Iam primum omnium satis constat

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pmda
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Iam primum omnium satis constat

Post by pmda »

The first sentence of LLPSI Cap XLI is giving me some trouble:

Iam primum omnium satis constat Troia capta Aeneam domo profugum primo in Macedoniam venisse, inde in Siciliam
'Iam primum omnium satis constat' - Already it was clear above all else that, Troy having been captured, Aeneas having fled from home first arrived in Macedonia, from there to be left in Sicily, from Scily by ship to hold the district of Laurentia.

I'm a bit confused by the idiom 'Iam primum omnium satis constat' Now - at first - of all - clearly - certain?

What does it literally mean?

Qimmik
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Re: Iam primum omnium satis constat

Post by Qimmik »

iam primum omnium - now first of all [things]

satis constat - it is well [enough] established/agreed upon

Lewis and Short consto, see II B 2 b:

http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/phi ... isandshort

adrianus
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Re: Iam primum omnium satis constat

Post by adrianus »

As Qimmik says literally. Note that "jam primum" or "primum jam" typically will mean "to begin with" or "first of all", so "Jam primum omnium" might be translated "To begin at the beginning" or "Right at the start" or "Before anything else at all" (the very first words of Livy's Ab Urbe Condita).

Ut verbatim Qimmik vertit. Et nota bene "jam primum" (operis Livi Ab Urbe Conditâ prima verba) esse dictum commune.
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.

pmda
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Re: Iam primum omnium satis constat

Post by pmda »

Great, thanks. Slight technical question. Is 'primum' here an adjective or an adverb?

Qimmik
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Re: Iam primum omnium satis constat

Post by Qimmik »

Neuter accusative of an adjective used adverbially.

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