XIII Familia Romana

Here you can discuss all things Latin. Use this board to ask questions about grammar, discuss learning strategies, get help with a difficult passage of Latin, and more.
Post Reply
totus.christus
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 3:06 pm

XIII Familia Romana

Post by totus.christus »

I have a quick question. I'll give the whole sentence I'm having an issue with so there is enough context. It's lines 65-68 in Famillia Romana, CAP. XIII: Sed 'idus Martiae' dies est quintus decimus mensis Martii, nam mense Martio (item Maio, Iulio, Octobri) idus non dies tertius decimus, sed quintus post decimus post kalendas est.

I'm having a hard time with "mense martio". I don't think it's ablative of time, and it doesn't look like "Martio" is functioning as an adjective, but translating it "in the month March" is awkward. I'm tempted to read it as "in the month of March", but Martio is a ablative, not genitive (Martii).

Any help would be great! Thanks.

adrianus
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 3270
Joined: Sun Sep 10, 2006 9:45 pm

Re: XIII Familia Romana

Post by adrianus »

Mars, Martis is a noun; Martius -a -um is an adjective from the noun. Translate "in the month of March (Mense Martio)". Latin isn't English so there isn't a word-for-word match.

Mars, martis nomen est; Martius -a -um adjectivum e nomine derivatum. Sic "mense martio" in sermones anglicos vertas: "in the month of March". Inter latinum et anglicum omne vocabulum non eodem modo traditur.
I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction, and not because I'm confident in how I express myself. Latinè scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar, non quod confidenter me exprimam.

User avatar
furrykef
Textkit Enthusiast
Posts: 370
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:18 am

Re: XIII Familia Romana

Post by furrykef »

To put it another way, it's literally "in the Martian month", except of course the word "Martian" brings to mind the planet much more easily than the god. ;)
Founder of Learning Languages Through Video Games.

Delirant isti romani!

gfross
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 9:08 am
Location: San Francisco, California

Re: XIII Familia Romana

Post by gfross »

totus.christus wrote:I have a quick question. I'll give the whole sentence I'm having an issue with so there is enough context. It's lines 65-68 in Famillia Romana, CAP. XIII: Sed 'idus Martiae' dies est quintus decimus mensis Martii, nam mense Martio (item Maio, Iulio, Octobri) idus non dies tertius decimus, sed quintus post decimus post kalendas est.

I'm having a hard time with "mense martio". I don't think it's ablative of time, and it doesn't look like "Martio" is functioning as an adjective, but translating it "in the month March" is awkward. I'm tempted to read it as "in the month of March", but Martio is a ablative, not genitive (Martii).

Any help would be great! Thanks.
I have found the Lingua Latina supplementary booklet Latine Disco Student's Manual very helpful in understanding more clearly just what's going on in each chapter.

Your question is answered in Chapter 13 of the booklet, on page 23: "The names of the months are adjectives: mensis Januarius, etc." The booklet also says, p. 25, that īdūs is feminine plural (4th declension) and that to this name the names of the months are added as adjectives, thus īdūs Martiae (nominative feminine plural).

totus.christus
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 3:06 pm

Re: XIII Familia Romana

Post by totus.christus »

Thanks for the help! I figured it was "the month of march", but wanted to understand the grammar more fully.

Post Reply