Nam
hic
pars
patriae
est. —
Seneca, On Anger
2.31.7
For he is part of the country.
(Why injuring a fellow citizen is a kind of injury to your country.) Nam (particle): for. Hic /haec/hoc (pron.): this; he, she, it. Pars, partis (3f): part. Patria, patriae (1f): fatherland, country. Est: is.
No one of them governed a state.
(He’s arguing that various philosophers have served the public despite this.) Nēmō, nēminis (3m): no one. Illōrum is the m/n genitive plural form of ille/illa/illud (pron.): that; he, she, it. Rem pūblicam is the feminine accusative singular form of rēs pūblica: state (rēs, reī (5f): thing; matter, affair; pūblicus/pūblica/pūblicum (1/2): public). Administrāvit is the third person singular perfect form of administrō, administrāre, administrāvī, administrātum (1): to serve, assist; govern.
They were a mile away.
More literally: They were away a thousand of double paces.
Mīlle (numeral): thousand. Passuum is the genitive plural form of passus, passūs (4m): step, pace; (as a unit of length) a double pace (about five feet); mīlle passuum = a thousand of paces (the partitive genitive) = mile. Aberant is the third person plural imperfect form of absum, abesse, āfuī, āfutūrus (irreg.): to be away, be absent, be distant.
No evil can befall a good man.
More literally: Nothing of evil is able to happen to a good man.
Nihil (n, indeclinable, nom. or acc. only—here nom.): nothing. Accidō, accidere, accidī, — (3): to happen, befall. Bonō is the m/n dative singular form of bonus/bona/bonum (1/2): good. Virō is the dative singular form of vir, virī (2m): man. Malum, malī (2n): evil; trouble, misfortune; misdeed; disease. Potest is the third person singular form of possum, posse, potuī, — (irreg.): to be able, can.
What, then, is the part of a good man?
More literally: What is of a good man? (Less literally: What is characteristic of a good man?)
(Answer: to offer himself to fate.) Quis/quis/ quid (interrog. pron.): who? what? Est: is. Bonī is the m/n genitive singular form of bonus/bona/bonum (1/2): good. Vir, virī (2m): man.
Anyone can make a mistake.
More literally: It is of any man to err. (It is characteristic of any man. . .)
Cuiusvīs is the m/f/n genitive singular form of quīvīs/quaevīs/quodvīs (adj.): any, any you like, any random. Homō, hominis (3m): man, human. Est: it is. Errō, errāre, errāvī, errātum (1): to err; wander; go astray.
We are possessed by hatred of life, by fear of death.
More literally: Hatred of life possesses us, fear of death.
Vīta, vītae (1f): life. Nōs is the accusative form of nōs: we. Odium, odiī (2n): hatred, odium. Tenet is the third person singular form of teneō, tenēre, tenuī, tentum (2): to hold; possess; restrain. Timor, timōris (3m): fear. Mors, mortis (3f): death.
Frequent punishment represses the hatred of a few.
(. . . but spurs the hatred of all.) Frequēns, frequentis (3, adj.): crowded; frequent. Vindicta, vindictae (1f): punishment. Paucōrum is the m/n (here m) genitive plural form of paucus/pauca/paucum (1/2): (in sg. , rare) little; (in pl. , the more frequent usage) few. Odium is the accusative singular form of odium, odiī (2n): hatred, odium. Opprimit is the third person singular form of opprimō, opprimere, oppressī, oppressum (3): to press down; suppress.
I remember human frailty.
Alt. : I am mindful of/have memory of human weakness.
(From a speech of Scipio Africanus.) Hūmānae is the feminine genitive singular form of hūmānus/hūmāna/hūmānum (1/2): human. Īnfirmitās, īnfirmitātis (3f): weakness; sickness. Meminī, meminisse, — (3): to remember.
To forget one’s own name.
Alt. : To be forgetful of one’s own name.
Propriī is the m/n genitive singular form of proprius/propria/proprium (1/2): one’s (my, your, his, etc.) own. Nōmen, nōminis (3n): name. Oblīvīscor, oblīvīscī, oblītus sum (3, deponent): to forget.
I pity my accuser.
More literally: I feel pity of (for) my accuser.
Misereor is the first person singular passive form of misereō, miserēre, miseruī (or impers. miseritum est) (2): (impersonal) something causes someone to feel pity or sympathy, one feels pity or sympathy; (personal, rare) to pity; (in the passive) feel pity for (with genitive). Accūsātor, accūsātōris (3m): accuser. Meī is the m/n genitive singular form of meus/mea/meum (1/2): my, mine. Misereor can be viewed as the passive form of miseret mē (something causes me to feel pity). Miseret is an impersonal verb that doesn’t have a smooth and direct translation into English. It means that its object (here mē) is affected by a feeling of pity or compassion. In passive form the verb becomes quasi-deponent; that is, its meaning still has an active flavor: I feel pity. The active (miseret mē) and passive (misereor) have similar translations: I pity, I feel sorry, and the like. And both can take a genitive denoting the person for whom one feels pity.
I am ashamed of my line of defense.
More literally: It shames me of my defense.
Pudet is the third person singular form of pudeō, pudēre, puduī, puditum (2, usually impersonal; the impersonal third principal part can also be deponent: puditum est): to cause shame; feel ashamed (takes genitive of the cause of feeling). Mē is the accusative form of ego. Patrōcinī is a variant genitive singular form of patrōcinium, patrōciniī (2n): protection, defense; pleading in court (in second-declension nouns whose stem ends with i, the i of the stem and that of the ending can be contracted into a single long one in the genitive singular). Meī is the m/n genitive singular forms of meus/mea/meum (1/2): my, mine.
I pity you, I am vexed with myself.
More literally: Something causes me to feel pity of you, annoyance of myself.
Most literally: It pities me of you, it annoys (me) of myself.
Tuī is the genitive form of tū: you. Mē is the accusative form of ego. Miseret is the impersonal third person singular form of misereō, miserēre, miseruī (or impers. miseritum est) (2): (impersonal) something causes someone to feel pity or sympathy, one feels pity or sympathy; (personal, rare) to pity; (in the passive) feel pity for (with genitive). Meī is the genitive form ego: I. Piget is the impersonal third person singular form of piget, pigēre, piguit, pigitum (2—the third principal part is sometimes deponent: pigitum est): (impersonal) it disgusts/troubles (someone).
I don’t care a straw.
More literally: I do not make (it) of a tuft of wool (i.e., I don’t regard it as worth a tuft of wool).
(Less literally, I don’t give a damn.) Floccus, floccī (2m): a tuft or wisp of wool. Nōn: not. Faciō, facere, fēcī, factum (3, –iō): to do; make; in expressions involving the genitive of value it can translate as to regard, consider (of such and such worth).
That’s the price of land in the provinces.
More literally: A province sells lands of (i.e., for) so much.
Prōvincia, prōvinciae (1f): province. Tantum, tantī (2n): such an amount, so much (a common substantive use of tantus/tanta/tantum (1/2): so great, so much). Vēndit is the third person singular form of vēndō, vēndere, vēndidī, vēnditum (3): to sell. Agrōs is the accusative plural form of ager, agrī (2m): land, farm, field, territory.
But it could not have been sold for more.
More literally: But it was not able to be sold of more.
Sed (conj.): but. Plūs, plūris (3, neuter noun—and occasionally adj.): more. Vēneō, vēnīre, vēniī, vēnitum (irreg.): to be sold; used as the passive form of vēndō (beware confusion with venīre: to come). Nōn: not. Potuit is the third person singular perfect form of possum, posse, potuī, — (irreg.): to be able, can.