HSC Latin Continuers flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Ablative absolute

A noun or pronoun plus a participle (or a noun plus adjective) in the ablative, grammatically detached from the main clause. It expresses circumstance: time, cause, condition, or concession, translated as 'with/after/when/since/although ...'.

Indirect statement

An accusative-plus-infinitive construction after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, or perceiving. The infinitive's tense is relative to the main verb: present for simultaneous, perfect for prior, future for later action.

Purpose clause

A subordinate clause introduced by ut (positive) or ne (negative) with a present or imperfect subjunctive, expressing the aim of the main action. Translate as 'in order to/that' or 'so that ... not'.

Result clause

A clause with ut/ne plus subjunctive, signalled in the main clause by tam, ita, tantus, talis, or adeo. It expresses consequence rather than purpose; translate as 'so ... that' or 'such ... that'.

Cum clauses

Cum with indicative means 'when' (pure temporal). Cum with subjunctive means 'since' (causal), 'although' (concessive), or 'when' (circumstantial). Cum ... tum means 'both ... and'.

Conditional sentences

Open conditions use si with present or perfect indicative. Unreal conditions use si with imperfect subjunctive (present contrary to fact) or pluperfect subjunctive (past contrary to fact).

Relative clause of purpose

A relative clause with subjunctive after expressions such as dignus est qui, idoneus est qui, or sunt qui, expressing purpose or characteristic. Translate as 'to ...' or 'such as to ...'.

Epic conventions

Hexameter verse, formal proem and invocation, aristeia (heroic exploits), ekphrasis (descriptive digression), divine machinery, similes, and formulae. These features signal genre and guide interpretation of character and theme.

Historiographical conventions

Composed speeches (often invented), digressions, portents, exempla, and moralizing commentary. Historians such as Sallust and Livy use these to analyse character and explain Rome's rise or decline.

Rhetorical figures

Named devices such as anaphora, chiasmus, tricolon, praeteritio, apostrophe, hyperbaton, and metaphor. In analysis, identify the figure and explain its effect on emphasis, tone, or argument.

Narrative voice

The teller of the story, distinct from the author. The narrator may comment, foreshadow, or ironize; tracking who speaks and who focalizes reveals bias and thematic design.

Intertextuality

The relationship between a text and earlier texts through allusion, quotation, or transformation of formulae. Recognizing the model (e.g., Homer, Ennius, Catullus) clarifies how the later author creates meaning.

Metrical effects

In hexameter, spondees slow pace, dactyls quicken it; caesura, enjambment, alliteration, and assonance reinforce sense. Metrical analysis supports claims about tone and emphasis.

Roman values in text

Pietas (duty), fides (faithfulness), virtus (courage), clementia (mercy), and libertas (freedom) are central value terms. Analysis asks whether a passage affirms, complicates, or subverts them.

Finding the main verb

In an unseen passage, locate every finite verb and label person, number, tense, mood, and voice. The main verb anchors its clause; subordinate clauses hang from it. This step prevents misreading syntax.

Resolving ambiguous case endings

Forms such as -ae (genitive/dative singular or nominative plural) or -is (genitive singular or accusative plural) are resolved by syntax: check agreement, preposition, and verb government before choosing.

Prepositional phrase units

Translate the preposition with its noun as one unit. The preposition fixes the case: in with ablative means 'in/on', in with accusative means 'into/against'. Never translate the noun before checking the preposition.

Idioms for unseen translation

Quamquam with indicative means 'although'; nisi means 'unless/if not'; quin with subjunctive means 'that ... not'; dum with present indicative means 'while'. Render by sense, not word for word.

Drafting then checking

After a first draft, read the English alone for sense and tense consistency. Supply pronouns, adjust word order, and ensure every Latin clause has an English counterpart. This catches errors before submission.

Five declensions

First -a (mostly feminine), second -us/-er/-um (masculine/neuter), third variable (all genders), fourth -us/-u (masculine/neuter), fifth -es (feminine). Identify by the genitive singular ending.

Case functions

Nominative: subject/complement. Genitive: possession, partitive, objective. Dative: indirect object, agent with passive periphrastic. Accusative: object, place to, duration. Ablative: means, agent, manner, place from, comparison. Vocative: address.

Principal parts

Present, infinitive, perfect, supine. The perfect stem forms perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect active; the supine stem forms the perfect passive participle and future active participle.

Sequence of tenses

Primary sequence (main verb present, future, or future perfect) takes present or perfect subjunctive. Historic sequence (main verb past) takes imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive. This rule governs subordinate subjunctives.

Gerund and gerundive

The gerund is a verbal noun declining in the neuter singular. The gerundive is a passive verbal adjective agreeing with a noun; with esse it expresses obligation, and with ad plus accusative it expresses purpose.

Supine uses

The accusative supine after verbs of motion expresses purpose ('to see'). The ablative supine after adjectives expresses respect ('easy to say'). Both are limited, fixed constructions.

Irregular verbs

Esse, posse, velle, nolle, malle, ferre, ire, and fieri deviate from model paradigms. Learn their stems and endings as a set, since they appear frequently in prescribed and unseen texts.

Vocabulary in context

A word's meaning is fixed by its case, governing verb, and collocation. Check whether a preposition or prefix changes sense, e.g., caedere (cut), occidere (kill), decidere (fall off).

Patron-client system

Patrons gave legal and financial protection; clients offered morning salutatio, political support, and services. This network structured Roman daily life and literary patronage, as with Horace and Maecenas.

Republican offices

Two annual consuls held chief power; praetors, quaestors, and aediles formed the cursus honorum. Tribunes of the plebs were sacrosanct and could veto. The senate advised and controlled finance and foreign policy.

Late Republic crises

Gracchan reforms (133–121 BC), Marius versus Sulla, the First Triumvirate (60 BC), civil war between Caesar and Pompey (49–48 BC), Caesar's dictatorship, and his assassination in 44 BC destabilized the Republic.

Augustan principate

From 27 BC Octavian, titled Augustus, held tribunician power and maius imperium. He presented the regime as restoration of the Republic (res publica restituta) while concentrating power in one man.

Roman religion

State cult overseen by pontifices, augures, and Vestal Virgins; domestic cult of Lares and Penates; imported cults such as Cybele and Isis; and the imperial cult, which unified the provinces.

Daily life and urban space

The forum served politics and commerce; baths, games (ludi), and grain distribution (cura annonae) structured leisure and welfare. The domus and insulae reflected class differences in housing.