“the son of cicero” part i textbook pages 143 - 144 lines 45 - 63 cicerōnis fīlius

“The Son of Cicero”

Part I textbookpages 143 - 144

lines 45 - 63

Cicerōnis fīlius

Part of the second half of your final exam will deal with the story Cicerōnis fīlius ("The Son of Cicero"), which is in the Appendix of the Part I textbook (the pinkish book).

Cicerōnis fīlius: introduction

Cicerōnis fīlius deals with Cicero, a famous Roman lawyer and statesman, his son Marcus, and the rest of their family. If you take Latin II, you will hear much more about Cicero and Marcus. They play an important role in Rome's history and in the life of Quintus, the "hero" of the Latin stories in our textbook.

Cicerōnis fīlius: background

Quintus and his father Flaccus moved to Rome at a pivotal moment in the city's history (Quintus and Flaccus came to Rome around 50 B.C.). At that time Rome's government was in turmoil.

Cicerōnis fīlius: background

The republic, which had been founded about 450 years ago, was struggling to manage the city and all of her territories. Ambitious individuals and small groups of people were trying to seize power for themselves. Cicero was one of the Roman leaders who believed that Rome should try to maintain her republican government. However, he had powerful enemies.

Cicerōnis fīlius: background

For the exam you will be tested on lines 45 - 63 of Cicerōnis fīlius. This part of the story deals with Marcus' education as a young boy, one of his family's homes, and a tumultuous year in Cicero's life. You will have to answer questions about the grammar and content of this excerpt. You will see questions about…

Cicerōnis fīlius: exam info.

Parts of speech. You will be given several Latin words from the story and asked to identify their part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, or pronoun).

What happened? You will also have to answer true/false and multiple choice questions about specific details from the story.

Translation. You will be given Latin phrases from the story and asked to choose the best possible English translation for them.

Timeline. You will be asked to put the events of the story into chronological order.

Cicerōnis fīlius: exam info.

In order to prepare for this part of the exam, you should first work on translating Cicerōnis fīlius. I recommend taking this in several steps.

Cicerōnis fīlius: how to translate

1. Read it aloud. First read over lines 45 - 63 aloud.

Cicerōnis fīlius: how to translate

2. Read it silently. Then read over them silently, making a mental note of words or phrases that seem familiar (it's OK if you don't know everything about these words yet; just make a mental note if a particular word seems familiar).

Cicerōnis fīlius: how to translate

3. Look up unfamiliar words. Now look through each sentence and make a note of which words seem unfamiliar. Look in the right margin and in the glossary of the textbook to see if you can find out the meanings of these unfamiliar words.

Cicerōnis fīlius: how to translate

4. Chunk and translate. Now let's break each sentence down into smaller segments (this process, remember, is called chunking). We will use punctuation marks, conjunctions, and prepositional phrases to help us chunk. Once we have chunked each sentence, you should try to translate each chunk into English. Then try to put the small chunks into English sentences that make sense.

Cicerōnis fīlius: how to translate

After chunking. Once we have chunked each sentence, you should try to translate each chunk into English. Then try to put the small chunks into English sentences that make sense.

I will translate the first two sentences to help you get started.

Cicerōnis fīlius: how to translate

Sentence I

• Marcum iam cūrat nōn nūtrix sed paedagōgus Graecus.

• paedagōgus = tutor

• nūtrix = nurse

Sentence I: chunked!

– Marcum iam cūrat nōn nūtrix – sed paedagōgus Graecus

• sed = conjunction (but)

• paedagōgus = tutor

• nūtrix = nurse

Sentence I: translated!

– Marcum iam cūrat nōn nūtrix• Now (iam) a nurse (nūtrix) does not look after

(cūrat nōn) Marcus (Marcum)

– sed paedagōgus Graecus • but (sed) a Greek tutor (paedagōgus Graecus).

• sed = conjunction (but)

• paedagōgus = tutor

• nūtrix = nurse

Sentence II

• ille Marcum litterās docet et Latinās et Graecās; plērumque Marcō Graecē dīcit.

• Graecē = in Greek

Sentence II: chunked!

– ille Marcum … docet – litterās … et Latinās et Graecās; – plērumque Marcō Graecē dīcit

• et … et … = conjunctions (both … and)

• ; = punctuation

• Graecē = in Greek

Sentence II: translated!

– ille Marcum … docet• He (ille) teaches (docet) Marcus (Marcum)

– litterās … et Latinās et Graecās;• both Latin and Greek (et Latinās et Graecās) letters

(litterās);

– plērumque Marcō Graecē dīcit• he usually (plērumque) speaks (dīcit) to Marcus (Marcō) in

Greek (Graecē).

• et … et … = conjunctions (both … and)• ; = punctuation

• Graecē = in Greek

Sentence III

• ille studia nōn amat; nam semper lūdere cupit.

• studia = his studies

Sentence III: chunked!

– ille studia nōn amat; – nam semper lūdere cupit

• ; = punctuation

• studia = his studies

Sentence IV

• sed Graecē et dīcere et scrībere gradātim discit.

• Graecē = in Greek

• gradātim = little by little

• discit = learns

Sentence IV: chunked!

– sed … gradātim discit– Graecē et dīcere et scrībere

• et … et … = conjunctions (both … and)

• Graecē = in Greek

• gradātim = little by little

• discit = learns

Sentence V

• ubi venit aestās, tōta familia ab urbe in collēs abit ad vīllam rūsticam; nam calōrēs aestātis in urbe ferre nōn possunt.

• aestās = summer

• calōrēs = the heat(s)

Sentence V: chunked!

– ubi venit aestās, – tōta familia … abit – ab urbe – in collēs– ad vīllam rūsticam; – nam calōrēs aestātis … ferre nōn possunt– in urbe

• , & ;= punctuation• ab urbe, in collēs, ad vīllam rūsticam, in urbe = prepositional phrases

• aestās = summer• calōrēs = the heat(s)

Sentence VI

• ibi Marcus fēriās agit.

• fēriās agit = is on holiday

• This sentence has no extra punctuation, conjunctions, or prepositional phrases, so we do not need to chunk it.

Sentence VII

• cōnsōbrīnus eius Quīntus ad vīllam saepe venit.

• cōnsōbrīnus eius = his cousin

Sentence VII: chunked!

– cōnsōbrīnus eius Quīntus … saepe venit– ad vīllam

• ad vīllam = prepositional phrase

• cōnsōbrīnus eius = his cousin

Sentence VIII

• puerī in agrīs lūdunt, fundum vīsunt, piscēs in flūmine capiunt.

• fundum = the farm

• vīsunt = visit

• piscēs = fish

Sentence VIII: chunked!

– puerī … lūdunt,– in agrīs – fundum vīsunt, – piscēs … capiunt– in flūmine

• , & , = punctuation• in agrīs, in flūmine = prepositional phrases

• fundum = the farm• vīsunt = visit• piscēs = fish

Sentence IX

• cum autumnus adest, in urbem redeunt.

Sentence IX: chunked!

– cum autumnus adest, – … redeunt– in urbem

• , = punctuation

• in urbem = prepositional phrase

Sentence X

• hīs fēriīs Marcus valdē gaudet.

• hīs fēriīs agit = (in) this holiday

• This sentence has no extra punctuation, conjunctions, or prepositional phrases, so we do not need to chunk it.

Sentence XI

• ubi Marcus septimum annum agit, inimīcī lēgem in Cicerōnem ferunt.

• agit = begins, turns, starts

• inimīcī = enemies

• lēgem in … ferunt = pass/bring a law against

Sentence XI: chunked!

– ubi Marcus septimum annum agit, – inimīcī lēgem … ferunt– in Cicerōnem

• , = punctuation

• in Cicerōnem = prepositional phrase

• agit = begins, turns, starts

• inimīcī = enemies

• lēgem in … ferunt = pass/bring a law against

Sentence XII

• ille inimīcōs valdē timet cōnstituitque in exsilium fugere.

• exsilium = exile

Sentence XII: chunked!

– ille inimīcōs valdē timet – cōnstituitque … fugere– in exsilium

• -que = conjunction

• in exsilium = prepositional phrase

• exsilium = exile

Sentence XIII

• Terentiam iubet Rōmā abīre et in vīllā rūsticā manēre.

Sentence XIII: chunked!

– Terentiam iubet Rōmā abīre – et … manēre– in vīllā rūsticā

• et = conjunction (and)

• in vīllā rūsticā = prepositional phrase

Sentence XIV

• trīstis Rōmā discēdit et ad Graeciam nāvigat.

• discēdit = goes away

Sentence XIV: chunked!

– trīstis Rōmā discēdit – et … nāvigat– ad Graeciam

• et = conjunction (and)

• ad Graeciam = prepositional phrase

• discēdit = goes away

Sentence XV

• Terentia tōtam familiam ad vīllam dūcit ibique manet dum Cicerō abest.

Sentence XV: chunked!

– Terentia tōtam familiam … dūcit– ad vīllam – ibique manet – dum Cicerō abest

• ad vīllam = prepositional phrase

• -que = conjunction (and)

• dum = conjunction (while)

Sentence XVI

• Marcus patrem dēsīderat sed gaudet quod fēriās tam longās agit.

• dēsīderat = misses

Sentence XVI: chunked!

– Marcus patrem dēsīderat – sed gaudet – quod fēriās tam longās agit

• sed = conjunction (but)

• quod = conjunction (because)

• dēsīderat = misses

Sentence XVII

• intereā Cicerō epistolās miserās ad Terentiam scrībit semperque cupit Rōmam redīre.

Sentence XVII: chunked!

– intereā Cicerō epistolās miserās … scrībit– ad Terentiam – semperque cupit Rōmam redīre

• ad Terentiam = prepositional phrase

• -que = conjunction (and)

Sentence XVIII

• sed proximō annō amīcī eius novam lēgem ferunt eumque ex exsiliō revocant.

• proximō annō = the next year

Sentence XVIII: chunked!

– sed proximō annō amīcī eius novam lēgem ferunt

– eumque … revocant– ex exsiliō

• -que = conjunction (and)

• ex exsiliō = prepositional phrase

• proximō annō = the next year

If you have further questions about this story, please feel free to contact your instructor.

Good luck on the exam!

Further questions?

“Valēte discipulī!”