Murmillo scutum magnum gerit.

Murmillo is the name of a type of Roman gladiator. In this sentence, it is the subject: the person doing the action.

It is in the nominative singular, so it means the murmillo or simply a murmillo, depending on context.

Latin usually does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So murmillo can mean:

• the murmillo
• a murmillo

And scutum magnum can mean:

• the large shield
• a large shield

You decide from the context which English translation is best.

We know from its case ending and from the verb.

• murmillo is nominative singular, the normal case for the subject.
• gerit is he/she/it carries, so it needs a singular subject.
• scutum magnum is in the accusative, showing it is the direct object.

So murmillo is the one carrying the shield.

Because magnum is describing scutum, and in Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe.

That means they must match in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• scutum = neuter, singular, accusative
• magnum = neuter, singular, accusative

So both have -um.

Scutum magnum is in the accusative singular because it is the direct object of gerit.

The verb gerit means carries / is carrying / bears / wears, and the thing being carried is the direct object.

So:

• murmillo = subject
• scutum magnum = direct object

In Latin, adjectives can come before or after the noun. Both are common.

So:

• scutum magnum
• magnum scutum

both mean a/the large shield.

The version in your sentence is completely normal. Latin word order is much freer than English because the endings show the grammatical roles.

Yes. Latin word order is flexible.

For example, all of these could mean basically the same thing:

• Murmillo scutum magnum gerit.
• Murmillo magnum scutum gerit.
• Scutum magnum murmillo gerit.
• Gerit murmillo scutum magnum.

The endings still show:

• murmillo = subject
• scutum magnum = object

However, changing the order can slightly change the emphasis.

Gerit is from the verb gero, gerere, gessi, gestum.

Here gerit is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

So it means:

• he carries
• she carries
• it carries

In this sentence, since murmillo is a male gladiator, the natural translation is he carries.

Depending on context, gero can also mean things like:

• wear
• bear
• carry
• wage (as in war)

Because the verb ending already includes the subject information.

Gerit means he/she/it carries all by itself. The -t ending tells you it is third person singular.

So Latin often leaves out subject pronouns unless they are needed for emphasis or clarity.

No. Latin declensions are not identified just by the nominative singular ending.

Murmillo is actually a third-declension noun. Its genitive is murmillonis, and that reveals the stem.

So although it ends in -o in the nominative singular, it is not a second-declension noun.

A common classroom pronunciation would be roughly:

moor-MIL-loh SKOO-toom MAG-noom GEH-rit

More carefully:

• murmillo = moor-MIL-lo
• scutum = SKOO-tum
• magnum = MAG-num
• gerit = GEH-rit

In restored classical pronunciation:

• sc before u is like sk
• g is always hard, like in go
• vowels are pronounced clearly, not reduced as much as in English

Because scutum is simply a noun whose grammatical gender is neuter. In Latin, grammatical gender is a property of the word and does not always correspond to anything natural.

Since scutum is neuter, any adjective describing it must also be neuter:

• scutum magnum not
• scutum magnus not
• scutum magna

Yes. The Latin present tense often covers both:

• he carries
• he is carrying

English chooses between simple present and present progressive more often than Latin does. Latin gerit can fit either, depending on the context.