Helps to Latin Translation at Sight Part 16

+III.+ +Ego autem, c.u.m omnia coll.u.s.trarem oculis--est enim ad portas Agragantinas magna frequentia sepulcrorum--animadverti columellam non multum e dumis eminentem, in qua inerat sphaerae figura et cylindri.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+coll.u.s.trarem+ = _I was surveying on all sides_; +con (c.u.m) + l.u.s.tro+.

+l.u.s.tro+, perhaps akin to +luc-eo+, +lu-men+; so, +il-l.u.s.tris+ = _lighted up_, _ill.u.s.trious_.

+frequentia+ = _a large number_; cf. +frequens+, vf?a?, +farc+; cf.

f???-a = _a fence_, +farc-io+ = _pack close together_; so, +con-fer-tus+ = _crowded_, +freq-uens+ = _repeated_, _frequent_.

+columellam+ = _a small column_, dimin. of +columen+, vcel; cf.

+cel-sus+ = _lofty_; cf. +ex-cello+, +col-umen+ (= +cul-men+) = _the summit_; cf. _culminate_.

(ii.) _Translation._--This sentence is apparently not quite so simple, but if you carefully bracket the subordinate clauses you will see that the only princ.i.p.al verb is +animadverti+, with subject +ego+ and object +columellam+. Notice next that--

(a) +c.u.m ... oculis+ modifies the princ.i.p.al verb +animadverti+ and is an adverbial clause of _time_.

(b) The parenthetical clause +est enim ... sepulcrorum+ explains +coll.u.s.trarem+.

(c) +in qua ... cylindri+ is an adjectival clause enlarging +columellam+.

You may now translate into your best English, following closely the thought and the order of the Latin:--

_Well, as I was surveying the whole place (there is a large number of tombs at[18] the Agrigentine gate) I perceived a small column just showing above the undergrowth, on which appeared the figure of a sphere and a cylinder._

[Footnote 18: Var. lect. +ad portas Achradinas+.]

+IV.+ +Atque ego statim Syracusanis--erant autem principes mec.u.m--dixi me illud ipsum arbitrari esse, quod quaererem.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--The words of this sentence present no difficulty.

(ii.) _Translation._--With the practice you have now had, you may translate at once; but notice carefully that--

(a) the parenthetical clause +erant ... mec.u.m+ enlarges +Syracusanis+; and

(b) +quod quaererem+ describes +illud ipsum+.

_So I immediately said to the Syracusans who were with me (some people of importance) that I thought that was the very thing I was looking for._

+V.+ +Immissi c.u.m falcibus multi purgarunt loc.u.m.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+falcibus+ = _with bill-hooks_; +falx+ perh. akin to +flect-o+ = _bend_, from its shape. Cf. _falcon_ (from its _hooked_ claws).

+purgarunt+ = _cleared_; +purgo+, contr. from +pur-igo+ = +purum + ago+ = _purge_. Cf. +pur-us+.

(ii.) _Translation._--

_Some men sent in with bill-hooks cleared out the s.p.a.ce._

+VI.+ +Quo c.u.m patefactus esset aditus, accessimus.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+patefactus+ = _laid open_: +pateo + facio+. Cf. _patent_.

(ii.) _Translation._--

_As soon as the way was open, we went up to it._

+VII.+ +Apparebat in sepulcro epigramma, exesis posterioribus partibus versiculorum, dimidiatis fere.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--

+epigramma+ = _inscription_. Cf. _epi-gram_.

+exesis+ = lit. '_eaten out_'; +ex + edo+. Cf. _ed-ible_.

+dimidiatis+ = _halved_ = +dis + medius+, i.e. _divided into halves_.

(ii.) _Translation._--_There was the inscription on the tomb: the latter part of each line was gone, nearly half the verse._

_Note._--Notice here the rendering of the Lat. abl. absol., an idiom foreign to our language except for example in the so-called nom. absol.

of Milton. Cf. Introduction, p. 12 (5). [[Introduction 13 (5)]]

Cicero adds the following reflection:--'_Ita n.o.bilissima Graeciae civitas, quondam vero etiam doctissima, sui civis unius acutissimi monumentum ignora.s.set, nisi ab hoimine Arpinate didicisset._'

_Thus it was that one of the most renowned of Greek cities, and in ancient times one of the most enlightened, would have remained ignorant of the monument of the greatest genius it ever produced, if it had not learnt it from a man born at Arpinum._[19]

[Footnote 19: Also the birthplace of Marius. Cf. p. 163.]

[[Selection B4]]

_Some Suggestions and Authorities._

Before you leave this pa.s.sage, try to notice some of the following points, and if possible consult _some_ of these authorities:--

(i.) Read (_e.g._ in Church and Brodribb's translation) Livy's account of the siege of Syracuse by Marcellus, 214-212 B.C., Book xxiv. cap. 34; Book xxv. caps. 23-31.

(ii.) Freeman's _History of Sicily_. Notice especially the admirable plan of Syracuse ill.u.s.trating the siege by Nicias.

Or _Sicily_--'Story of the Nations' Series.

(iii.) _Some good Life of Archimedes._ The _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ supplies a good short life and refers to Cicero's finding the Tomb of Archimedes, and to the still extant work of Archimedes on the Sphere and the Cylinder.

(iv.) For _Cicero's Quaestors.h.i.+p in Sicily_, 75 B.C., consult some Life of Cicero, _e.g._ Forsyth's, pp. 38-58, where reference is made to this incident.

(v.) For the _Tusculanae Disputationes_ (conversations between Cicero and a friend at his Tusculan villa, the subject of which is the chief essentials of happiness) consult the admirable introduction to the edition by T. W. Dougan, Camb. Press.