In Virgilio hoc scribitur:
Di maris et terrae tempestatumque potentes,
fere viam vento facilem et spirate secundi.
I’ve slightly poetically translate this as …
Gods of power over ocean, land and storms
bear the easy way with the wind and blow at our backs.
But why ‘secundi’ what as a genitive singular masculine adjective or as a nominative masculine plural is it qualifying..?
Here’s a rather lengthy thread discussing exactly this issue:
http://latindiscussion.com/forum/latin/spirate-secundi-aen-3-529.11964/
Interesting discussion. I can’t, for the life of me, understand why they go off on (what seems to be to be) a tangent and start talking about whether ‘potentes’ could refer to anything other than ‘Di’ and then all this question of ‘que’ - I can’t conceive of any other meaning other than that he is addressing the gods 'powerful over sea, land and storms… Unless I’m missing something (and, er, that’s not an impossibility) the only really interesting post is the one arguing that a nominative plural use of ‘secundi’ is sometimes deployed for adverbial purposes…but no other examples are offered which is rather frustrating. I’m surprised Orberg doesn’t explain it.
Then I found http://books.google.ie/books?id=WmT6mS5v4dAC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=latin+adjectives+used+adverbially&source=bl&ots=W1q_QG7qsB&sig=8RoTcyjg-Pmg8ts4uHeWheVtEN8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5y_cUM6ZG8mnhAf2t4GgBg&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=latin%20adjectives%20used%20adverbially&f=false...it may be relevant ?
It talks about a genetive use…
O Gods who rule over sea, land and storms,
Bring an easy passage by the wind and, [as] favorable/accompanying gods, blow [us along].
…yes but do you have any opinion about ‘secundi’…?
It looks like adrianus has taken secundi as being in apposition with the subject of spirate… i.e., nominative plural in favor of genitive singular. This brings explains the [as]. Otherwise, with no [as], it looks like he wants it to be a vocative plural.