(Cic. Fam. 5.2.8.)
tertium quoque, it seems, means every other´´, but I'd like a full explanation; my hypothesis is that it means third again´´ – well, it seems obvious now, but I’d like someone to confirm it.
I would take it to mean “with every third word” - cf. Bradley’s Arnold Ex. 48A:6 -
Tu me altero quoque verbo collaudas. [Key]
You pay me compliments in every other word.
Modus numerandi Romanorum ab eo nostro differt. Ei homines utramque finem includunt.
The Romans count differently from us by counting both ends. We say “every second // every other”; they say “every third”.
A&G §631d: “The point of departure was, by Roman custom, counted in the reckoning, the second day being three days before, etc.”
Ita autem Patrui “altero quoque” “omnes” erit, ut mihi videtur.
cf. the penultimate footnote on this page -
http://books.google.com/books?id=5XFXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA210