Salvete omnes,
It’s been a while since I last posted. I’ve been nusy with other things, but have been keeping an eye on my latin all the same. Anyway, I have a few lines that are causing me a little trouble, and would be grateful if anyone could advise me:
Immo vero etiam in senatum venit, fit publici consili particeps,…
On the contrary he actually comes into the senate, a participant of a public plan becomes
I really can’t figure out the latter half.
At nos vicesimum iam diem patimur hebescere aciem horum auctoritatisBut for the 20th day now we are suffering the blade of the authority of these institutions to grow blunt
Here I’ve parsed “horum” as substantive and linked “aciem” with “auctoritatis”. It seems correct, but doesn’t read very well so I’m slightly unsure.
You have to realize that fio, just like its English equivalent “become”, almost always takes a predicate. The subject remains Catiline, whereas particeps is the predicate nominative which explains what Catiline is becoming, viz. a participant in the public counsel.
At nos vicesimum iam diem patimur hebescere aciem horum auctoritatis> But for the 20th day now we are suffering the blade of the authority of these institutions to grow blunt
Here I’ve parsed “horum” as substantive and linked “aciem” with “auctoritatis”. It seems correct, but doesn’t read very well so I’m slightly unsure.
Horum refers to the senators, “these men”; auctoritatis modifies aciem, and horum modifies auctoritatis. This sort of interlocking word order is not uncommon. I would translate it: “…suffered the blade of these mens’ auctoritas [influence/authority] to grow dull”.
Also, where Latin uses the present tense for actions/conditions that were begun in the past but continue into the present and future, English generally uses the present perfect. Better to write: “But for the twentieth day now [i.e. for twenty days] we have suffered/allowed…[etc.]”