| Dulcitius goes to his wife and she tells him that the Christian women must have put a magic spell on him. Dulcitius is outraged, and now Diocletian is angry too | |
| Diocletianus. |
quod: relative
pronoun (antecedent is implied hoc, the subject of dolet: "the
fact that...") praesidem... illusum, exprobratum, calumniatum: indirect statement (introduced by audio) ne...iactant: ne + subjunctive (ne is the negation of ut) se...illudere: indirect statement (introduced by iactant) impune: adverb |
| why is Diocletian so angry at what the women have done? | |
| [Sisinnius then orders the two older sisters to be burned at the stake. They die, but their bodies appear to be untouched by the flames. Sisinnius then argues with the youngest sister, Hirena, trying to persuade her to give in. Finally, he sends her away with the soldiers to be taken to a whore house, a "place of shame". Now Sisinnius unexpectedly sees the soldiers running back towards him, emtpy-handed.] | |
| Sisinnius. qui sunt hi, qui nos invadunt? quam similes sunt militibus, quibus Hirenam tradidimus! ipsi sunt. - cur tam cito revertimini? quo tenditis tam anheli? milites. te ipsum quaerimus. |
qui sunt...? interrogative pronoun quam: how revertimi: 2nd person plural (Sisinnius is now speaking to the soldiers) quo: whither, to where, where (adverb) |
| what does Sisinnius ask the soldiers? | |
| Sisinnius. ubi est, quam traxistis? milites. in supercilio montis. Sisinnius. cuius? milites. proximi. |
quam: relative pronoun (antecedent is implied ea, "she", subject of est) cuius = cuius montis: cuius is interrogative adjective (which mountain?) proximi: masculine genitive singular, agrees with montis |
| where is the woman Hirena now? | |
| Sisinnius. o insensati et hebetes totiusque rationis incapaces. milites. cur causaris? cur voce et vultu nobis minaris? Sisinnius. di vos perdant! |
hebetes: s.v. hebes causaris: s.v. causor (deponent
verb) perdant: jussive subjunctive |
| how is Sisinnius treating the soldiers? | |
| milites. quid in te commisimus? quam tibi iniuriam fecimus? quae tua iussa transgressi sumus? Sisinnius. nonne praecepi, ut rebellem deorum ad turpitudinis locum traheretis? |
commisimus: s.v. committo nonne: introduces questions (did I not...?) |
| what had Sisinnius ordered the soldiers to do? | |
| milites. praecepisti, nosque tuis praeceptis operam dedimus implendis, sed supervenere duo ignoti iuvenes, asserentes se ad hoc ex te missos, ut Hirenam ad cacumen montis producerent. Sisinnius. ignorabam. milites. agnoscimus. |
supervenere = supervenerunt se... missos (esse): indirect statement, introduced by asserentes ut...producerent: ut + subjunctive cacumen: neuter accusative singular |
| how did it happen that the soldiers let the woman go? where is the woman now? | |
| Sisinnius. quales fuerunt? milites. amictu splendidi, vultu admodum reverendi. Sisinnius. num sequebamini illos? milites. sequebamur. |
amictu: s.v. amictus vultu: s.v. vultu sequebamini: 2nd person plural, s.v. sequor (deponent verb, takes object: illos) |
| what did these two mysterious men look like? | |
| Sisinnius. quid fecerunt? milites. a dextra laevaque Hirenae se locaverunt et nos huc direxerunt, quo te exitus rei non lateret. |
huc: hither, to this place direxerunt: s.v. dirigo quo: where (adverb) exitus: nominative singular (subject of lateret) |
| what did these two men do? | |
| Sisinnius. restat, ut ascenso equo pergam et, qui fuerint, qui nos tam libere illuserunt, perquiram. milites. properemus pariter. |
ut..pergam: ut + subjunctive qui...fuerint: indirect question (introduced by perquiram) properemus: hortatory subjunctive pariter: adverb |
| what is Sisinnius going to do now? |
