Imperator scit: “Pax est melior quam bellum.”

to be

Breakdown of Imperator scit: “Pax est melior quam bellum.”

• imperator: the emperor
• bellum: the war
• pax: the peace

Questions & Answers about Imperator scit: “Pax est melior quam bellum.”

Why is imperator in the nominative case?

Because imperator is the subject of scit. It is the person who knows, so it appears in the nominative singular.

• imperator = the commander / emperor
• scit = knows

So Imperator scit means The commander knows.

What form is scit, and what does it come from?

Scit is the 3rd person singular present active indicative of scire, meaning to know.

So:

• scio = I know
• scis = you know
• scit = he/she/it knows

Here it matches imperator, which is singular, so scit is singular too.

Why is there a colon after scit?

The colon shows that what follows is a direct statement or quotation: the thing the commander knows.

So the structure is:

• Imperator scit: = The commander knows:
• Pax est melior quam bellum. = the content of that knowledge

In many Latin texts, punctuation is added by modern editors, not by the ancient authors themselves. So the colon is mainly a reading aid.