Pater portam urbis claudit vespere, ne hostes nocte taciti intrent.

Father closes the gate of the city in the evening, so that enemies may not enter silently at night.

Breakdown of Pater portam urbis claudit vespere, ne hostes nocte taciti intrent.

• intrare: to enter
• pater: the father
• urbs: the city
• nox: the night
• claudere: to close
• vespere: in the evening
• porta: the gate
• ne: so that not
• hostis: the enemy
• tacitus: silent

Questions & Answers about Pater portam urbis claudit vespere, ne hostes nocte taciti intrent.

What are the basic subject–verb–object relationships in this sentence?

The core of the main clause is:

• Subject: pater – the father (nominative singular)
• Verb: claudit – closes (3rd person singular, present active indicative)
• Direct object: portam – the gate (accusative singular)

So the main statement is: Pater portam claudit – The father closes the gate.

Everything else adds detail: urbis specifies whose gate, vespere tells us when, and ne hostes nocte taciti intrent tells us why he closes it.

Why is urbis in the genitive case, and what does it mean exactly?

Urbis is the genitive singular of urbs, meaning city. The genitive case is used here to show possession or close association.

• portam urbis literally means “the gate of the city.”
• In smoother English, we’d usually say “the city gate.”

So urbis answers the question “whose gate?” — it is the city’s gate.

Why is vespere in the ablative without a preposition?

Vespere is the ablative singular of vesper, meaning evening. The ablative without a preposition is commonly used for time when something happens.

• vespere = in the evening / at evening time.

Latin often uses the bare ablative to express time:

• nocte – at night
• hieme – in winter
• tertia hora – at the third hour

So Pater portam urbis claudit vespere means The father closes the city gate in the evening.

What does ne mean here, and why is it used instead of ut non?

In this sentence, ne introduces a negative purpose clause:

• ne hostes nocte taciti intrent
  = so that the enemies may not enter silently by night
  (or: lest the enemies enter silently at night).

In classical Latin:

• ut
  • subjunctive = positive purpose (so that they may enter).
• ne
  • subjunctive = negative purpose (so that they may not enter).

ut non is generally not used for purpose; instead it is used for result clauses or other constructions (e.g. it happens that not).

So here ne is the correct standard way to say “in order that … not” / “so that … not.”

Why is intrent in the subjunctive mood?

Intrent is the 3rd person plural present active subjunctive of intro (to enter).

The subjunctive is used because ne hostes nocte taciti intrent is a purpose clause, expressing the goal or intention of the action in the main clause:

• Main clause: Pater portam urbis claudit vespere (The father closes the city gate in the evening).
• Purpose clause: ne hostes nocte taciti intrent (so that the enemies may not enter silently at night).

In Latin, purpose clauses (introduced by ut or ne) always take the subjunctive.

Why is intrent in the present tense even though the action is in the future (they might enter later)?

In Latin, purpose clauses follow the sequence of tenses rule.

• Main verb: claudit – present tense (a primary tense).
• In a purpose clause after a primary tense, Latin uses the present subjunctive for an action that is still in the future or unreal from the main verb’s point of view.

So:

• Pater portam urbis claudit vespere, ne hostes nocte taciti intrent.
  literally: … so that the enemies *may not enter silently at night.*

In English we often translate this with a future sense:

• … so that the enemies *will not enter silently at night.*

So the Latin present subjunctive here naturally carries a future-like meaning in a purpose clause.

What is the grammatical role of hostes?

Hostes is:

• nominative plural of hostis – enemy, foe.
• the subject of intrent in the purpose clause.

In the clause ne hostes nocte taciti intrent:

• hostes – subject (the enemies)
• intrent – verb (may enter)
• nocte – time when (at night / by night)
• taciti – adjective agreeing with hostes (silent / quiet).

So that clause literally means: “that the enemies, silent, may not enter at night.”

Why is it taciti (adjective) and not tacite (adverb) to mean “silently”?

Taciti is the nominative plural masculine of the adjective tacitus, -a, -um meaning silent, quiet.

Latin often uses an adjective in the nominative as a predicative adjective with the subject, where English would use an adverb:

• hostes taciti intrent
  literally: the enemies enter silent
  idiomatic English: the enemies enter silently.

So:

• taciti is describing hostes (“the enemies [being] silent”).
• Latin is comfortable saying subject + predicative adjective + verb, where English prefers subject + verb + adverb.

You could say tacite intrent (may enter silently), but taciti intrent is very natural Latin and emphasizes the silent condition of the enemies rather than just the manner of the action.

Why is nocte also ablative without a preposition, like vespere?

Nocte is the ablative singular of nox, meaning night. Again, the bare ablative is used for time when:

• nocte = at night / by night.

So nocte taciti intrent = that they (being) silent may enter at night.

Latin can also say noctu (an adverb) for by night, but nocte as an ablative of time is very common and straightforward.

Could the sentence have used clausit instead of claudit, and what would be the difference?

Yes, it could, and the meaning would shift slightly:

• claudit – present tense: he closes / he is closing / he usually closes.
• clausit – perfect tense: he closed / he has closed.

So:

• Pater portam urbis claudit vespere, ne hostes nocte taciti intrent.
  suggests something that happens now or habitually:
  The father (regularly) closes the city gate in the evening, so that…

• Pater portam urbis clausit vespere, ne hostes nocte taciti intrarent.
  (with imperfect subjunctive in the purpose clause to match the past main verb)
  would be: The father closed the city gate in the evening, so that the enemies might not enter silently at night.

With claudit, the action is viewed as present or habitual; with clausit, it is a completed past action.

Why is it ne hostes… intrent instead of simply hostes non intrant?

The two structures express different ideas:

• hostes non intrant – the enemies do not enter.
  This is a plain statement of fact.

• ne hostes… intrent – so that the enemies may not enter.
  This expresses purpose / intention: the reason why the father closes the gate.

So:

• Pater portam urbis claudit, hostes non intrant.
  = The father closes the city gate; the enemies do not enter. (two separate facts)

• Pater portam urbis claudit, ne hostes intrent.
  = The father closes the city gate *so that the enemies do not / may not enter. (closing is done *in order to prevent their entering)

The ne + subjunctive construction explicitly encodes this “in order that not” idea.

How would you translate the ne clause more idiomatically into English?

Literal, close translation:

• ne hostes nocte taciti intrent
  = so that the enemies may not enter silently at night.

More idiomatic English options:

• so that the enemies can’t slip in silently at night
• to prevent the enemies from entering silently at night
• lest the enemies enter silently at night (a more formal / old-fashioned English)

All of these attempt to capture the purpose and the negative expressed by ne and the subjunctive.

How do I know pater means “the father” and not “a father,” since Latin has no articles?

Latin does not have words for “a / an / the”. The Latin pater simply means “father” in the nominative case; it can be translated as either “a father” or “the father” depending on context.

In a typical narrative or exercise, we often choose “the father” because:

• either the context has already introduced a specific father,
• or it is natural in English to say “the father closes the city gate” rather than “a father closes the city gate” in a concrete scenario.

So the article (a vs the) is provided by English style and context, not by an explicit Latin word.