Soror imperatoris dicit: "Miles timidus non studet paci!"

Because imperatoris is the genitive singular form of imperator.

The genitive often shows possession or a relationship like of the commander / the commander’s. So:

• soror = sister
• imperatoris = of the commander / emperor’s

So soror imperatoris means the commander’s sister or the emperor’s sister.

If Latin used imperator here, it would not show that possessive relationship.

Because paci is dative singular.

The noun is:

• pax = peace
• pacis = of peace
• paci = to peace / for peace

In this sentence, paci is dative because the verb studet comes from studere, and studere usually takes the dative case, not a direct object in the accusative.

So studet paci means something like:

• is eager for peace
• is devoted to peace
• applies himself to peace

This is one of those verbs where English and Latin work differently.

Because that is the normal construction of studere in Latin.

Studere means things like:

• to be eager for
• to be devoted to
• to apply oneself to

And the thing a person is devoted to is put in the dative.

So:

• studet paci = he is devoted to peace
• not studet pacem

This is important to memorize as part of the verb’s usage:

• studere + dative

Because it is the subject of studet.

The sentence inside the speech is:

• Miles timidus non studet paci

Here:

• miles = soldier
• timidus = timid / cowardly
• studet = is devoted / is eager

The person doing the action is the soldier, so miles is in the nominative singular. The adjective timidus agrees with miles, so it is also nominative singular masculine.

In Latin, word order is much more flexible than in English.

Both of these ideas are normal in Latin:

• noun + adjective
• adjective + noun

So miles timidus is perfectly natural. The important thing is not the order, but the agreement:

• miles = nominative singular masculine
• timidus = nominative singular masculine

Because they match in case, number, and gender, they go together.

Because Classical Latin has no articles like English the or a/an.

So:

• soror can mean sister, a sister, or the sister
• miles can mean soldier, a soldier, or the soldier

The exact sense depends on context.

That is why a Latin sentence can often be translated into English in more than one natural way.

Because its subject is soror, which is singular.

• soror = sister
• dicit = she says / says

So Soror imperatoris dicit means The emperor’s sister says.

The form dicit is third person singular present active of dicere.

If the subject were plural, the verb would be plural too.

Because non normally negates the word or phrase that follows, and very often it comes before the verb.

So:

• non studet = does not devote himself / is not eager

This is a very common Latin pattern. In this sentence, non clearly negates the verb phrase.

Yes. The ending -es does not automatically mean a noun is feminine or plural.

Miles, militis is a third-declension masculine noun meaning soldier.

Its nominative singular is miles. So here it is:

• singular, not plural
• masculine
• nominative

That is why the adjective is timidus, the masculine singular form.

The colon is just an English-style way of showing that dicit introduces direct speech.

So:

• Soror imperatoris dicit: = The emperor’s sister says:
• then the actual spoken words follow

In printed Latin, editors often use modern punctuation to make the sentence easier to read. Ancient manuscripts did not use punctuation in exactly the same way we do now.

Yes.

Imperator originally means commander or general, and in many contexts that is the best translation. In later Roman usage, it can also mean emperor.

So imperatoris could mean:

• of the commander
• of the general
• of the emperor

Which English word is best depends on the historical and literary context.