Translate Passage 3 into English
Later Paetus is condemned to death and once again Arria puts her husband’s needs before her own.
Names
Scribonianus, Scriboniani (m): Scribonianus (the governor of Dalmatia)
Claudius, Claudii (m): Claudius (the Roman emperor)
Paetus, Paeti (m): Paetus
Arria, Arriae (f): Arria
Words
rebellio, rebellionis (f): revolt, rebellion
finio, finire, finivi, finitus: I finish, end
dubito, dubitare, dubitavi: I hesitate
doleo, dolere, dolui: I hurt
dolor, doloris (m): pain
Supplementary
Passage 3 is the last question of the GCSE language paper. It is clearly testing knowledge of many grammatical concepts that will become increasingly important as the student moves up to the UK AS and A2 examinations; in this group, I classify those as Level 4. The following questions did not form part of the examination.
paucos post annos Scribonianus, homo audax, rebellionem contra Claudium imperatorem fecit. sperabat enim se ipsum, Claudio victo, imperatorem futurum esse. rebellione tamen quinque diebus oppressa, Scribonianus statim interfectus est.
interea Paetus, qui Scriboniano auxilium dederat, a militibus Claudii Romam tractus est. ibi Claudius ei imperavit ut vitam gladio finiret. sed Paetus tam perterritus erat ut id facere nollet. tum Arria, cum intellegeret cur maritus dubitaret, gladium rapuit. ‘noli timere!’ ei dixit, corpus suum gladio simul vulnerans. ‘ecce! hoc vulnus, quod mihi dedi, non dolet.’ ita locuta Paeto gladium reddidit. nam Arria Paetum adeo amabat ut ipsa dolorem pati vellet.
Successful translation of Passage 3 in the examination itself would show recognition of the grammatical features contained within it. Therefore, the questions below are simply testing your familiarity with grammatical terms and your ability to make brief comment about them.
[1] Identify the grammatical features in bold; (1) give the grammatical term and (2) give one other relevant piece of information about each one, for example:
noli timere: (1) negative imperative; (2) 2nd person singular [or: followed by an infinitive]
The second pieces of information given in the answers are suggestions; there are other valid statements that can be made about each form.
[i] Claudio victo
[ii] Scribonianus statim interfectus est
[iii] qui Scriboniano auxilium dederat
[iv] corpus suum gladio simul vulnerans
[v] hoc vulnus, quod mihi dedi
[vi] ita locuta
[2] What types of subjunctive are being used?
[i] Claudius ei imperavit ut vitam gladio finiret.
[ii] tam perterritus erat ut id facere nollet; adeo amabat ut ipsa dolorem pati vellet
[iii] tum Arria, cum intellegeret …
[iv] … cur maritus dubitaret
[3] Explain the use of the ablative case:
[i] rebellione tamen quinque diebus oppressa
[ii] a militibus Claudii Romam tractus est
[4]
[i] sperabat enim se ipsum … imperatorem futurum esse.
[a] What type of structure is being used here?
[b] Why is se used?
[c] What part of speech is futurum esse?
____________________
Supplementary
[1]
[i] (1) ablative absolute; (2) noun + perfect passive participle in the ablative case [or: literally: with X having been Y-ed]
[ii] (1) perfect passive; (2) 3rd person singular [or: perfect passive participle + present tense of esse; or: from interficio, -ere (3-io)]
[iii] (1) pluperfect (active, indicative); (2) 3rd person singular [or: perfect stem + imperfect of esse]
[iv] (1) present active participle; (2) nominative singular [or: = (who / which / while) …. ing; or: from vulnerāns, -antis]
[v] (1) relative pronoun; (2) neuter accusative singular [or: agrees with antecedent in gender and number; or: from qui, quae, quod]
[vi] (1) perfect participle of a deponent verb; (2) passive form but active meaning, i.e. having spoken [or: from loquor, -i, locutus sum]
[2]
[i] indirect command
[ii] result
[iii] cum-clause; circumstantial
[iv] indirect question
[3]
[i] time within which
[ii] agent
[4]
[a] indirect statement
[b] refers back to the subject i.e. he was hoping that he (himself) ….
[c] future active infinitive
