For now, just try to absorb these endings, without
actually learning them.

Singular puer uxor
Singular puer uxor
Dative puellae asino patri
Singular puero uxori

Plural pueri uxores
Plural pueri uxores
Dative puellis asinis patribus
Plural pueris uxoribus

The Dative of the possessor
This is a fun little thing, which you may or may not be able to remember. Even if you
forget it, it shouldn't matter too much, as the meaning is often guessable. Latin can
sometimes use a sentence with a verb to be, when the words really just form the idea,
something is to someone. This comes to mean, someone has something. Look at the
examples and it should be clear how this works:
casa est Afro. Afer has a house. (literally, a house is to Afer)

liberi sunt Paulinae. Paulina has children. (literally, children are to Paulina)
uxor est mihi. I have a wife. (literally, a wife is to me)
34
Ex. 6.2 Complete the table below, by filling in the required forms of the nouns
specified. If you have forgotten how to identify the declension of a noun, you should refer
back to sine qua non, chapter 1. Use the vocabulary lists at the back to help you
answer most of these questions. The first question has been done for you, as an
example.
asinus - dative plural asinis

puer - dative singular
dominus - dative plural
puella - dative plural
mater - dative singular
soror - dative plural
liber - dative plural
asinus - vocative singular
aper - dative singular
ursa - genitive plural
Traianus - dative singular

Pleasing thanks
The Dative case is used in Latin to indicate pleasure given to somebody, using the verb
placeo, I please. Really, in Latin, what is said is: something is pleasing to someone. In
English we might just use the verb to like here. Look at the examples and all should
become clear:
ludi civibus placent. The games are pleasing to the citizens.

or
The citizens like the games.
Traiano Hadrianus placet. Hadrian is pleasing to Trajan.

or
Trajan likes Hadrian.
mihi placet. It pleases me, or I like it, or just OK.
Thanks in Latin are also expressed using a dative.

The expression used normally for thank you is gratias tibi ago.

! ago means I do.
! gratias (accusative plural) means thanks.
! tibi means to you.
cives Traiano gratias agunt. The citizens give thanks to Trajan.

or
The citizens thank Trajan.
35
Where you see green text, you need to use the Dative case.
The children give water to the

donkey.
The hunter shows the bears
and the bulls to Anna and
Hadrian.
Domitia Paulina says to
Hannibal, “give the food to
me!”
He shows the food to Hadrian
and Domitia Paulina. They give
the bread to the donkey
because the children do not
like it.*
The citizens like the games
and say thank you to Trajan.**
*
The children do not like it should be expressed in Latin as it is not pleasing to the children.
See note on previous page, Pleasing thanks.
**
This is a double whammy: see note on previous page, Pleasing thanks.
Moral message
Donkeys don't normally say thank you but you'd be an ass if you didn't.
Ex. 6.4 Complete the table below, by filling in Nom, Voc, Acc, Dat or Gen, followed by
Sing or Pl. Then add in the declension number in the form 1st, 2nd or 3rd. The first
example has been done. If there are more possibilities than one, just give one. See page
4 if you have forgotten how to identify the declension of a noun.
pueris Dat Pl, 2nd

patribus
ludo
ursae
matres
aprorum
patres
liberis
matrem
matri
mihi (see footnote, Ex. 6.1)
36
Background Amphitheatres, gladiators and bloody death
Go to a major Roman site today and

there is a good chance you will see the
remains of an amphitheatre. Sometimes
these are grand structures standing tall
and evocative of ancient times. In other
places, like Cirencester in the United
Kingdom, seen here, the ghostly shape
of an arena can just be seen, a vague
reminder of what once stood there. You
could walk right through this without
even realising what it once was.
The best known amphitheatre of all is the

Colosseum in Rome, which was still being
built when Hadrian was a boy. Its purpose
was to entertain the people of the city and
the builder was the emperor Vespasian.
He was keen to show the people that he
cared for their interests and the
amphitheatre was his gift to them.
Interestingly, he also wanted to show
them that he was a better emperor than
Nero, who had been his predecessor until
his enforced suicide in AD 68.
The amphitheatre was a huge stadium, seating well over 50,000, constructed on land
which Nero had stolen from the people of Rome after the Great Fire in AD 64.
So Vespasian's stadium was built on land being restored to popular ownership, in a
masterstroke of manipulating public opinion. The name Colosseum was given to the
project, because Nero had created a huge statue of himself here, called the Colossus.
If you look at the outside of the Colosseum, you can see the pillars on each of the first
three levels are different, showing that the construction was designed as a collection of all
the best elements of Roman architecture. At the top of the walls, you can still see
constructions projecting out, which held masts, like those in ships. From the masts a set
of awnings were stretched across the inside of the stadium, to provide shade and shelter
for the spectators.
37
There are many excellent amphitheatres to be seen
across the whole area where the Roman Empire once
existed. In the amphitheatre of Capua, underground
tunnels and connecting passages are very well
preserved and the channels can be clearly seen in the
floor, where blood once flowed. This reminds us what
unpleasant activities used to take place in the building,
as we reflect on the true ghastliness of the Roman
psyche. Buildings like this were built for one thing and
one thing only. Romans found bloody death fun, in the
same way that many people today find football or car
racing fun. The amphitheatres were designed so that
ordinary people could see executions, battles to the
death and mutilations, all designed to make them feel
better. Hmm. While we admire the architecture, we
should never forget what dreadful purposes these
buildings had.
Standard gladiatorial combats were fought man to man.

The events were based on pairs, though sometimes
there could be many pairs fighting at one time.
There were different types of gladiator, with different types of body armour and
protection: if you like the thought of violent and bloody death, you could enjoy yourself
learning how to identify a retiarius, a murmillo and a Thracian but let's not get too
involved in this right now.
There were also staged hunts, where animals from different parts of the empire were
assembled in one place, to be slaughtered indiscriminately, just to keep the citizens
happy. The mosaics shown on the next page, from Piazza Armerina in Sicily, show an
ostrich and an antelope being rounded up so they could be transported to the
amphitheatre, perhaps to Rome itself. The so-called venatio involved specialist gladiators
being let loose on all kinds of animals, with a ferocity and a brutality which would be
utterly repulsive to most people today. Some of these traditions live on in Spain, where
bull-fighting is seen as great entertainment by some people but as a crime against
civilised behaviour by others.
The Romans sometimes used the arena as a place to execute criminals or people who
were persecuted, such as Christians. These would have to face animals such as lions, with
no proper weapons, as their appalling deaths provided entertainment for the masses.
Horrible. The word arena originally meant sand, referring to the fact that sand scattered
across the floor would soak up the blood of the combatants.
Sometimes convicted criminals became gladiators and, if they survived a lot of fights,
they would become famous. The more they fought, the more chance there was that
people would get to know their names and look out for them in the next set of games. Not
all games ended in a killing as the president of the games (in Rome, this would often be
the emperor) could spare somebody's life if he thought the defeated fighter deserved to
live and fight another day. Eventually, if a fighter was presented with a wooden sword, it
meant that he could retire. For most others, however, there was not much chance of a
long and happy life: bloody death followed pretty quickly for most.
38
sine qua non
aperio, aperire, aperui, apertum I open

aqua, aquae, f water
avunculus, avunculi, m uncle
cibus, cibi, m food
civis, civis, c citizen
debeo, debere, debui, debitum I ought, must, owe
do, dare, dedi, datum I give
fero, ferre, tuli, latum I carry, bear
imperator, imperatoris, m emperor
ludus, ludi, m game, school
maritus, mariti, m husband
memoria, memoriae, f memory
meus, mea, meum my, mine
ostendo, ostendere, ostendi, ostentum I show
placet (+ dative) it pleases
populus, populi, m people
servus, servi, m slave
tam so
taurus, tauri, m bull
ursa, ursae, f bear
The Dative case in Latin means to or for in English.
39
Chapter 7 Hadrian's first horse
Hannibal cubiculum
Hadriani intrat. ridet et
magna voce clamat,
“veni, Hadriane! equus
tibi adest!”
Hadrianus dormit.
Hannibalem non bene
audit. in somnio ad
venationem equitat.
sed Hannibal puerum
excitat.
equus in stabulo stat.
equus est magnus
corpore et fortis.
Hadrianus laetus est et
ridet.
Hadrianus rogat, “quis
est equus nomine?”
Hannibal respondet,
“nomen equo est
Bucephalus.”
Hadrianus equitare
cupit. sed difficile est
equum conscendere.
tandem magna
difficultate in equum
sedet et a stabulo
equitat.
Hadrianus somnium
memorat et celeriter
equitare cupit. puer
frenis equum temperat.
sed periculosum est
equitare! Hadrianus ex
equo ad terram cadit.
sanguis fluit.
“debes multum de
equis discere,
Hadriane,” dicit
Traianus. “non cupimus
te mortuum videre.
equi sunt semper
periculosi!”
40
The Ablative case
The sixth case you need to learn is the Ablative case. This is rather bad news, in case
you'd like to know. You probably wouldn't. The trouble is that we normally say there are
only six cases, so this means that you're going to find you’ll need to know this stuff very
soon. Horrible. Even worse is the fact that some nouns have occasional extra cases like
the locative, when you'd least expect it - but you don't need to learn these for all nouns,
just for some of them. Even more horrible.
The Ablative is used to express different things. It can be used to mean by something, as
in the use of equo, which means by horse. It can also mean with, as in magna difficultate
which means with great difficulty. It can also mean from, which it often means when used
with a preposition such as ex or ab. There are other meanings also, such as at, in, or
even than. Taking all things together, the Ablative is perhaps the most difficult of the six
cases, which is why it has been left until now.
The Ablative in summary: by, with, from, than, at, in or used with prepositions.

Singular puer uxor
Singular puer uxor
Dative puellae asino patri
Singular puero uxori
Ablative puella asino patre
Singular puero uxore

Plural pueri uxores
Plural pueri uxores
Dative puellis asinis patribus
Ablative puellis asinis patribus

41
Words in green are in the Ablative case.
mater Hadriani febre mortua est.

pater Domitiae Paulinae mortuus
est corde fracto.
Hadrianus clamore commotus est.
Hannibal Hadrianum in cubiculo
excitat.
Anna equum Bucephalum Hadriano
laeto corde ostendit.
in stabulo magno Bucephalus
laetus est.
“ex equo descende, Hadriane!”
Hadrianus equum frenis in
stabulum ducit.
Bucephalum asinus in stabulo
mordet.
“asine, es pessimus!” Hadrianus
magna voce clamat.

Words in green should be put in the Ablative case.
Trajan terrifies Domitia Paulina

with his* shouting.
Hadrian sits in the shadow of the
house.
Bucephalus is tired from the
games of the donkey.
The children are upset by the tomb
of their* mother and father.
Do not weep, Hadrian. You are
upset by a dream.

*
Omit the words his and their in Latin.
42
Use of the Ablative and Accusative cases with prepositions
Prepositions are words where the position of one thing is referred to, in relation to the
position of another. Words such as into, from and under are all prepositions in English.
For the purposes of learning prepositions in Latin, it may be useful to study the diagram
below. The box labelled P refers to a position.
Note the following:

! The arrow going towards the P might refer to prepositions such as towards or into.
! The arrow above the P pointing down might refer to prepositions such as at or in.
! The arrow going away from P might refer to prepositions such as from or out of.
So, whenever you see or want to use a preposition in Latin, think ACC - ABL - ABL!
Bucephalus stands in his stable.

The family lives in Spain.
Enter into the house, boy!
They come to the street.
Anna and Hannibal come to the
field.

Moral message
Riding horses can be very dangerous - but paying for them can be extremely painful too.
Trust me, it's not for the faint-hearted.
43
A few unruly prepositions
The Latin preposition in can mean into or towards, when it is followed by the Accusative
case, e.g. in casam, into the house. However, when it is followed by the Ablative case,
it always means in, e.g. in casa, in the house.
The Latin preposition a means away from, as in a casa, away from the house.
However, when the word after the word a starts with a vowel, then a morphs into ab.
For example, away from the field should be ab agro.
Likewise, the Latin preposition e means out of, or from. However, when the next word
starts with a vowel, e becomes ex, e.g. ex umbra, out of the shadow.
Words which don't need prepositions
When you talk about well-known places, like Rome, you don't need a preposition at all.
The following table may help with some of the best known ones.
Latin English
Accusative - going Romam to Rome
towards Athenas* to Athens
domum (to) home
rus to the country
Locative case - at a Romae at Rome
place (quite rare but Athenis* at Athens
used in some words) domi at home
ruri in the country
Ablative - leaving from Roma from Rome
Athenis* from Athens
domo from home
rure from the country

*
Athens is a plural noun in Latin. Its dictionary entry is Athenae, Athenarum, f pl.

The family comes to Cadiz.

Hadrian desires to live in Rome.
The children come from Italica.
They find their mother's tomb in
the road.
The horse comes out of the stable.
Hadrian comes home. He calls
Hannibal out of the house.

44
Background Horses, riding and social status
The business of riding horses was very much part of Roman daily life. Most upper class
Romans would learn to ride at an early age, as it was an essential qualification for the
army and life beyond. Much of our information about riding comes from works of sculpture
and art, which have survived from the Roman period. They give us an interesting picture
of what happened and some of it comes as a surprise today.
We know that Roman fighting forces were often supported by cavalry units, called equites.
These consisted of highly trained soldiers, who generally owned their own mounts.
Since horses were (and still are – you guessed it!) an expensive commodity to buy and
own, cavalrymen were generally wealthier than their counterparts in the infantry.
Conditions of service were often slightly better for these members of the army,
who formed quite a small percentage of the total fighting forces.
The Roman cavalryman was very

agile and had to learn how to control
his mount with great skill.
In sculptures and mosaics, we can
recognise the general appearance of
the bridle and reins, which are quite
familiar to a modern-day horse
enthusiast. However, these may not
have had the same importance in a
Roman battle situation as they do in
a quiet hack through the countryside
today.
Since soldiers held their weapons for fighting in their hands, we know their main method
of control must have been the leg and that control of the horse was focused on leg
movements rather than reins. In a similar manner to modern western style riding, the
Roman saddle had a pommel on it but no stirrups can be seen on depictions of Romans
riding and it is a matter of conjecture exactly how a Roman saddle worked. A rider’s legs
were usually unsupported, which means the horsemen must have had an extraordinary
ability to balance and steer their horses, while at the same time keeping their arms and
hands free for fighting.
A Roman cavalryman had a longer sword than his counterpart on the ground, so he could
slash at his enemies below, without having to come right up to them in the fight.
A cavalryman’s shield was usually oval in shape, to reduce the risk of him hitting himself
with the rim of an oblong-shaped shield as he wheeled around. We know that Roman
horses were trained to cope with the noise and the chaos of battle and that they had little
fear of charging directly towards enemy lines.
45
The plural word equites has the original meaning of horsemen, being closely connected to
the word equus, meaning horse. However, the word acquired another meaning early on in
Roman history. An eques (the singular form of equites) was a Roman knight, meaning
somebody rich enough to afford to keep a horse. Eventually, the word came to mean an
upper middle class Roman trader, whose business interests could secure him a title based
on wealth, rather than his ability to ride a horse. The basic property requirement for a
Roman wanting to call himself a member of the equites was 400,000 sesterces, which
represented a little less than half of the money required to be a member of the Roman
senate. So it was that the equites became the second highest tier in Roman society and
the lifeblood which kept the Roman Empire functioning on a day-to-day basis.
sine qua non
a, ab (+ ablative) away from

cado, cadere, cecidi, casum I fall
celeriter quickly
cubiculum, cubiculi, n bedroom
descendo, descendere, descendi, descensum I descend
difficilis, difficilis, difficile difficult
dormio, dormire, dormivi, dormitum I sleep
e, ex (+ ablative) out of, from
equus, equi, m horse
fortis, fortis, forte strong, brave
in (+ ablative) in
in (+ accusative) into
magnus, magna, magnum great
nomen, nominis, n name
periculosus, periculosa, periculosum dangerous
pessimus, pessima, pessimum worst
semper always
tandem at last
via, viae, f road, street
vox, vocis, f voice
The Ablative in summary: by, with, from, than, at, in or used with prepositions.
46
Chapter 8 The Hunt
stabulum Bucephali est

magnum. nomen equi
est in ianua.
Hadrianus e stabulo ad
amphitheatrum equum
ducit. amphitheatrum
est prope villam.
ab amphitheatro ad
sepulcrum familiae
equitat. sepulcrum est
in via prope urbem.
Hadrianus ex equo
descendit: sepulcrum
spectat, ubi corpora
patris et matris iacent.
puero cor triste est.
puer corpora non videt.
sed nomina Paulinae et
Afri in sepulcro legit. in
silentio stat.
Traianus sollicitus est
quod Hadrianus tam
tristis est. puerum ad
venationem invitat.
Hadrianus ad
cubiculum venit. laetus
est quod venator esse
cupit.
cubiculum parvum est.
in cubiculo puer
dormit. somnium de
venatione rursus
habet.
in somnio aprum
magnum capit. aper
ferox est et celer.
post venationem aper
Hadriani in
amphitheatrum venit.
venatores in
amphitheatro aprum
necant.
47
Neuter nouns and questions of gender
In this chapter you meet neuter nouns for the first time. Well, actually, that isn't true.
You have been seeing neuter nouns for quite some time, without realising it. For example,
corpus, meaning body, is neuter, written in the vocabulary listings as corpus, corporis, n.
Another neuter noun you have seen is somnium, meaning a dream, written as somnium,
somnii, n. Generations of students, however, have grown up using the word bellum, belli,
n, meaning war, as their model noun of choice. The reasons should become obvious, once
you start reciting the plural of this noun at speed.
What is neuter? Well, it's a Latin word which means neither - and it comes to mean
neither masculine nor feminine. Think of a cat, after its operation. No more little kitties?
It's neuter! There is often no logic behind why nouns in Latin are masculine, feminine or
neuter, unlike the example just given. You just have to learn the full dictionary entries,
which should always include those little letters m, f or n. Or sometimes c, if the noun is
common (eg, if it can be masculine or feminine). Don't worry about why a table (mensa,
mensae, f) is feminine, or a wall (murus, muri, m) is masculine, or a name (nomen,
nominis, n) is neuter. Life is too short and such matters don’t worry the French or the
Germans.
The good news about neuter nouns is that they are pretty easy to learn. Nominative =
Vocative = Accusative in all neuter endings for singular or plural. Also, all plural
Nom/Voc/Acc endings are in -a. Most of the other endings you see here are like the ones
you have already seen in the second and third declension. So you shouldn't find them too
hard to learn. The bad news - really bad news - is that now you will see a HUGE bunch of
stuff in sine qua non at the end of this chapter, because you need to know it all from
now on. Here are some nice easy tables for now, with just a couple of neuter nouns for
you to digest.
2nd declension 3rd declension 3rd declension

with i stem
Nominative Singular bellum (war) nomen (name) mare (sea)
Vocative Singular bellum nomen mare
Accusative Singular bellum nomen mare
Genitive Singular belli nominis maris
Dative Singular bello nomini mari
Ablative Singular bello nomine mari
Nominative Plural bella nomina maria

Vocative Plural bella nomina maria
Accusative Plural bella nomina maria
Genitive Plural bellorum nominum marium
Dative Plural bellis nominibus maribus
Ablative Plural bellis nominibus maribus
48
Ex. 8.2 Complete the table below, by filling in the required forms of the nouns
specified. Use the vocabulary lists at the back to help you identify declension numbers,
so you can answer these questions. You must also be able to identify the stem of a noun
– see page 4 in case you have forgotten how to do this. The first question has been done
for you, as an example.
corpus - accusative plural corpora

somnium - genitive singular
cor - ablative plural
frenum - accusative singular
sepulcrum - dative plural
mare - ablative singular
stabulum - genitive plural
amphitheatrum - nominative plural
nomen - ablative singular
frenum - vocative plural
bellum - dative singular

Subordinate clauses
As the Latin in this book gets harder, you will find that the sentences get more complex.
Each sentence has separate sections in it, called clauses. In the sentence, asinus
Hannibalem mordet (the donkey bites Hannibal) there is only one clause, because it is a
simple sentence. The important thing about a clause (nothing at all to do with Santa
Claus) is that it should include a verb.
To make the sentence more complex, we could introduce a concept such as because, or
when. Study the sentences below, where the subordinate clauses appear in green.
ubi asinus Hannibalem videt, puerum mordere cupit.

When the donkey sees Hannibal, he wants to bite the boy.
Hadrianus, quod aprum capit, laetus est.

Hadrian, because he catches the boar, is happy.
or
Hadrian is happy because he catches the boar.
The first kind of clause, using the word when, is called a temporal clause. This means it is
something to do with time.
The second kind of clause is called a causal clause, using the word because.
Moral message
Always insert a clause. You'll be glad of it later.
49
Subordinate clauses appear in green here.
stabulum Bucephali est

magnum quod magnus est
equus.
Hadrianus tristis est ubi prope
sepulcrum stat.
Traianus ad venationem
Hadrianum invitat, quod
puerum laetum videre cupit.
nomen equo est Bucephalus,
quod Alexander Magnus equum
Bucephalum nomine habuit.*
Hannibal Hadrianum ad
stabulum ducit, ubi Domitia
Paulina equos spectat.
Domitia Paulina equitare cupit
sed puella in casa manere
debet.

*
habuit means (he) had.
Hadrian desires to ride to the

hunt because he desires to
capture* a boar.
Domitia Paulina is not happy
because she must stay in the
house.
The children see the name of
Bucephalus on the door of the
stable but they do not see the
donkey's name.
Anna and Hannibal look after
the donkey because he remains
alone in the stable.
The donkey bites the door of
the stable because Bucephalus
is not present. Donkeys are
always biting!

*
Alert! This verb is a mixed conjugation verb. See vocabulary listings to find its infinitive.

50
Background Famous horses and Greeks
Hadrian's first horse was probably not called Bucephalus - but then you never know. It is
certainly most unlikely that it was called Egbert. There was, however, a horse called
Bucephalus, which had once belonged to Alexander the Great, King of Macedon and
unstoppable conqueror of the East. He had rampaged through lands from Turkey, to
Egypt, to Afghanistan, to India, before his horrible death in 323 BC. Bucephalus was a
large-headed, brave animal, who had carried Alexander into some of his stickiest of sticky
moments, as when he met the Persian King Darius in battle, seen here.
The name Bucephalus comes

from two Greek words. Bous
means ox, and cephale means
head, so Bucephalus means
ox-head. This was one of the
famous horses of antiquity,
amongst whom we could
include Pegasus, the famous
winged horse of Bellerophon,
and Incitatus, the horse which
the Roman emperor Caligula
made a senator of Rome:
he even suggested that he
might make a good consul.

Hadrian himself was later to have a famous horse: Borysthenes had his own tomb erected
in the South of France when he died. His name means strength of the North.
Hadrian's love of Greeks and all things Greek must have had some point of origin and our
inclusion of a horse with a famous name is just a little reminder that the man who became
emperor in AD 117 had always had a huge fascination with the Greek world. By the age of
9 or 10 years old, the young Hadrian would have been able to speak Greek and Latin and
would be beginning to read stories from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, which were staple
parts of any well-educated Roman's education.
Was Alexander really a role model for Hadrian? We do not know this for sure but it seems
very likely. Alexander was a builder of cities, an educated man who had learned
philosophy from his famous tutor Aristotle, and an incredible traveller. Hadrian in later life
showed great interest in all these things. On the other hand, Hadrian would have known
that much of Alexander's work was pointless, given that the empire he built collapsed very
soon after his death. Hadrian was always concerned with his legacy to the Roman world,
perhaps for the very reason that he knew how short-lived many of Alexander's
achievements were.
51
sine qua non
This may be painful but it is time. You can't keep expecting to work out what case a noun
is in by looking at tables every time. It's a lot easier when you actually know something.
You will be tested on this – be warned! You should be able to recognise any of the forms
and recite any of the nouns below, in the right order, with singular and plural all fully
learned. You also need to know what the six cases all mean.
1st Declension 2nd Declension 2nd Declension 2nd Declension

Feminine Masculine -us Masculine -er Neuter
Nominative Singular puella (girl) asinus (donkey) puer (boy) bellum (war)
Vocative Singular puella asine puer bellum
Accusative Singular puellam asinum puerum bellum
Genitive Singular puellae asini pueri belli
Dative Singular puellae asino puero bello
Ablative Singular puella asino puero bello
Nominative Plural puellae asini pueri bella

Vocative Plural puellae asini pueri bella
Accusative Plural puellas asinos pueros bella
Genitive Plural puellarum asinorum puerorum bellorum
Dative Plural puellis asinis pueris bellis
Ablative Plural puellis asinis pueris bellis
3rd Declension 3rd Declension 3rd Declension 3rd Declension

Masculine Common -i stem Neuter Neuter -i stem
Nominative Singular pater (father) civis (citizen) nomen (name) mare (sea)
Vocative Singular pater civis nomen mare
Accusative Singular patrem civem nomen mare
Genitive Singular patris civis nominis maris
Dative Singular patri civi nomini mari
Ablative Singular patre cive nomine mari
Nominative Plural patres cives nomina maria

Vocative Plural patres cives nomina maria
Accusative Plural patres cives nomina maria
Genitive Plural patrum civium nominum marium
Dative Plural patribus civibus nominibus maribus
Ablative Plural patribus civibus nominibus maribus

Nominative Vocative Accusative Genitive Dative Ablative
Before verb in O After verb in English, Of To or For By, With, From, Than, At
English, subject object or In
52
Chapter 9 In school
magister de Graecis in
ludo narrat.
Homerus est poeta
Graecus. Homerum
magna difficultate
Domitia Paulina legit.
Hadrianus dicit, “noli
commota esse, Domitia
Paulina. difficile est sed
placet mihi te iuvare.”
magister dicit, “noli
commota esse, Domitia
Paulina. puellae in casa
manere debent. non
necesse est tibi legere.”
sed Domitia Paulina irata
est et dicit, “cur puellis
non necesse est legere?
non sumus stultae.”
magister dicit, “non
stultae estis sed necesse
est feminis liberos
curare. non necesse est
puellis discere eadem ac*
pueris.”
Hadrianus dicit, “mihi
necesse est militare.
deinde senator esse
cupio. tu uxor senatoris
et mater liberorum esse
debes.”
Domitia Paulina dicit, “si
uxor sum senatoris, non
necesse est mihi militare.
optimum est!”
magister dicit, “bonum
est militare, bonum
liberos curare. sed
optimum est litteras
Homeri legere.”
liberi rursus legunt.

*
eadem ac means the same things as.
53
Adjectives and adjectival agreement
If you have been keeping up with the developments on the nouns front, these two pages
should come as pretty good news. Adjectives are more or less the same as the nouns you
now know, at least in terms of their endings. Look at the tables here and you will see.
However, there are some problems to be explained which you will need to understand
along the way, so don't dismiss this as all too easy.
2nd Declension 1st Declension 2nd Declension

Masculine -us Feminine -a Neuter -um
Nominative Singular bonus bona bonum
Vocative Singular bone bona bonum
Accusative Singular bonum bonam bonum
Genitive Singular boni bonae boni
Dative Singular bono bonae bono
Ablative Singular bono bona bono
Nominative Plural boni bonae bona

Vocative Plural boni bonae bona
Accusative Plural bonos bonas bona
Genitive Plural bonorum bonarum bonorum
Dative Plural bonis bonis bonis
Ablative Plural bonis bonis bonis
3rd Declension 3rd Declension 3rd Declension

Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative Singular tristis tristis triste
Vocative Singular tristis tristis triste
Accusative Singular tristem tristem triste
Genitive Singular tristis tristis tristis
Dative Singular tristi tristi tristi
Ablative Singular tristi tristi tristi
Nominative Plural tristes tristes tristia

Vocative Plural tristes tristes tristia
Accusative Plural tristes tristes tristia
Genitive Plural tristium tristium tristium
Dative Plural tristibus tristibus tristibus
Ablative Plural tristibus tristibus tristibus

Moral message
Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Read on...
54
Now, first things first - a word about endings. Let's look at the adjective, bonus, which
means good. Actually, it's not bonus at all. It's bonus, bona, bonum, which is to say,
bonus = masculine, bona = feminine and bonum = neuter. In the back of this book, you
will see adjectives like this are labelled as 2-1-2. This means that bonus declines like
asinus (declension 2 - get it?), bona declines like puella (declension 1) and bonum
declines like bellum (declension 2). All of this means you don't need to learn ANYTHING
AT ALL!
Now let's look at another adjective, tristis, which means sad. This also isn't really just
tristis. Confusingly, it's tristis, tristis, triste, meaning sad. The first two are the same,
which is why this type of adjective is often called two-termination, meaning that
masculine and feminine are the same but the neuter endings are different. In the back of
this book, you will see this appears as declension 3-3-3.
When the Romans described something, their adjectives had to have the same qualities as
the nouns they described. This is called agreement, or to be technical, adjectival
agreement. Look at the following, to see if this makes sense:
Hadrianus est fessus. Hadrian is tired.

Domitia Paulina est fessa. Domitia Paulina is tired.
stabulum est magnum. The stable is big.
pater et mater sunt mortui. Father and mother are dead.
So masculine nouns need masculine adjectives, feminine ones need feminine ones and
neuter ones need neuter ones. If more than one noun is used (eg, father and mother) the
masculine form is used where possible: the Roman world was male-dominated, which is
also why masculine endings appear in lists before feminine ones. Adjectival agreement
means more than this, however. It's not just the genders which change, it's also the cases
and the number (singular or plural). Look at the following:
magister liberos fessos videt. The teacher sees the tired children.
Hadrianus magnum aprum capit. Hadrian catches a large boar.
Bucephalus est equus Alexandri Magni. Bucephalus is the horse of Alex G.
And finally, it gets worse. Adjectives must agree with something but that something does
not always seem to exist. For example, look at the sentence below:
mihi non placent miseri. Miserable people do not please me.

(or, I don't like grumpy beggars.)
In the last example, there is nothing for miseri to agree with, so it internalises an
agreement. The adjective is masculine, nominative plural, so we assume we need to add a
word like people, or men. In the same way, bonus can mean a good man, bona can mean
a good woman, and bonum can mean a good thing. This is basically quite like verbs in
Latin, which internalise their subjects - something which doesn't happen in English.
Just because you can't see what an adjective agrees with, this doesn't mean it doesn't
agree with something! It must ALWAYS agree with something.
Summary: adjectives agree with nouns they describe in number, gender and case.
55
Ex. 9.2 Complete the table below, by filling in the required forms of the adjectives
specified. Use the vocabulary lists at the back to help you identify declension
numbers so you can answer these questions. The first question has been done for
you, as an example.
Romanus - masculine dative plural Romanis

miser - feminine genitive singular
territus - neuter nominative plural
difficilis - masculine accusative singular
tristis - feminine genitive plural
magnificus - neuter accusative plural
multus - masculine genitive singular
benignus - neuter nominative plural
fortis - feminine ablative singular
fractus - masculine vocative plural
laetus - feminine dative singular

multi sunt cives Italicae.

puellae Romanae gladiatores
laetae vident.
Hadriano multum placet
Alexander Magnus.
Romani servos Graecos habent.
asinus laetus panem devorat.
Domitia Paulina commota est in
ludo quod magister iratus est.

The horse's reins are broken.

The Romans must rule the
Greeks.
The children are happy because
they visit Cadiz.
Nobody remembers the difficult
names of the gladiators.
Boars are best in the hunt.
56
Background Greeks and Romans
When we think of the Roman world, we have to imagine a scenario where one culture
dominated another in terms of art, education and philosophy, while the other eclipsed the
first in terms of military control and political strength. Ever since 146 BC, when the
Romans made Greece a province of their empire, all the shots were called by the Italian
empire-building nation state. The Greeks were regarded as politically unstable, so keeping
them under control was of importance at this time. Yet their influence on their conquerors
remained huge. The Roman writer Horace said that “captured Greece took captive its
brute conqueror.”
Most Romans continued to learn the Greek language, study Greek works of art and
architecture and regard Greece as the centre of cultural excellence for many years to
come. Romans were taught by Greeks, who were often kept as family slaves. The Greek
language was learned by the well-educated, to such an extent that orators, such as
Cicero, often embedded Greek expressions in their speeches. Did they do this for effect,
or was it just a habit, as we might use expressions today, such as a fait accompli or
Schadenfreude? Probably the latter. Since all educated Romans could understand such
expressions, it would not be regarded as pretentious to use them.
One thing which is hard to understand today, is why the Romans loved Greece so much,
while at the same time despising the Greek people as inferior and unreliable.
To understand this point, we may perhaps look to Greek literature, such as Homer’s
Odyssey, a fantastic adventure story about a hero finally finding his way home, or we
could look at the story of Oedipus the King, who is so determined to discover his own
identity that he becomes blind to the fact that this discovery will destroy him: when he
does indeed find out that he is his own wife’s son and his own father’s killer, his
metaphorical blindness becomes real, as he pokes out his own eyes.
For that matter, some of the most famous doctors, philosophers, teachers, artists,
architects and writers all came from Greece. Their legacy continues today, so it is hardly
surprising that the Romans found inspiration in Greece.
For those still unconvinced, we could look to Thucydides’

History of the Peloponnesian War, where the writer shows the
clearest possible understanding of his mission. He says,
writing in about 400 BC:
“As for accuracy, perhaps my writing may seem a little dry to

some people because it is not told as a story. Yet all those who
will want to know exactly what happened and what could
happen at some point again in the future may judge it quite
useful, human nature being what it is. My writing has been laid
down as a possession for all time and not as something to
satisfy an immediate public.”

The picture here shows the Gate of Hadrian in Athens, seen below
the famous Acropolis Hill and Parthenon temple.
57
sine qua non
ad (+ accusative) to, towards

ancilla, ancillae, f maidservant
aper, apri, m boar
bellum, belli, n war
celer, celeris, celere quick
commotus, commota, commotum upset
difficile est it is difficult
disco, discere, didici I learn
ferox, ferox, ferox (stem feroc-) fierce
fractus, fracta, fractum broken
Graecus, Graeca, Graecum Greek
invito, invitare, invitavi, invitatum I invite
lego, legere, legi, lectum I read
littera, litterae, f letter, literature (pl)
magister, magistri, m master, teacher
magnificus, magnifica, magnificum magnificent
milito, militare, militavi, militatum I serve in the army
miser, misera, miserum sad, miserable
narro, narrare, narravi, narratum I tell
necesse est it is necessary
optimus, optima, optimum best, excellent
poeta, poetae, m poet
stultus, stulta, stultum stupid
Adjectives agree with nouns they describe in number, gender and case.
58
Chapter 10 Girls and horses
liberi adsunt in casa.

femina intrat. femina est
Marciana, soror Traiani.
Marciana filiam habet,
nomine Matidiam.
Matidia maritum habet,
nomine Lucium Vibium
Sabinum. est Matidiae et
marito filia nova, nomine
Vibia Sabina.
Hadrianus est carus
Matidiae. puer Matidiae
multum placet.
Matidia Hadrianum ad
filiam parvam ducit.
“mea filia est,” inquit.
“cupio vos esse amicos.”
filia est bella. puer diu
tacet quod modestus est.
tandem “Matidia, quid
agis?” inquit. “nonne
Bucephalum videre
cupis? meus equus est.”
Matidia ridet. equos
magnopere amat.
Matidia respondet, “ego
equum videre cupio. sed
quid est in stabulo?
Bucephalus non adest!”
asinus in stabulo solus
stat. equum rursus
momordit.* Hannibal
igitur equum in agrum
duxit** ubi nemo mordet.
Hadriano Matidia dicit,
“sanguinem video! equus
tui vulneratus est asino
stulto!
nobis necesse est equum
bene curare.”

* **
momordit = he has bitten duxit = he has led
59
Pronouns
These are usually trouble-makers, when you learn a language. Let's put a health warning
on them. What's worse, you are only going to get a few of them for the time being.
Please don't think that this is all! There are lots more things not listed here which we
could call pronouns if we wanted to. This ain't over 'til it's over.
Moral message
! I am the first person in the world. I am more important than you.

! You are the second person in the world for me when I am talking to you.
! He or she has to come third, since I am first and you are second.
! We are still more important than you but there is more than one of us.
! You are still the same as you were, when you are more than one. That's even if you
don't look it. You are still second in importance to me or us.
! They are third because you are still second and we (or I) must continue to be first,
even if you (or they) don't like it.
And now back to pronouns. The Latin pronoun ego, me, mei, mihi, me can mean either
I, me, of me, to me, with me (see below) or I myself, me myself, of myself, to myself,
with myself. I and me are known as personal pronouns, whereas myself is called a
reflexive pronoun. Confused? I'm not surprised. Think of German for a minute. Ich freue
mich means I enjoy myself. In this sentence Ich is personal, whereas mich is reflexive.
Or think of French, if you prefer. Je me lave means I wash myself. Je is personal, whereas
me is reflexive. In Latin, almost all the pronouns given below can be either personal or
reflexive, which actually means that Latin is easier. Yippee! Trouble is, there are times
when you might have to ask yourself whether these babies mean me or myself, so you
have to remember what you have just read. Hmm.
1st person 1st person 2nd person 2nd person

pronouns Latin pronouns English pronouns Latin pronouns English
Nominative Singular ego I tu You (subject)
Vocative Singular Not normally used unless you talk to yourself a lot
Accusative Singular me me te You (object)
Genitive Singular mei of me, my tui of you, your
Dative Singular mihi to me, for me tibi to you, for you
Ablative Singular me by me, with me, te by you, with you,
from me from you
Nominative Plural nos we vos You (subject)

Vocative Plural Not normally used unless you talk to yourself a lot
Accusative Plural nos us vos You (object)
Genitive Plural nostrum of us, our vestrum of you, your
Dative Plural nobis to us, for us vobis to you, for you
Ablative Plural nobis by us, with us, vobis by you, with you,
from us from you
60
Matidia et Hadrianus a stabulo

veniunt et in casam intrant.
Domitia Paulina adest. Traianus
in sella diu sedet quod liberos
exspectat.
“diu vos exspecto,” inquit.
“Marciana et Plotina quoque
vos diu exspectant.”
difficile est Traiano liberos
spectare. “ego,” inquit, “aliquid
momenti* vobis narrare debeo.
necesse est mihi Romam ire.**
ego praetor Romae electus
sum.***
Hadriane, tu mecum venire
debes. tu es puer bonae
familiae et esse bonus
Romanus discere debes.
sed Domitia Paulina, tu in
Hispania manere debes.
Marciana te curat. iam Matidia
tibi est amica et soror nova.”

* **
aliquid momenti = something of importance ire comes from the verb eo – see vocabulary
***
electus sum = I have been elected
It is necessary for me to go to
the stable and for you to care
for the wounded horse.
Trajan has been elected
praetor of Rome.
Matidia and Domitia Paulina,
you must stay in Spain.
Hadrian is shy but looks at
Matidia because she is so
pretty.
Marciana and Plotina come to
Rome where Trajan is now
praetor.
61
Impersonal verbs
With luck, when you read this, you will just nod your head like a wise old owl and say, “Oh
yes, I realised all this already.” Maybe, maybe not. Here goes anyway. See how much of a
Minerva you can be...
If something is called personal, it must involve a person but if it is impersonal, it doesn't

involve a person at all. And in that case (think back to pronouns again) it must involve the
subject it. So when we say I must do this, the subject is I but when we say it is necessary
for me to do this, the subject is it. In Latin, a lot of impersonal verbs take the Dative case
to express the person to whom the action is necessary. Study the examples below:
Hadrianus militare debet. Hadrian must serve in the army.
necesse est Hadriano militare. It is necessary for Hadrian to serve in the army.
in Hispania manere debeo. I must stay in Spain.
mihi necesse est in Hispania manere. It is necessary for me to stay in Spain.
The thing with impersonal verbs is that you can often translate them as if they were just
normal verbs and you won't be wrong. The paired examples above both mean identical
things in Latin, even though they are written differently.
Creation of impersonal verbs with any neuter singular adjective
In Latin, you can make up an impersonal verb from almost any adjective at all. Study the
examples below to see what is meant here:
bonum est nobis Latinam discere. It is good for us to learn Latin.
difficile est mihi omnia memorare. It is difficult for me to remember everything.
magnum est ridere. It is great to laugh.


Green bits are impersonal verbs and red bits are in the Dative case.
difficile est equitare.

nobis magnum est amicos
habere.
benignum est aegros curare.
necesse est Domitiae Paulinae
in Hispania habitare.
optimum est asino equum
mordere.
62
Background Girls and boys in the Roman world
When the Romans considered how to raise their children, the main issue which affected
their discussions was whether or not a child was male or female. For male children, the
aim was obvious: they needed the best education possible, so that boys would be able to:
! read and write in Latin and Greek and have basic mathematical skills
! understand great works of literature such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
! finally, if possible, study the arts of philosophy and rhetoric, so they could become
accomplished politicians or lawyers
The stages here roughly correspond to what we might see as primary, secondary and
tertiary (university or college) education. The first process of learning basic skills normally
lasted until the children were about ten years old. Generally speaking, secondary
education might have been provided until the age of sixteen or so. If boys went on to
study rhetoric, they might well also go to a city such as Athens, where specialist teachers
could give them the best training possible. Here you can see pictures of two famous
schools in Athens.
On the left are the forlorn remains of the

Academy, founded by the philosopher
Plato. This can be regarded as the world's
first university. It is sad to see such an
important site in such a poor state today.
On the right here are the equally

unimpressive remains of the former
Lyceum, the great school founded by his
student Aristotle.
63
For girls, the whole process was different. It was in everybody's interests for girls to be
able to read and write, so they may well have been educated at the primary stages in the
same way as boys. After that, not all parents saw an equal value in their daughters
learning to study literature, so many girls saw their formal education split away from that
of their brothers at some point after their tenth birthday. We have no evidence at all that
many girls were ever educated by the rhetor, the teacher of rhetoric. After all, why should
they be? Women played no part in the politics of Rome, so there was no need to spend
time and money in educating them to speak in the courts or in the forum.
The truth is, you see, that women and men have not been regarded as equal in society
until very recent times. In most parts of Europe, women had no political rights until the
1920s, which included the right to vote as well as the right to hold political office.
The Roman world of two thousand years ago was no more and no less backward than
Victorian England in its attitude to women. Whether we approve of this or not, it makes no
difference: attitudes to women throughout history have always been unfair and it is only
in recent times that we are emerging from this.
So when Hadrian and his sister grew up, there must have been occasions when they were
educated together, as well as ones when they were separated. Women had to learn the
skills of household management, including food preparation, overseeing the domestic
staff, running a budget, working on a loom and other chores. In many cases they were
married very young, by arrangements made between families and by the age of fifteen,
they may well have been getting ready to have children themselves.
By contrast, boys did not normally get married until they were much older. They had to
build their careers, which normally meant school until the age of twenty or so, followed by
military service in a legion somewhere in the far-off empire. First they learned the skills of
the politician and then those of a soldier: such was the Roman way.
Life isn’t all just playing

games.
64
sine qua non
adsum, adesse, adfui I am present, am here

amicus, amici, m friend
amo, amare, amavi, amatum I love
ave (s), avete (pl) hello
bellus, bella, bellum pretty
bene well
fluo, fluere, fluxi, fluxum I flow
igitur therefore
modestus, modesta, modestum shy
mordeo, mordere, momordi, morsum I bite
multus, multa, multum much, many
placeo, placere, placui, placitum (+ dative) I please
quid agis/agitis? how are you?
respondeo, respondere, respondi, responsum I reply
rursus again
sanguis, sanguinis, m blood
sed but
stabulum, stabuli, n stable
sum, esse, fui I am
vulneratus, vulnerata, vulneratum wounded
Pronouns
You can learn the full table as it appears below, or if you prefer, just learn each pronoun
as it appears in the vocabulary listings, eg:
ego, me, mei, mihi, me I, me

tu, te, tui, tibi, te you (s)
nos, nos, nostrum, nobis, nobis we, us
vos, vos, vestrum, vobis, vobis you (pl)
1st person 1st person 2nd person 2nd person

pronouns Latin pronouns English pronouns Latin pronouns English
Nominative Singular ego I tu You (subject)
Accusative Singular me me te You (object)
Genitive Singular mei of me, my tui of you, your
Dative Singular mihi to me, for me tibi to you, for you
Ablative Singular me by me, with me, te by you, with you,
from me from you
Nominative Plural nos we vos You (subject)

Accusative Plural nos us vos You (object)
Genitive Plural nostrum of us, our vestrum of you, your
Dative Plural nobis to us, for us vobis to you, for you
Ablative Plural nobis by us, with us, vobis by you, with you,
from us from you
65
Latin to English Vocabulary
a, ab (+ ablative) from, away from 7 Preposition

ab, a (+ ablative) away from, from 7 Preposition
ad (+ accusative) to, towards 5 Preposition
adsum, adesse, adfui I am present, am here 6 Verb Irregular
aeger, aegra, aegrum ill 3 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
Afer, Afri, m Afer 1 Noun Declension 2
ager, agri, m field 2 Noun Declension 2
ago, agere, egi, actum I do, act 5 Verb Conjugation 3
Alexander, Alexandri, m Alexander 8 Noun Declension 2
amicus, amici, m friend 10 Noun Declension 2
amo, amare, amavi, amatum I love 10 Verb Conjugation 1
amphitheatrum, amphitheatri, n amphitheatre 6 Noun Declension 2
ancilla, ancillae, f maidservant 5 Noun Declension 1
Anna, Annae, f Anna 5 Noun Declension 1
aper, apri, m boar 6 Noun Declension 2
aperio, aperire, aperui, apertum I open 6 Verb Conjugation 4
aqua, aquae, f water 6 Noun Declension 1
asinus, asini, m donkey 2 Noun Declension 2
Athenae, Athenarum, f pl Athens 7 Noun (plural) Declension 1
audio, audire, audivi, auditum I hear 5 Verb Conjugation 4
ave (s), avete (pl) hello 5 Phrase
avunculus, avunculi, m uncle 6 Noun Declension 2
bellum, belli, n war 8 Noun Declension 2
bellus, bella, bellum pretty 10 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
bene well 7 Adverb
benignus, benigna, benignum kindly 5 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
bonus, bona, bonum good 9 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
Bucephalus, Bucephali, m Bucephalus 7 Noun Declension 2
cado, cadere, cecidi, casum I fall 7 Verb Conjugation 3
capio, capere, cepi, captum I take, capture 8 Verb Conjugation 3/4
Carthago, Carthaginis, f Carthage 6 Noun Declension 3
carus, cara, carum dear 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
casa, casae, f house 2 Noun Declension 1
celer, celeris, celere quick 8 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
celeriter quickly 7 Adverb
cibus, cibi, m food 6 Noun Declension 2
civis, civis, c citizen 6 Noun Declension 3
clamo, clamare, clamavi, clamatum I shout 3 Verb Conjugation 1
clamor, clamoris, m shouting 7 Noun Declension 3
commotus, commota, commotum upset 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
conscendo, conscendere, conscendi, conscensum I mount 7 Verb Conjugation 3
consobrinus, consobrini, m cousin 5 Noun Declension 2
cor, cordis, n heart 4 Noun Declension 3
corpus, corporis, n body, corpse 4 Noun Declension 3
cubiculum, cubiculi, n bedroom 7 Noun Declension 2
culina, culinae, f kitchen 2 Noun Declension 1
cupio, cupere, cupivi, cupitum I desire 5 Verb Conjugation 3/4
cur why 3 Interrogative particle
curo, curare, curavi, curatum I look after, care for 5 Verb Conjugation 1
de (+ ablative) about, down from 7 Preposition
debeo, debere, debui, debitum I ought, must, owe 6 Verb Conjugation 2
deinde then 5 Adverb
descendo, descendere, descendi, descensum I descend 7 Verb Conjugation 3
desidero, desiderare, desideravi, desideratum I miss, long for 3 Verb Conjugation 1
devoro, devorare, devoravi, devoratum I devour, eat 9 Verb Conjugation 1
dico, dicere, dixi, dictum I say 5 Verb Conjugation 3
difficile est (+dative) it is difficult 9 Verb Impersonal
difficilis, difficilis, difficile difficult 7 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
difficultas, difficultatis, f difficulty 7 Noun Declension 3
disco, discere, didici I learn 9 Verb Conjugation 3
diu for a long time 3 Adverb
diutius any longer, for a longer time 5 Comparative adverb
do, dare, dedi, datum I give 6 Verb Conjugation 1
dominus, domini, m master 5 Noun Declension 2
Domitia, Domitiae, f Domitia 1 Noun Declension 1
dormio, dormire, dormivi, dormitum I sleep 7 Verb Conjugation 4
66
duco, ducere, duxi, ductum I lead, bring 5 Verb Conjugation 3
e, ex (+ ablative) from, out of 7 Preposition
ego, me, mei, mihi, me I 10 Pronoun
eo, ire, ii, itum I go 10 Verb Irregular
equito, equitare, equitavi, equitatum I ride 7 Verb Conjugation 1
equus, equi, m horse 7 Noun Declension 2
est is 1 Verb Verb to be
et and 1 Conjunction
ex, e (+ ablative) out of, from 7 Preposition
excito, excitare, excitavi, excitatum I wake up 7 Verb Conjugation 1
exspecto, exspectare, exspectavi, exspectatum I wait for 10 Verb Conjugation 1
familia, familiae, f family 1 Noun Declension 1
febris, febris, f fever 4 Noun Declension 3
feles, felis, f cat 2 Noun Declension 3
femina, feminae, f woman 5 Noun Declension 1
fero, ferre, tuli, latum I carry, bear 6 Verb Irregular
ferox, ferox, ferox (stem feroc-) fierce 8 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
fessus, fessa, fessum tired 3 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
filia, filiae, f daughter 2 Noun Declension 1
filius, filii, m son 1 Noun Declension 2
fleo, flere, flevi, fletum I weep 3 Verb Conjugation 2
fluo, fluere, fluxi, fluxum I flow 7 Verb Conjugation 3
fortis, fortis, forte strong, brave 7 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
fractus, fracta, fractum broken 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
frater, fratris, m brother 5 Noun Declension 3
frenum, freni, n bridle, reins (plural) 7 Noun Declension 2
Gades, Gadum, f pl Cadiz 3 Noun (plural) Declension 3
gladiator, gladiatoris, m gladiator 6 Noun Declension 3
Graecus, Graeca, Graecum Greek 9 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
gratias (tibi) ago I thank (you) 6 Phrase
habeo, habere, habui, habitum I have 4 Verb Conjugation 2
habito, habitare, habitavi, habitatum I live 1 Verb Conjugation 1
Hadrianus, Hadriani, m Hadrian 1 Noun Declension 2
Hannibal, Hannibalis, m Hannibal 6 Noun Declension 3
Hispania, Hispaniae, f Spain 1 Noun Declension 1
Homerus, Homeri, m Homer 9 Noun Declension 2
huc here, to this place 5 Adverb
iaceo, iacere, iacui, iacitum I lie 8 Verb Conjugation 2
iam now 10 Adverb
ianua, ianuae, f door 5 Noun Declension 1
igitur therefore 10 Adverb
imperator, imperatoris, m emperor 6 Noun Declension 3
in (+ ablative) in, on 1 Preposition
in (+ accusative) into, onto 6 Preposition
inquit he/she says 5 Verb Irregular
intellego, intellegere, intellexi, intellectum I understand 5 Verb Conjugation 3
intro, intrare, intravi, intratum I enter 5 Verb Conjugation 1
invito, invitare, invitavi, invitatum I invite 8 Verb Conjugation 1
iratus, irata, iratum angry 9 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
Italica, Italicae, f Italica, a town in Spain 2 Noun Declension 1
iubeo, iubere, iussi, iussum I order 5 Verb Conjugation 2
iuvo, iuvare, iuvi, iutum I help 4 Verb Conjugation 1
laetus, laeta, laetum happy 3 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
laudo, laudare, laudavi, laudatum I praise 4 Verb Conjugation 1
lego, legere, legi, lectum I read 8 Verb Conjugation 3
liber, liberi, m child 2 Noun Declension 2
littera, litterae, f letter, literature (pl) 9 Noun Declension 1
loco, locare, locavi, locatum I place 4 Verb Conjugation 1
Lucius, Lucii, m Lucius 10 Noun Declension 2
ludus, ludi, m game, school 6 Noun Declension 2
magister, magistri, m master, teacher 9 Noun Declension 2
magnificus, magnifica, magnificum magnificent 5 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
magnopere greatly, much 10 Adverb
magnus, magna, magnum great 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
maneo, manere, mansi, mansum I remain, stay 4 Verb Conjugation 2
Marciana, Marcianae, f Marciana 10 Noun Declension 1
mare, maris, n sea 3 Noun Declension 3
maritus, mariti, m husband 6 Noun Declension 2
67
Matidia, Matidiae, f Matidia 10 Noun Declension 1
mater, matris, f mother 1 Noun Declension 3
mecum with me 5 Pronoun
memoria, memoriae, f memory 6 Noun Declension 1
memoro, memorare, memoravi, memoratum I remember 7 Verb Conjugation 1
mensa, mensae, f table 8 Noun Declension 1
meus, mea, meum my, mine 6 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
milito, militare, militavi, militatum I serve in the army 9 Verb Conjugation 1
miser, misera, miserum sad, miserable 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
mitto, mittere, misi, missum I send 5 Verb Conjugation 3
modestus, modesta, modestum shy 10 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
mordeo, mordere, momordi, morsum I bite 4 Verb Conjugation 2
mortuus, mortua, mortuum dead 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
multus, multa, multum much, many 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
murus, muri, m wall 8 Noun Declension 2
narro, narrare, narravi, narratum I tell 9 Verb Conjugation 1
necesse est (+dative) it is necessary 9 Verb Impersonal
neco, necare, necavi, necatum I kill 8 Verb Conjugation 1
nemo, neminis, c nobody 4 Noun Declension 3
nihil nothing 4 Noun Indeclinable
noli/nolite + infinitive don't 5 Verb Imperative form
nolo, nolle, nolui I do not want 5 Verb Irregular
nomen, nominis, n name 7 Noun Declension 3
non not 3 Adverb
nonne...? surely...? (expects “yes”) 6 Interrogative particle
nos, nos, nostrum, nobis, nobis we 10 Pronoun
novus, nova, novum new 10 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
O O 8 Exclamation Takes vocative
omnis, omnis, omne all 4 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
optimus, optima, optimum best 3 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
ostendo, ostendere, ostendi, ostentum I show 6 Verb Conjugation 3
panis, panis, m bread 6 Noun Declension 3
parvus, parva, parvum small 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
pater, patris, m father 1 Noun Declension 3
Paulina, Paulinae, f Paulina 1 Noun Declension 1
periculosus, periculosa, periculosum dangerous 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
pessimus, pessima, pessimum worst 7 Superlative adjective Declension 2-1-2
placeo, placere, placui, placitum (+ dative) I please 6 Verb Conjugation 2
placet (+ dative) it pleases 6 Verb Impersonal
Plotina, Plotinae, f Plotina 5 Noun Declension 1
poeta, poetae, m poet 9 Noun Declension 1
populus, populi, m people 6 Noun Declension 2
post (+ accusative) after 8 Preposition
praetor, praetoris, m president of games, praetor 6 Noun Declension 3
prope (+ accusative) near 4 Preposition
provincia, provinciae, f province 1 Noun Declension 1
puella, puellae, f girl 2 Noun Declension 1
puer, pueri, m boy 1 Noun Declension 2
quid agis/agitis? how are you? 5 Phrase
quis, quis, quid who, what 4 Interrogative pronoun
quod because 3 Conjunction
quoque also 5 Adverb
rego, regere, rexi, rectum I rule 5 Verb Conjugation 3
reperio, reperire, repperi, reppertum I find 5 Verb Conjugation 4
respondeo, respondere, respondi, responsum I reply 4 Verb Conjugation 2
rideo, ridere, risi, risum I smile, laugh 3 Verb Conjugation 2
rogo, rogare, rogavi, rogatum I ask 3 Verb Conjugation 1
Roma, Romae, f Rome 1 Noun Declension 1
Romanus, Romana, Romanum Roman 1 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
rursus again 8 Adverb
Sabina, Sabinae, f Sabina 10 Noun Declension 1
Sabinus, Sabini, m Sabinus 10 Noun Declension 2
sanguis, sanguinis, m blood 7 Noun Declension 3
sed but 7 Conjunction
sedeo, sedere, sedi, sessum I sit 3 Verb Conjugation 2
sella, sellae, f chair 6 Noun Declension 1
semper always 7 Adverb
senator, senatoris, m senator 1 Noun Declension 3
68
sepulcrum, sepulcri, n tomb 4 Noun Declension 2
servus, servi, m slave 6 Noun Declension 2
si if 4 Conjunction
silentium, silentii, n silence 8 Noun Declension 2
sollicitus, sollicita, sollicitum worried 8 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
solus, sola, solum alone 4 Adjective Irregular
somnium, somnii, n dream 6 Noun Declension 2
soror, sororis, f sister 1 Noun Declension 3
specto, spectare, spectavi, spectatum I look at, watch 4 Verb Conjugation 1
stabulum, stabuli, n stable 7 Noun Declension 2
sto, stare, steti, statum I stand 3 Verb Conjugation 1
stultus, stulta, stultum stupid 6 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
sum, esse, fui I am 1 Verb Irregular
sunt are 2 Verb Verb to be
taceo, tacere, tacui, tacitum I am silent 3 Verb Conjugation 2
tam so 6 Adverb
tandem at last 7 Adverb
taurus, tauri, m bull 6 Noun Declension 2
tempero, temperare, temperavi, temperatum I control 7 Verb Conjugation 1
teneo, tenere, tenui, tentum I hold 4 Verb Conjugation 2
terra, terrae, f earth, land 4 Noun Declension 1
terreo, terrere, terrui, territum I terrify 4 Verb Conjugation 2
territus, territa, territum frightened 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
timeo, timere, timui I fear, am afraid 4 Verb Conjugation 2
Traianus, Traiani, m Trajan 5 Noun Declension 2
tristis, tristis, triste sad 3 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
tu, te, tui, tibi, te you (singular) 5 Pronoun
ubi where, when 8 Conjunction
umbra, umbrae, f shade, shadow 3 Noun Declension 1
urbs, urbis, f city 8 Noun Declension 3
urgeo, urgere, ursi I urge 3 Verb Conjugation 2
ursa, ursae, f bear 6 Noun Declension 1
uxor, uxoris, f wife 1 Noun Declension 3
venatio, venationis, f hunt 7 Noun Declension 3
venator, venatoris, m hunter 6 Noun Declension 3
venio, venire, veni, ventum I come 5 Verb Conjugation 4
via, viae, f road, street 4 Noun Declension 1
Vibia, Vibiae, f Vibia 10 Noun Declension 1
Vibius, Vibii, m Vibius 10 Noun Declension 2
video, videre, vidi, visum I see 4 Verb Conjugation 2
villa, villae, f house 5 Noun Declension 1
visito, visitare, visitavi, visitatum I visit 3 Verb Conjugation 1
voco, vocare, vocavi, vocatum I call 3 Verb Conjugation 1
vos, vos, vestrum, vobis, vobis you (plural) 10 Pronoun
vox, vocis, f voice 7 Noun Declension 3
vulneratus, vulnerata, vulneratum wounded 10 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
69
English to Latin Vocabulary
about, down from de (+ ablative) 7 Preposition

I act, do ago, agere, egi, actum 5 Verb Conjugation 3
Afer Afer, Afri, m 1 Noun Declension 2
I am afraid, fear timeo, timere, timui 4 Verb Conjugation 2
after post (+ accusative) 8 Preposition
again rursus 8 Adverb
Alexander Alexander, Alexandri, m 8 Noun Declension 2
all omnis, omnis, omne 4 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
alone solus, sola, solum 4 Adjective Irregular
also quoque 5 Adverb
always semper 7 Adverb
I am sum, esse, fui 1 Verb Irregular
amphitheatre amphitheatrum, amphitheatri, n 6 Noun Declension 2
and et 1 Conjunction
angry iratus, irata, iratum 9 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
Anna Anna, Annae, f 5 Noun Declension 1
they are sunt 2 Verb Verb to be
I serve in the army milito, militare, militavi, militatum 9 Verb Conjugation 1
I ask rogo, rogare, rogavi, rogatum 3 Verb Conjugation 1
at last tandem 7 Adverb
Athens Athenae, Athenarum, f pl 7 Noun (plural) Declension 1
away from, from ab, a (+ ablative) 7 Preposition
bear ursa, ursae, f 6 Noun Declension 1
I bear, carry fero, ferre, tuli, latum 6 Verb Irregular
because quod 3 Conjunction
bedroom cubiculum, cubiculi, n 7 Noun Declension 2
best optimus, optima, optimum 3 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
I bite mordeo, mordere, momordi, morsum 4 Verb Conjugation 2
blood sanguis, sanguinis, m 7 Noun Declension 3
boar aper, apri, m 6 Noun Declension 2
body, corpse corpus, corporis, n 4 Noun Declension 3
boy puer, pueri, m 1 Noun Declension 2
bread panis, panis, m 6 Noun Declension 3
bridle, reins (plural) frenum, freni, n 7 Noun Declension 2
I bring, lead duco, ducere, duxi, ductum 5 Verb Conjugation 3
broken fractus, fracta, fractum 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
brother frater, fratris, m 5 Noun Declension 3
Bucephalus Bucephalus, Bucephali, m 7 Noun Declension 2
bull taurus, tauri, m 6 Noun Declension 2
but sed 7 Conjunction
Cadiz Gades, Gadum, f pl 3 Noun (plural) Declension 3
I call voco, vocare, vocavi, vocatum 3 Verb Conjugation 1
I capture, take capio, capere, cepi, captum 8 Verb Conjugation 3/4
I care for, look after curo, curare, curavi, curatum 5 Verb Conjugation 1
I carry, bear fero, ferre, tuli, latum 6 Verb Irregular
Carthage Carthago, Carthaginis, f 6 Noun Declension 3
cat feles, felis, f 2 Noun Declension 3
chair sella, sellae, f 6 Noun Declension 1
child liber, liberi, m 2 Noun Declension 2
citizen civis, civis, c 6 Noun Declension 3
city urbs, urbis, f 8 Noun Declension 3
I come venio, venire, veni, ventum 5 Verb Conjugation 4
I control tempero, temperare, temperavi, temperatum 7 Verb Conjugation 1
corpse, body corpus, corporis, n 4 Noun Declension 3
cousin consobrinus, consobrini, m 5 Noun Declension 2
dangerous periculosus, periculosa, periculosum 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
daughter filia, filiae, f 2 Noun Declension 1
dead mortuus, mortua, mortuum 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
dear carus, cara, carum 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
I descend descendo, descendere, descendi, descensum 7 Verb Conjugation 3
I desire cupio, cupere, cupivi, cupitum 5 Verb Conjugation 3/4
I devour, eat devoro, devorare, devoravi, devoratum 9 Verb Conjugation 1
difficult difficilis, difficilis, difficile 7 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
it is difficult difficile est (+dative) 9 Verb Impersonal
difficulty difficultas, difficultatis, f 7 Noun Declension 3
I do not want nolo, nolle, nolui 5 Verb Irregular
70
I do, act ago, agere, egi, actum 5 Verb Conjugation 3
Domitia, Domitiae, f Domitia 1 Noun Declension 1
don't noli/nolite + infinitive 5 Verb Imperative form
donkey asinus, asini, m 2 Noun Declension 2
door ianua, ianuae, f 5 Noun Declension 1
down from, about de (+ ablative) 7 Preposition
dream somnium, somnii, n 6 Noun Declension 2
earth, land terra, terrae, f 4 Noun Declension 1
I eat, devour devoro, devorare, devoravi, devoratum 9 Verb Conjugation 1
emperor imperator, imperatoris, m 6 Noun Declension 3
I enter intro, intrare, intravi, intratum 5 Verb Conjugation 1
I fall cado, cadere, cecidi, casum 7 Verb Conjugation 3
family familia, familiae, f 1 Noun Declension 1
father pater, patris, m 1 Noun Declension 3
I fear, am afraid timeo, timere, timui 4 Verb Conjugation 2
fever febris, febris, f 4 Noun Declension 3
field ager, agri, m 2 Noun Declension 2
fierce ferox, ferox, ferox (stem feroc-) 8 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
I find reperio, reperire, repperi, reppertum 5 Verb Conjugation 4
I flow fluo, fluere, fluxi, fluxum 7 Verb Conjugation 3
food cibus, cibi, m 6 Noun Declension 2
for a long time diu 3 Adverb
friend amicus, amici, m 10 Noun Declension 2
frightened territus, territa, territum 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
from, away from a, ab (+ ablative) 7 Preposition
from, out of e, ex (+ ablative) 7 Preposition
game, school ludus, ludi, m 6 Noun Declension 2
girl puella, puellae, f 2 Noun Declension 1
I give do, dare, dedi, datum 6 Verb Conjugation 1
gladiator gladiator, gladiatoris, m 6 Noun Declension 3
I go eo, ire, ii, itum 10 Verb Irregular
good bonus, bona, bonum 9 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
great magnus, magna, magnum 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
greatly, much magnopere 10 Adverb
Greek Graecus, Graeca, Graecum 9 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
Hadrian Hadrianus, Hadriani, m 1 Noun Declension 2
Hannibal Hannibal, Hannibalis, m 6 Noun Declension 3
happy laetus, laeta, laetum 3 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
I have habeo, habere, habui, habitum 4 Verb Conjugation 2
he/she says inquit 5 Verb Irregular
I hear audio, audire, audivi, auditum 5 Verb Conjugation 4
heart cor, cordis, n 4 Noun Declension 3
hello ave (s), avete (pl) 5 Phrase
I help iuvo, iuvare, iuvi, iutum 4 Verb Conjugation 1
I am here, am present adsum, adesse, adfui 6 Verb Irregular
here, to this place huc 5 Adverb
I hold teneo, tenere, tenui, tentum 4 Verb Conjugation 2
Homer Homerus, Homeri, m 9 Noun Declension 2
horse equus, equi, m 7 Noun Declension 2
house casa, casae, f 2 Noun Declension 1
house villa, villae, f 5 Noun Declension 1
how are you? quid agis/agitis? 5 Phrase
hunt venatio, venationis, f 7 Noun Declension 3
hunter venator, venatoris, m 6 Noun Declension 3
husband maritus, mariti, m 6 Noun Declension 2
I ego, me, mei, mihi, me 10 Pronoun
if si 4 Conjunction
ill aeger, aegra, aegrum 3 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
in, on in (+ ablative) 1 Preposition
into, onto in (+ accusative) 6 Preposition
I invite invito, invitare, invitavi, invitatum 8 Verb Conjugation 1
is est 1 Verb Verb to be
Italica, a town in Spain Italica, Italicae, f 2 Noun Declension 1
I kill neco, necare, necavi, necatum 8 Verb Conjugation 1
kindly benignus, benigna, benignum 5 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
kitchen culina, culinae, f 2 Noun Declension 1
land, earth terra, terrae, f 4 Noun Declension 1
at last tandem 7 Adverb
71
I laugh, smile rideo, ridere, risi, risum 3 Verb Conjugation 2
I lead, bring duco, ducere, duxi, ductum 5 Verb Conjugation 3
I learn disco, discere, didici 9 Verb Conjugation 3
letter, literature (pl) littera, litterae, f 9 Noun Declension 1
I lie iaceo, iacere, iacui, iacitum 8 Verb Conjugation 2
literature (pl) litterae, litterarum, f pl 9 Noun Declension 1
I live habito, habitare, habitavi, habitatum 1 Verb Conjugation 1
I long for, miss desidero, desiderare, desideravi, desideratum 3 Verb Conjugation 1
for a long time diu 4 Adverb
any longer, for a longer time diutius 5 Comparative adverb
I look after, care for curo, curare, curavi, curatum 5 Verb Conjugation 1
I look at, watch specto, spectare, spectavi, spectatum 4 Verb Conjugation 1
I love amo, amare, amavi, amatum 10 Verb Conjugation 1
Lucius Lucius, Lucii, m 10 Noun Declension 2
magnificent magnificus, magnifica, magnificum 5 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
maidservant ancilla, ancillae, f 5 Noun Declension 1
many, much multus, multa, multum 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
Marciana Marciana, Marcianae, f 10 Noun Declension 1
master dominus, domini, m 5 Noun Declension 2
master, teacher magister, magistri, m 9 Noun Declension 2
Matidia Matidia, Matidiae, f 10 Noun Declension 1
me, I ego, me, mei, mihi, me 10 Pronoun
memory memoria, memoriae, f 6 Noun Declension 1
mine, my meus, mea, meum 6 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
miserable, sad miser, misera, miserum 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
I miss, long for desidero, desiderare, desideravi, desideratum 3 Verb Conjugation 1
mother mater, matris, f 1 Noun Declension 3
I mount conscendo, conscendere, conscendi, conscensum 7 Verb Conjugation 3
much, greatly magnopere 10 Adverb
much, many multus, multa, multum 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
I must, ought, owe debeo, debere, debui, debitum 6 Verb Conjugation 2
my, mine meus, mea, meum 6 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
name nomen, nominis, n 7 Noun Declension 3
near prope (+ accusative) 4 Preposition
it is necessary necesse est (+dative) 9 Verb Impersonal
new novus, nova, novum 10 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
nobody nemo, neminis, c 4 Noun Declension 3
not non 3 Adverb
nothing nihil 4 Noun Indeclinable
now iam 10 Adverb
O O 8 Exclamation Takes vocative
on, in in (+ ablative) 1 Preposition
onto, into in (+ accusative) 6 Preposition
I open aperio, aperire, aperui, apertum 6 Verb Conjugation 4
I order iubeo, iubere, iussi, iussum 5 Verb Conjugation 2
I ought, must, owe debeo, debere, debui, debitum 6 Verb Conjugation 2
out of, from ex, e (+ ablative) 7 Preposition
I owe, ought, must debeo, debere, debui, debitum 6 Verb Conjugation 2
Paulina Paulina, Paulinae, f 1 Noun Declension 1
people populus, populi, m 6 Noun Declension 2
I place loco, locare, locavi, locatum 4 Verb Conjugation 1
I please placeo, placere, placui, placitum (+ dative) 6 Verb Conjugation 2
it pleases placet (+dative) 6 Verb Impersonal
Plotina Plotina, Plotinae, f 5 Noun Declension 1
poet poeta, poetae, m 9 Noun Declension 1
praetor, president of games praetor, praetoris, m 6 Noun Declension 3
I praise laudo, laudare, laudavi, laudatum 4 Verb Conjugation 1
I am present, am here adsum, adesse, adfui 6 Verb Irregular
president of games, praetor praetor, praetoris, m 6 Noun Declension 3
pretty bellus, bella, bellum 10 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
province provincia, provinciae, f 1 Noun Declension 1
quick celer, celeris, celere 8 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
quickly celeriter 7 Adverb
I read lego, legere, legi, lectum 8 Verb Conjugation 3
reins (plural), bridle frena, frenorum, n pl 7 Noun Declension 2
I remain, stay maneo, manere, mansi, mansum 4 Verb Conjugation 2
I remember memoro, memorare, memoravi, memoratum 7 Verb Conjugation 1
I reply respondeo, respondere, respondi, responsum 4 Verb Conjugation 2
72
I ride equito, equitare, equitavi, equitatum 7 Verb Conjugation 1
road, street via, viae, f 4 Noun Declension 1
Roman Romanus, Romana, Romanum 1 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
Rome Roma, Romae, f 1 Noun Declension 1
I rule rego, regere, rexi, rectum 5 Verb Conjugation 3
Sabina Sabina, Sabinae, f 10 Noun Declension 1
Sabinus Sabinus, Sabini, m 10 Noun Declension 2
sad, miserable miser, misera, miserum 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
sad tristis, tristis, triste 3 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
I say dico, dicere, dixi, dictum 5 Verb Conjugation 3
school, game ludus, ludi, m 6 Noun Declension 2
sea mare, maris, n 3 Noun Declension 3
I see video, videre, vidi, visum 4 Verb Conjugation 2
senator senator, senatoris, m 1 Noun Declension 3
I send mitto, mittere, misi, missum 5 Verb Conjugation 3
I serve in the army milito, militare, militavi, militatum 9 Verb Conjugation 1
shade, shadow umbra, umbrae, f 3 Noun Declension 1
she/he says inquit 5 Verb Irregular
I shout clamo, clamare, clamavi, clamatum 3 Verb Conjugation 1
shouting clamor, clamoris, m 7 Noun Declension 3
I show ostendo, ostendere, ostendi, ostentum 6 Verb Conjugation 3
shy modestus, modesta, modestum 10 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
silence silentium, silentii, n 8 Noun Declension 2
I am silent taceo, tacere, tacui, tacitum 3 Verb Conjugation 2
sister soror, sororis, f 1 Noun Declension 3
I sit sedeo, sedere, sedi, sessum 3 Verb Conjugation 2
slave servus, servi, m 6 Noun Declension 2
I sleep dormio, dormire, dormivi, dormitum 7 Verb Conjugation 4
small parvus, parva, parvum 7 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
I smile, laugh rideo, ridere, risi, risum 3 Verb Conjugation 2
so tam 6 Adverb
son filius, filii, m 1 Noun Declension 2
Spain Hispania, Hispaniae, f 1 Noun Declension 1
stable stabulum, stabuli, n 7 Noun Declension 2
I stand sto, stare, steti, statum 3 Verb Conjugation 1
I stay, remain maneo, manere, mansi, mansum 4 Verb Conjugation 2
street, road via, viae, f 4 Noun Declension 1
strong, brave fortis, fortis, forte 7 Adjective Declension 3-3-3
stupid stultus, stulta, stultum 6 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
surely...? (expects “yes”) nonne...? 6 Interrogative particle
table mensa, mensae, f 8 Noun Declension 1
I take, capture capio, capere, cepi, captum 8 Verb Conjugation 3/4
teacher, master magister, magistri, m 9 Noun Declension 2
I tell narro, narrare, narravi, narratum 9 Verb Conjugation 1
I terrify terreo, terrere, terrui, territum 4 Verb Conjugation 2
I thank (you) gratias (tibi) ago 6 Phrase
then deinde 5 Adverb
therefore igitur 10 Adverb
tired fessus, fessa, fessum 3 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
to this place, here huc 5 Adverb
to, towards ad (+ accusative) 5 Preposition
tomb sepulcrum, sepulcri, n 4 Noun Declension 2
towards, to ad (+ accusative) 5 Preposition
Trajan Traianus, Traiani, m 5 Noun Declension 2
uncle avunculus, avunculi, m 6 Noun Declension 2
I understand intellego, intellegere, intellexi, intellectum 5 Verb Conjugation 3
upset commotus, commota, commotum 4 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
I urge urgeo, urgere, ursi 3 Verb Conjugation 2
us nos, nos, nostrum, nobis, nobis 10 Pronoun
Vibia Vibia, Vibiae, f 10 Noun Declension 1
Vibius Vibius, Vibii, m 10 Noun Declension 2
I visit visito, visitare, visitavi, visitatum 3 Verb Conjugation 1
voice vox, vocis, f 7 Noun Declension 3
I wait for exspecto, exspectare, exspectavi, exspectatum 10 Verb Conjugation 1
I wake up excito, excitare, excitavi, excitatum 7 Verb Conjugation 1
wall murus, muri, m 8 Noun Declension 2
I do not want nolo, nolle, nolui 5 Verb Irregular
war bellum, belli, n 8 Noun Declension 2
73
I watch, look at specto, spectare, spectavi, spectatum 4 Verb Conjugation 1
water aqua, aquae, f 6 Noun Declension 1
we nos, nos, nostrum, nobis, nobis 10 Pronoun
I weep fleo, flere, flevi, fletum 3 Verb Conjugation 2
well bene 7 Adverb
what (n), who (m, f) quis, quis, quid 4 Interrogative pronoun
when, where ubi 8 Conjunction
where, when ubi 8 Conjunction
who (m, f), what (n) quis, quis, quid 4 Interrogative pronoun
why cur 3 Interrogative particle
wife uxor, uxoris, f 1 Noun Declension 3
with me mecum 5 Pronoun phrase
woman femina, feminae, f 5 Noun Declension 1
worried sollicitus, sollicita, sollicitum 8 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
worst pessimus, pessima, pessimum 7 Superlative adjective Declension 2-1-2
wounded vulneratus, vulnerata, vulneratum 10 Adjective Declension 2-1-2
you (plural) vos, vos, vestrum, vobis, vobis 10 Pronoun
you (singular) tu, te, tui, tibi, te 5 Pronoun
74
ALSO AVAILABLE IN THE IMPERIUM LATIN COURSE
If you have enjoyed this book, why not have a look at what else is available our range?
Imperium Latin consists of three course books, a Grammar and Syntax Guide, the
Imperium Latin Puzzles book and a Latin Unseens collection for advanced users. All of
these can be ordered as printed books through Amazon but are also available as pdf files
in our Site Support Packs, which can be bought by schools. The three course books are
also available as free of charge downloadable pdf files from the TES Resources website.
There are Apps for iOS and Android, as well as MP3 files to support learning.
In addition to all the purchasable resources, there are other materials you can download
which are free of charge. These include practice tests, rough working sheets and planning
documents which may be useful to teachers.
Whether you are a teacher or a student, there is probably something for you on our
website. Have a delve around and see what you can find: www.imperiumlatin.com
75
PUZZLE BOOKS FROM J-PROGS
There are five puzzle books in our range, boasting 260 puzzles in all. These collections are
aimed at those who want to have some fun with the Latin and Greek languages they know
and love. All of the books feature solutions at the back for those who get stuck. Whether
you are a student or a teacher, you should be able to spend a good few hours relaxing and
enjoying these books.
Easy Latin Puzzles was written after compiling three lists of words commonly used in a
variety of Latin courses. It makes very limited use of word endings and includes a variety of
challenges, including sudokus, word searches, Latin to English crosswords and English to
Latin ones. The book features the full word lists at the back.
Tricky Latin Puzzles was written for students learning Latin today or for those to whom
the good old days beckon. These 50 crossword puzzles, sudokus, wordsearches and other
brainteasers should bring plenty of fun. It is aimed at those who have studied the
language for two or three years at least.
Easy Greek Puzzles was assembled from two short lists of words commonly used in a
variety of courses. It uses all five cases of noun, adjective and pronoun systems, as well as
the active indicative verb endings from the present, imperfect, aorist and future tenses. As
such, it is suitable for those who have studied the language for one year or longer. The 50
puzzles include sudokus, wordsearches, Greek to English crosswords and English to Greek ones.
Tricky Greek Puzzles was written for those whose command of ancient Greek may allow
them to enjoy its challenges - not for the faint-hearted. It includes 50 crosswords,
sudokus, wordsearches and other brainteasers and is aimed at those who have studied
the language for two or three years at least.
Imperium Latin Puzzles was written for those who follow the Imperium Latin Course but
could certainly be used by students of other courses. It contains 60 puzzles and features
sudokus, word searches, Latin to English crosswords and English to Latin ones.
The puzzle collections can be bought as books from Amazon or as downloadable files in
our Site Support Packs for schools.
For details on how to get your copies, see www.j-progs.com
76
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julian Morgan served as a teacher and a Head of Classics for many years in the UK, before
taking up a post in 2007 at the European School of Karlsruhe in Germany. Julian has
devoted his entire career to finding new, original ways of teaching Latin and Greek.
Julian has written many educational software titles and books in the last 25 years,
publishing many of these under the banner of his business, J-PROGS. He is well known in
Classics teaching circles for his teacher training activities, not least in directing courses for
the CIRCE Project, which has been part of the EU's Comenius programme since 2003. He
has served twice as a Council member of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers and
has also been a long-standing member on the Computing Applications Committee of the
American Classical League.
He can often be found walking his dogs in the Great Wold Valley of North Yorkshire, where he
lives.
You can find out more on Julian's Author Page: amazon.com/author/julianmorgan
77

Imperium Latin Book 1

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Imperium Latin Book 1

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This copy of Imperium Latin Book 1 has been

printed as a pdf file and is supplied free of

For advice or help, please email: julian@imperiumlatin.com

All photographs used in this book were taken by the Author,

This book is dedicated with much love to my wife Joka.

Chapter 1 The boy from Spain 1

Chapter 2 At home with Hadrian 7

Chapter 3 A visit to Cadiz 11

Chapter 4 The children alone 17

Chapter 5 At home with Trajan 24

Chapter 6 A trip to the Amphitheatre 33

Chapter 7 Hadrian's first horse 40

Chapter 8 The Hunt 47

Chapter 10 Girls and horses 59

Latin to English Vocabulary 66

English to Latin Vocabulary 70

About the Author 77

In learning Latin, it is important to master systems of vocabulary and grammar.

Ex. 1.1 Translate the following sentences into English.

Afer - Afer Paulina - Paulina

Always try to pay somebody a compliment at least once a day.

Paulina is a Roman wife.

There has to be a better way than this.

1. The first form of the noun is the Nominative form.

1st declension 2nd declension 3rd declension

All first declension nouns have a genitive singular ending in -ae.

These rules never ever change in Latin!

Afer, Afri, m - Afer 2

The future Roman emperor Hadrian

Afer was successful in politics and

Hadrian's mother was called Paulina,

Our more normal name for

familia, familiae, f family

Declension is the name given to a group of nouns.

Genitive endings in vocabulary listings:

Hispania est provincia

Afer est in casa.

sunt - they are

feles est Horatia.

The donkey is in the field = asinus est in agro.

Nominative puellae asini patres

Have a look at this map

puella - nominative plural puellae – 1st declension

The donkey of Afer is in

Hadrian's mother Paulina came from a town on the Atlantic

Plotina’s niece Matidia, seen on the right,

Even more of an influence perhaps, was Sabina, the daughter of

sine qua non

ager, agri, m field

Paulina Gades desiderat.

The town of Cadiz faces onto the Atlantic

I speak (English) parlo (Italian)

Question: what's a subject?

Subject of First conjugation Second conjugation

habetis you (plural) have

In this picture you can see the harbour

Famous Romans from Spain included the

If you go to Spain today, you will be

IMP CAESARI DIVI NERVAE F NERV

TRAIANO AUG GERM DACICO

IMPERATORI CAESARI DIVI NERVAE FILIO NERVAE

What do you think any of this means? (Answer below)

aeger, aegra, aegrum ill

Conjugation refers to a group of verbs.