M&F Unit 13 Latin to English again

[bingley]

pg 227 No. 32

Di in caelo, parcite nobis! Naturam optimam ducem tamquam deum sequimur eique paremus.

Gods in heaven, spare us! We follow our leader like a god and obey him. (More idiomatically, we follow and obey our leader as if he were a god.)

But where does naturam optimam fit in?

[Skylax]

pg 227 No. 32
But where does naturam optimam fit in?

Optimam agrees with ducem (here in the feminine, "she-leader"); this phrase is an apposition to naturam. Naturam sequi "to follow Nature" was an important principle among Stoics and Epicureans.

[bingley]

So we end up with: We follow and obey Nature, the best leader, as if she were a god.

Thank you once again Skylax.

[hlawson38]

I hope this is the right way to do this, I'm piggy-backing on this topic with more questions about UNIT THIRTEEN EXERCISES.

10. Legati illius virtus omnibus civibus admirationi fuit.

The courage of that officer was a wonder to all the citizens.

Wild guess.

30. Vix quiquam persuadebatur e Graecia omni cessuros Romanos.

Hardly anybody was persuaded that the Romans would leave all of Greece.

34. Si quisque sua manu captum ex hoste domum retulisset, multi servi nobis nunc domi essent.

If each one with his army unit had brought back home a captive from the enemy, we would have many slaves at home.

45. Quo plus custodum fortissimorum imperatori imperatori est, hoc tutior; nam plebs alterius ducis cupida, nihil audaciae agere audebit.

Where the commander has many very strong guards, there (it is) safer; for the common people (although) wanting a different leader, will dare nothing bold.

hlawson

[modus.irrealis]

10. Legati illius virtus omnibus civibus admirationi fuit.

The courage of that officer was a wonder to all the citizens.

When you have "esse" with the dative, it tells you the purpose of something (the first example I remember learning is "auxilio esse" = "to be of help"), so here "the courage of that officer was for admiration to all the citizens". That's bad English but hopefully it's clear -- it's not much different than "was an object of admiration for..." but hopefully someone comes along with a better English translation.

30. Vix quiquam persuadebatur e Graecia omni cessuros Romanos.

Hardly anybody was persuaded that the Romans would leave all of Greece.

That seems right -- the imperfect might be more like "was being persuaded".

34. Si quisque sua manu captum ex hoste domum retulisset, multi servi nobis nunc domi essent.

If each one with his army unit had brought back home a captive from the enemy, we would have many slaves at home.

Other than not translating "nunc", seems right.

45. Quo plus custodum fortissimorum imperatori imperatori est, hoc tutior; nam plebs alterius ducis cupida, nihil audaciae agere audebit.

Where the commander has many very strong guards, there (it is) safer; for the common people (although) wanting a different leader, will dare nothing bold.

For the first part, I read this as "the more very strong (brave, etc.) guards a commander has, the safer he is" -- "tutior" is masc. (or fem.).