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[Keesa]

This sentence has sort of stumped me. <br /><br />Amant oppidani Sextum et laudant, quod magna cum constantia pugnat. <br /><br />I translated it as "The townspeople love Sextus and praise him, because of his great constancy in battle," but why cum? "The townspeople love Sextus and praise him, because of his great constancy with battle"? It just doesn't make sense to me. <br /><br />(It's from Chapter Nine, by the way; I lost my Note to Self to ask about it, and only just found it. ;D) <br /><br />Thanks.

[bingley]

quod magna cum constantia pugnat<br /><br />quod = because<br /><br />magna = neuter plural accusative of magnus = great things<br /><br />cum constantia = ablative of manner: in what way he does it: with constancy, firmness, perseverance<br /><br />pugnat = 3rd singular active indicative = he fights<br /><br /> because he fights great battles with perseverance. <br /><br />According to M & F, cum is obligatory with the ablative of manner if the noun is not modified by an adjective, but optional if there is an adjective.

[tdominus]

I'd phrase it "because he fights with great constancy". cum applies to constantia, not to pugnat, which is, of course, a verb.

[Episcopus]

magna + constantia. <br /><br />Because he fights with great steadiness. <br />I wouldn't say in this case that magna is meant to be great things. In the book it is magná, if you see what I mean