Fourth exercise (Livy 22.38.1)
[The year following the defeat at the Trasumene lake. Dissatisfaction with the policy of Fabius. The people have carried the election of one consul, Varro, the nobility of the other, Aemilius Paullus. The two are about to march out for the summer campaign.]“ContionesPossible meanings? Meeting, and speech made before a meeting. priusquamWhat meanings may follow, and by what constructions indicated? Action anticipated at the time of the main act, expressed by the subjunctive; or actual event, back of which the main act lies, expressed by the indicative. ab urbe signa moverenturWhat was the special shade of meaning in priusquam ... moverentur? That the contiones were held, or made, in anticipation of the expected marching. consulisWhat is it now clear that contiones means? Means speech, language. Varronis multae ac feroces fuere, denuntiantisBelongs with what? Consulis. Denuntiare means to make an announcement. How will the object be expressed if it is (a) a noun or pronoun? (b) a verb, conveying a statement of fact? (c) a verb, conveying action desired? (a> Accusative. (b) Infinitive. (c) Substantive final clause. bellumWhat construction occurs to you at once for bellum? Object of denuntiare. Is there any certainty that this is what Livy meant? No. What else may Livy have in mind? A subject or an object for an infinitive depending on denuntiantis. arcessitumWhat possibilities for arcessitum? Participle agreeing with bellum, or part of an infinitive perfect (with esse to come) or future (with iri to come) having bellum for its subject. inWhat case do you expect to find following, and why? Accusative, because arcessitum includes the idea of motion. Italiam ab nobilibus mansurumqueWhat is the only thing that you know surely about mansurum? That its construction is the same as that of arcessitum. inWhat case do you expect to find following, and why? Ablative, because mansurum includes the idea of rest. visceribus reipublicae, siWhat indication have you of the probable nature of the condition, and how will it be expressed? It looks as if it were the condition for mansurum. In that case it will be a future or future prefect from the past standpoint, expressed by the so-called imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive. plures Fabios imperatores haberet, seProbable construction of bellum and arcessitum, and grounds of your opinion? Se is acc. or abl. It cannot be abl. absolute, since it refers to the subject of the sentence; and it is probably not the ablative of source, for we are not likely to find a word meaning born of here. It is therefore probably accusative. In that case, bellum is either the subject or object of an active infinitive which we are to have, and of which se is object or subject. Arcessitum, which is passive, is therefore not an infinitive, but a participle; and, besides that, mansurum, which is in the same construction with arcessitum, is not transitive. quo dieWhere is the antecedent of quo die, and what do you know about it? Yet to come, and in some way connected with the coming infinitive which we have found to depend on denuntiantis. hostem vidissetMeaning of tense and mood? Future perfect from past point of view, in indirect discourse. perfecturum.What suspended constructions are now resolved? Perfecturum is infinitive, se is its subject, bellum its object, with attached participles arcessitum and mansurum, the latter having a future condition dependent upon it. Translate. ”
