Can anyone help me to understand the next line?
“[…]Exegi monumentum aere perennius, regalique situ pyramidum altius.”
Word by word, I’d translate “I raised a monument more long-lasting than bronze, in a royal site more high than pyramids.”
And a question, why pyramidum is in the plural genitive case, considering that altius is the neuter form of comparative of superiority which accompanies the neuter substantive in ablative case, situ?
Thank you.
The first part of your translation is right, but not the second. The term of comparison should be in the ablative (or quam +nominative):
altius quam regalis situs pyramidum
The accusative altius in on a par with perennius, agreeing with monumentum, and the ablative regali situ is on a par with aere, governed by the comparative adjective: “longer-lasting than bronze and loftier than the royal situs (decaying structure) of the pyramids.”
He’s making a grandiose claim for his poetic achievement in the three books of the Odes. (He added a fourth later.)
Thank you both so much. Now I perfectly understand this passage. Bedwere, in this case wouldn’t be “quam+accusative”?
Yes, you are right. The two compared things should be in the same case.