HSC Latin Extension flashcards

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

Ablative absolute

A Latin construction of a noun and participle in the ablative, grammatically independent of the main clause, translated with 'when', 'since', 'after', or 'with'.

Indirect statement

Accusative and infinitive construction after verbs of saying, thinking, or perceiving; the infinitive's tense is relative to the main verb.

Purpose clause

Subordinate clause introduced by ut or ne plus the subjunctive, expressing the aim of the main action; translated 'in order to' or 'so that not'.

Result clause

Clause with ut or ut non plus subjunctive, signalled by a correlative such as tam, ita, tantus, or sic in the main clause.

Indirect question

Subordinate clause introduced by an interrogative word and taking the subjunctive, functioning as the object of verbs of asking or knowing.

Gerundive of obligation

Passive periphrastic formed from the gerundive plus a form of esse, expressing necessity or duty; the dative marks the person obliged.

Historical infinitive

Present infinitive used in narrative in place of an imperfect indicative, conveying rapid or vivid sequence of events in prose.

Dactylic hexameter

Six-foot metre of dactyls and spondees, the fifth foot almost always a dactyl and the sixth a spondee; the metre of epic.

Elegiac couplet

A dactylic hexameter followed by a pentameter, the pentameter consisting of two half-feet, a long syllable, two half-feet, a long syllable.

Hyperbaton

Deliberate separation of words that belong together, especially adjective from noun, used for emphasis or to fit the metre.

Enclitic -que

Conjunction meaning 'and' attached to the second word of a group rather than the first, joining the two items of that group.

Syncopated perfect forms

Contracted verb forms such as audisti for audivisti or contempsere for contempserunt, shortened for metrical convenience in verse.

Ellipsis of esse

Omission of a form of the verb 'to be' in verse, common in participial and nominal constructions; the sense is supplied in translation.

Epic simile

Extended comparison introduced by qualis, velut, or ceu; the narrative situation (tenor) is illuminated by an image (vehicle).

Servitium amoris

The elegiac motif in which the lover presents himself as a slave to his mistress, inverting Roman status and freedom.

Militia amoris

Elegiac motif casting love as military service, with the lover as soldier under Cupid's command, inverting epic values.

Line framing

Placing emphatic words first and last in a hexameter; these positions carry the strongest metrical and thematic weight.

Vocative address

Direct invocation of a person or god in the vocative case, marking a shift in speaker's stance or a rhetorical appeal.

Periodic Ciceronian style

Long suspended sentence holding the main verb to the end, with nested subordinate clauses; the sense is incomplete until the close.

Praeteritio

Rhetorical figure of 'passing over' a topic while actually mentioning it, often used to attack an opponent indirectly.

Tricolon crescendo

Three parallel clauses or phrases increasing in length or force, with the climax falling on the third member.

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunctions between items in a list, producing speed and force; the opposite is polysyndeton, with conjunctions repeated.

Sententia in historiography

A pointed general reflection placed in a narrative or speech, revealing the author's moral judgement on events.

Caesura

A word break falling within a metrical foot, most often penthemimeral after the first syllable of the third foot in hexameter.

Elision

Suppression of a final vowel or -m before a following vowel or h, so the syllable is not counted in the metre.

Hendiadys

Expression of a single idea through two nouns joined by 'and', one of which functions as a modifier of the other.

Zeugma

One verb or adjective governing two or more nouns, sometimes with a shift of sense producing a pointed effect.

Chiasmus

ABBA arrangement of parallel elements, reversing the order of corresponding words or structures for emphasis.

Synizesis

Fusion of two adjacent vowels into a single metrical syllable, distinct from elision, which suppresses a final vowel.

Recusatio

Poetic refusal of epic or grand themes in favour of lighter genres, often invoking Callimachean poetics as justification.

Clientela and patronus

Roman social relationship of obligation between a dependent client and a patron; literary prefaces and poems negotiate this bond.

Augustan ideology

The cluster of values around Augustus, including pietas, auctoritas, and Pax Augusta, framing readings of Virgil and Horace.

Battle of Actium

Naval victory of Octavian over Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BC, a turning point celebrated in Augustan poetry.