Imperator dicit: “Miles fortis erit, sed bellum manebit.”

Dicit is present tense: he says or he is saying.

It comes from the verb dicere, meaning to say or to speak.
So:

• dico = I say
• dicis = you say
• dicit = he/she/it says

The colon introduces direct speech. It tells you that the words after it are the exact words being spoken.

So Imperator dicit: means The commander says: and then the sentence after it is what he says.

Miles is singular and means soldier.

It is a third-declension noun, and third-declension nominative singular forms can look very different from one another. The plural would be milites.

So:

• miles = soldier
• milites = soldiers

Even though miles may not look obviously singular to an English speaker, it is singular here.

Because fortis is the nominative singular form of the adjective, and it agrees with miles.

Latin adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here, miles is nominative singular, so fortis must also be nominative singular.

So miles fortis means a brave soldier or the brave soldier.

Erit is future tense of esse, the verb to be. It means he/she/it will be.

So miles fortis erit means the soldier will be brave.

Some useful forms of the future of esse are:

• ero = I will be
• eris = you will be
• erit = he/she/it will be

Manebit is future tense too. It means will remain or will stay.

It comes from manere, meaning to remain. This is a regular second-conjugation future form:

• maneo = I remain
• manebo = I will remain
• manebit = he/she/it will remain

So bellum manebit means the war will remain or more naturally the war will continue.

Because the speaker is making statements about what will happen. The commander is not describing the present; he is predicting or declaring the future.

So:

• miles fortis erit = the soldier will be brave
• bellum manebit = the war will remain / continue

The matching future tenses help show that both parts belong to the same future situation.

Classical Latin does not have articles like English the or a/an.

So miles can mean:

• a soldier
• the soldier

and bellum can mean:

• a war
• the war

The exact choice in English depends on context. Latin leaves that unstated unless the context makes it clear.

Latin word order is more flexible than English because the endings do much of the grammatical work.

Both Miles fortis erit and Fortis miles erit can mean The soldier will be brave. The difference is mostly one of emphasis or style, not basic meaning.

In this sentence, miles fortis is a straightforward noun + adjective phrase. Latin often puts the adjective after the noun, but it can also come before it.

Bellum is nominative singular here because it is the subject of manebit.

In bellum manebit, the war is the thing that will remain, so it must be in the nominative case.

This is a good reminder that this sentence actually has three different subjects in three different clauses:

• imperator — subject of dicit
• miles — subject of erit
• bellum — subject of manebit

Sed means but. It connects the two statements and shows contrast:

• Miles fortis erit = the soldier will be brave
• sed bellum manebit = but the war will remain

So sed tells the reader that the second idea contrasts with the first. The soldier’s bravery does not mean the war will immediately end.

A simple Classical Latin pronunciation would be:

• dicit ≈ DEE-kit
• miles ≈ MEE-lehs
• bellum ≈ BEL-lum

A few useful points:

• c is always hard, like k
• e is always pronounced, never silent
• vowel length matters in careful pronunciation, though beginners are often first taught a simpler version

So dicit does not sound like English digit or dissit; the c stays hard.