Commentarii De Bello Gallico
Book I, part 1
Magister Henderson
Latin III / IV
Asyndeton
Hī omnēs linguā, institūtīs, lēgibus inter sē differunt.
= These all differ among themselves in language,
customs, and laws.
Asyndeton = omission of a conjunction or conjunctions for a
variety or effects; whether poetic, rhetorical, or emphatic.
Comes from Greek “sydeton” (joining or conjunction), plus the
alpha privative “a(n)-”, which shows absence.
Asyndeton
Caesar was fond of asyndeton, as seen in his most
famous quote:
Vēnī, Vīdī, Vīcī.
= I came, I saw, I conquered.
Written in a message to the Senate after defeating
Pharnaces II at the battle of Zela in 46 BC.
Partitive Genitive
Hōrum omnium fortissimī sunt Belgae…
= The Belgians are the bravest of all of these…
The genitive has many functions, most of which can be
translated into English with the preposition “of”. The most
common of these is possession.
The genitive can be also used to show a part of a larger
whole. Like in the sentence above.
Partitive Genitive
The partitive genitive is commonly used with certain key
words, such as nihil (nothing), aliquid (some /
something), pars (part), tantum (such / so much) and
quantum (how).
• Nihil malī = nothing bad
• Aliquid vīnī = some wine
• Tantum laboris = so much work
Notice that the English translation often omits the
word “of” it this use of the genitive.
Gerundive with Preposition
…atque ea, quae ad effēminandōs animōs
pertinent…
= …and those things, which tend to effeminate their
spirits…
The gerundive is a type of verbal adjective that Latin often
uses to show obligation. However with the preposition
“ad”, the gerundive functions very much like a
complementary infinitive.
Gerundive with Prepositions
• The gerundive is an adjective that uses the
endings –ndus, -nda, -ndum.
• Typically it is used with a form of ‘esse’ to show
obligation.
• Because it often shows an action that must be
done, it is typically used as Latin’s future passive
participle.
• It is called the ‘gerundive’ because it resembles
the forms of the gerund, a type of verbal noun.
Preposition ‘cum’ with Pronouns
…quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt.
= …with whom they wage war constantly.
By definition a preposition is a word that is positioned
(“positio”) in front of (“prae”) another word, which is
called the object of the preposition.
However with many pronouns “cum” will act like a suffix,
attaching itself to the end of the pronoun.
Preposition ‘cum’ with Pronouns
The pronouns to which cum will act as a suffix are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
mēcum = with me
nobiscum = with us
tēcum = with you (singular)
vobiscum = with you (plural)
sēcum = with him / her / it / them
quōcum = with whom (singular)
quibuscum = with whom (plural)