Equus Trōiānus p.32/ l 62
Iam bis corpus eius medium amplectuntur, bis collō longa corpora sua circumdant.
No problem with this sentence, but not sure about the note in the margin:
rem [acc] collō (dat) circumdare = collum rē c.
Is the rem needed to have a direct object in the second part of the sentence?
res, a thing, object, matter, affair, business, event, fact, circumstance, occurrence, deed, condition, case (LS)
Priamus p.34/l 135
Paucī cum duce Aenēā ēlapsī prōtinus ad aedēs Priamī clāmōre vocatī sunt.
vocatī sunt = called/summoned by?
p.35/ l 148
Graecī ferōcēs in ātrium penetrant prīmōsque trucīdant, rēgia tōta hostibus armātīs complētur.
prīmōs (pl/acc) = those in front/those first in line?
rem [acc] collō (dat) circumdare = collum rē c.
Is the rem needed to have a direct object in the second part of the sentence?
Compound verbs (i.e., verbs that consist of a stem and a prefix) often take a dative. This is true of both transitive and intransitive verbs.
Transitive verbs (like circumdare, “surround”) take an accusative (the object of the transitive verb) and a dative:
circumdare:
[anguēs] collō longa corpora sua circumdant (l.63): “the snakes wrap their long bodies [accusative] around his neck [dative].”
Priamus p.34/l 135
Paucī cum duce Aenēā ēlapsī prōtinus ad aedēs Priamī clāmōre vocatī sunt.
vocatī sunt = called/summoned by?
clāmōre vocatī sunt. Summoned by a loud cry -clāmōre is ablative.
p.35/ l 148
Graecī ferōcēs in ātrium penetrant prīmōsque trucīdant, rēgia tōta hostibus armātīs complētur.
prīmōs (pl/acc) = those in front/those first in line?
Yes something like that. Those in the front line… the front line troops… In the poem these men are mentioned in an earlier line so its a bit more obvious. If Orberg has included that line I can’t see it but I have only looked quickly at this.
line 485 bk 2 armātōsque vident stantīs in līmine primō.
I now see that angues are “the thing” - I often don’t seem to see the obvious.
But since there are two snakes involved should the marginal note not have read: rēs collō (dat) circumdare = collum rēbus c. ?
Although that probably wouldn’t have helped me at the time.
My understanding is that “the thing” is “longa corpora sua” - accusative neuter plural. angues is the subject of the verb,
To wrap x (accusative) around y (dative).
“rem [acc] collō (dat) circumdare” is just the general rule its not trying to spell out the exact grammar (ie including the plural in the sentence). Perhaps it would have been clearer if it did.