Romani maiores suos laudant.

Romani is nominative plural masculine. It comes from Romanus, -i, which can mean Roman as a noun or Roman as an adjective.

Here it is being used as a noun, so it means the Romans or simply Romans.

Because Romani is nominative plural, it is the subject of the sentence.

In Latin, the subject is usually in the nominative case. Romani is nominative plural, so it fits naturally as the subject.

Also, the verb laudant means they praise, so we expect a plural subject. Romani matches that perfectly.

So the basic structure is:

• Romani = subject
• laudant = verb
• maiores suos = direct object

Laudant is the third person plural present active indicative of laudare, meaning to praise.

So laudant means they praise.

The ending -ant is a very common clue for third person plural present in first-conjugation verbs.

Maiores is the plural of maior, which literally means greater or older.

In this sentence, it is being used as a noun, and it means something like:

• elders
• ancestors
• forefathers

So maiores suos means their ancestors or their elders, depending on context.

This is a common feature of Latin. Comparative adjectives like maior can be used substantively, meaning they can function like nouns.

So maiores can mean more than just older ones. In Roman culture, maiores very often refers to the ancestors, especially in expressions about tradition, honor, and family.

A learner should get used to the fact that some Latin words have a specialized meaning that goes beyond their literal form.

Here maiores is accusative plural, because it is the direct object of laudant.

A small complication is that maiores could also be nominative plural in form. But in this sentence, we know it is accusative because:

• Romani is already the nominative plural subject
• suos is clearly accusative plural masculine
• laudant needs an object here

So maiores suos is the object: their ancestors.

Suos is a reflexive possessive adjective, meaning it refers back to the subject of the clause.

So in Romani maiores suos laudant, suos means their own and refers back to Romani.

That is why the sentence means:

• The Romans praise their own ancestors

If Latin used eorum instead, it would usually mean:

• The Romans praise their ancestors
• but specifically the ancestors of some other people, not their own

So the choice of suos is important.

Because suos agrees with maiores, not with Romani.

In Latin, adjectives agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here maiores is masculine plural accusative, so the possessive adjective must match it:

• suos = masculine plural accusative

Even though suos refers back in meaning to Romani, its grammatical agreement is with maiores.

No. If Latin wanted to say The Romans praise themselves, it would use a reflexive pronoun such as se.

Here the object is maiores suos, not se.

So the meaning is not that the Romans praise themselves, but that they praise their own elders/ancestors.

Latin does not have a definite article like English the or an indefinite article like a/an.

So Romani can mean:

• Romans
• the Romans

and maiores suos can mean:

• their ancestors
• their own ancestors

English usually needs an article, but Latin does not.

Latin word order is more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical function of the words.

So Romani maiores suos laudant means the same basic thing as:

• Romani suos maiores laudant
• Maiores suos Romani laudant

However, word order can affect emphasis. The given order is straightforward and natural:

• Romani = topic/subject first
• maiores suos = object next
• laudant = verb at the end, which is very common in Latin

It is originally an adjective, but here it is used as a noun.

This is very common in Latin. An adjective can stand by itself if the noun is understood. So:

• Romani literally means Roman men/people
• but in ordinary translation it just means Romans

English does something similar sometimes, as in the rich or the poor.

The dictionary forms are:

• Romanus, -a, -um = Roman
• maior, maius = greater, older
• suus, -a, -um = his/her/its/their own
• laudo, laudare, laudavi, laudatus = praise

A learner should especially notice that maiores comes from maior, which is an irregular comparative form, not from a simple adjective like magnus.

Not always. The form maiores can be either:

• masculine plural
• or feminine plural

depending on the noun or people involved.

In this sentence it is understood as masculine because it refers to ancestors/forefathers in a traditional Roman context, and because suos is masculine plural.

If it were feminine, we would expect suas instead.

A natural translation is:

• The Romans praise their ancestors.

If you want to bring out the reflexive force of suos, you could say:

• The Romans praise their own ancestors.

If the context stresses age or authority rather than family lineage, it could also be:

• The Romans praise their elders.

All of these reflect the same Latin grammar, but their own ancestors is often the most precise.