Saturnalia- "cum se humeris"

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joels341
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Saturnalia- "cum se humeris"

Post by joels341 »

Salvete!

My book paraphrases a part of Macrobius' "Saturnalia", and I am having trouble with what the two instance of "se" is doing in this sentence. Also, "quia ei", I'm not sure of.

Ulcisci autem se Cicero videbatur, quia ei, cum se humeris civium ex exsilio reportatum esse dictitaret,.....

My attempt:
But Cicero seemed to be avenging himself,because for him, when he kept saying himself to have been carried back out of exile by the shoulders of the citizens,.....

Are the two instances of "himself" the correct interpretation? Is "because for him" a good translation of "quia ei"?

Thanks in advance!

modus.irrealis
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Re: Saturnalia- "cum se humeris"

Post by modus.irrealis »

joels341 wrote:Are the two instances of "himself" the correct interpretation?
The first with "ulcisci" yes, but for the second it's just the accusative subject of "reportatum esse". In general the subject has to be explicit (even when it's the same as the subject of the main verb), so it's "when he kept saying that he was carried back..."
Is "because for him" a good translation of "quia ei"?
It could be, but since the "ei" goes with what follows, you can't tell for sure without the rest of the sentence.

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